Roam freely with Virgin Media O2

[Chris_K]

Morning everyone. Some of you may have seen some of the news over the weekend, but I wanted to share with you a press release that we've published today confirming the news. And it's fantastic news! 

• O2 and Virgin Mobile customers will maintain inclusive roaming in Europe, using data, calls and texts just as they would in the UK
• This decision makes Virgin Media O2 the only one of the four mobile network operators in the UK not to reintroduce roaming charges
• News comes as travel testing rules are eased sparking a boom in travel bookings from Brits

Virgin Media O2 has today announced it will not be reintroducing roaming fees in Europe, making it the only big four mobile network in the UK not to bring back these charges.

Customers on both O2 and Virgin Mobile will maintain their inclusive roaming in Europe Zones, so they can travel to destinations all over Europe and use their data, calls and texts just as they would in the UK.

This comes as the Government has announced changes to travel testing rules, with airlines and travel operators reporting a sudden bookings boom from Brits eager to get away. The travel trade association, ABTA, also revealed last week that Spain is top of people’s wish list destinations to jet off to this year.

A recent survey carried out by Virgin Media O2 backed up this sentiment, showing that Brits have strong travel intentions in 2022. By this summer the majority (75%) of people surveyed expect to travel abroad – and a majority expect to do so more this year than they did in 2021.

Analysis of daily charge rates from other providers suggests that a family of four going abroad for two weeks could see £100 or more added to their holiday bill when using their phones each day.

Gareth Turpin, Chief Commercial Officer, Mobile, at Virgin Media O2, said:

“We’re starting the year by giving our customers some certainty: we will not be reintroducing roaming fees in Europe for customers on O2 or Virgin Mobile.

“Unlike all the other major mobile networks who are bringing back roaming fees, we will not be following suit. With many Brits now looking to plan a trip abroad, we’ve got our customers covered and extra roaming charges will be one less thing to worry about.”

 Gareth has also written a blog article about todays news, which you can read in its entirety here.

[Cleoriff]

Excellent news @Chris_K (and just as it should be) No-one should be charged for travel in Europe, A big thumbs down to the networks who have decided to cash in and charge customers even more!

[revitalise01]

Hi Chris K 

I am currently in Athens and o2 Travel is Active but cannot make any calls. 

[Cleoriff]

@revitalise01 

Reboot your phone

Manually search for another network

If you message O2 on Facebook ( https://o2uk.co/O2CFB) , Twitter ( https://o2uk.co/O2CTW) or Instagram ( https://o2uk.co/O2CIG) , they should be able to help you with this.

[Luke30]

That's great news @Chris_K. 

[Bordeaux]

I’ve had 6 contracts with 3 mobile for 15 years , sadly as we know 3 have restricted their roaming allowances  in Europe  so I am currently porting all my contracts over to 02 

[madasaf1sh]

@Bordeaux 

Just be aware that o2 also restrict your data on unlimited data tariffs to 25Gb a month in the EU, and also they impose the regualations of 63 days EU use in 180 days before you get charged

[Broncofx]

Volt O2 Travel does this mean it's just like home if using phone in Turkey?

[MI5]

@Broncofx 

See guide here Guide: Roaming in Turkey and Cyprus 

[Hfhd]

Hi. I moved to 02 from Vodafone for this reason alone.