Slash your mobile phone costs on holiday

Charges are about to get cheaper, but you should still be careful when you use your mobile phone abroad.

Fierce protests from the mobile phone giants O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have failed as the European Court of Justice rules the cap on roaming charges will stand.

Roaming charges apply whenever you use your mobile phone outside your home network whether you’re passing through a network operated in Europe or further afield. This can bump up your bill way beyond the charges you would normally pay for mobile phone services in the UK.

The EU regulations are great news for anyone who uses their mobile while travelling in Europe. The cap puts an upper limit on the amount operators can charge for calls, texts, voicemail and internet usage.

The table below summarises the cap on calls and texts in euro cents:

Maximum mobile phone charges in Europe

From 1 July, charges for outgoing calls will be set at a maximum of 39 cents per minute - that’s around 32p, while next year the cap will be reduced again to 35 cents or 29p per minute. Texts will cost no more than 11 cents or 9p.

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The charge cap will see an end to super inflated bills from profit hungry operators, but you should still be careful when you use your mobile abroad. For one thing, these rules only apply in Europe. If you’re travelling to other destinations you won’t get the same protection. Using your phone abroad will still cost more than your UK tariff, so here are eight ways to keep your costs down:

1. Buy a phone card

Switch off your mobile before you leave the UK and only use it in an emergency. Instead of using your phone to call home, buy a phone card with a set number of minutes to use. This should allow you to make calls at a far cheaper rate than your mobile phone.

2. Send a text rather than calling

Alternatively, send a short text rather than calling. As you can see from the table above, this could cost less than one third of the price of a call in Europe, and receiving a text is completely free too.

Recent question on this topic

• memelami asks:

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  • 
    MikeGG1 answered "Don't it is expensive. If your hotel has the facility, take a laptop and use their..."
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    K6pilot answered "Just come back from Sweden and the hotel rented me a 3g dongle for £15 for a week of..."
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3. Switch your voicemail and data services off

The EU rules are reducing the cost of receiving voicemail, but it can still be pretty pricey even if your phone isn’t actually switched on. Ask your operator to turn your voicemail service off before you go to avoid the charge. Do the same for data services including the internet.

If you want to be able to call for less while you’re abroad, these next tips are for you:

4. Use the cheapest network abroad

You’ll often find you have a choice of networks to use when you go abroad. The network with the strongest signal is usually automatically selected by your phone, but it isn’t necessarily the cheapest option. You should check which one has the lowest charges before you fly, and then use your phone to select it manually once you're abroad.

5. Use an overseas phone package from your own operator

Alternatively, if you expect you’ll need to keep in touch using your mobile phone while you’re away, it’s worth considering an overseas phone package from your own operator.

For example, the Vodafone Passport allows you to take your UK price plan with you to over 35 countries. Here’s what it costs:

Likewise, O2’s International Traveller Service (ITS) is free to use if your tariff has more than 600 free minutes (otherwise it costs £3.06 a month). This package reduces calling charges abroad. For example, the standard rate for calling the UK from the USA is 137p per minute, but this is cut to 90p with ITS.

Just remember to cancel the package when you return home.

6. Buy a local SIM card

Another option is to switch to a cheaper SIM. You’ll need to make sure your phone is unlocked first so you can connect it to a different network. If it isn’t, you’ll be able to get it unlocked online relatively cheaply. Some websites will even do this for you for free. Try websites such as MobileUnlock or Unlocking.com.

A local SIM card is specifically for the country you’re travelling to, and should be cheaper than using your own network SIM as you’ll be charged local calling rates. You can then top up with extra credit whenever you run out.

The card itself normally costs between £15 and £30, and should include some call credit. You can pick the SIM up once you arrive, but it may be easier to buy one before you go. Good websites to buy SIMs from include UK2Abroad or 0044.co.uk

7. Buy a global SIM card

If you do a lot of travelling to different countries, a global SIM will probably be more cost effective, than buying a local SIM for each destination. Global SIMs also cost about £15 to £30, often with some free call credit thrown in.

You’ll be able to use the same phone number no matter where you are, and if you find the right SIM for your needs, you should be able to make discounted calls all over the world.

Check out WorldSIM , Sim4Travel or StoryTelecom to help you compare the different international SIM cards on offer.

8. Don’t download or surf the web

While abroad, avoid surfing the web using your mobile phone because this is where the costs can really escalate, as data roaming charges are astronomically high. Bills can literally cost thousands of pounds. So if you have an iPhone, turn off data roaming before you set foot in the airplane.

If you have no choice, think about signing up for a special international data package from your operator to keep the charges down. Bear in mind your existing unlimited package is unlikely to allow you to surf abroad.

Luckily, from 1 July the new regulations will place a charge cap on internet usage too, but it will still remain a tad expensive.

9. Use Skype and free wi-fi where possible

You can make free calls over the internet if you use use Skype. So if you're taking your laptop of iPhone, download Skype on to it and you'll can talk to someone else who has skype over a free wi-fi connection for absolutely nothing.

10. Leave your mobile at home

If all that sounds like a lot of hassle - why not simply leave your mobile at home? That way, you can be sure it won't cost you a penny!

More: 3 ways to save on your mobile bill | The best-value iPhone tariffs