Travel Tips

Using 3 abroad

Alex Beaney

15.05.24

Read time 3 minutes

Jetting off on holiday soon? It could be useful to know if you can use your phone abroad, without racking up expensive roaming charges.

Below, we’ll focus on how international roaming works with popular mobile network Three. This includes info on roaming passes and plans, and any other charges for using Three abroad that you need to know about.

And while you’re making your holiday preparations, make sure you check out the Wise card from the money services provider Wise.

It could save you money on holiday spending, letting you pay and withdraw cash like a local in 150+ countries - and all for low fees and great mid-market exchange rates.

Please see the Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise fees & pricing for the most up-to-date information on pricing and fees.

Learn more about Wise card 💳

Can I use my 3 phone abroad?

You can use your phone abroad if you’re a Three customer, although it doesn’t offer free roaming in any destination. This means that there will be a charge of some kind to pay if you want to make calls, send texts or get online outside of Wi-Fi.

Three has something called a Go Roam pass, which can be bought daily or for longer periods (for a slightly cheaper cost). These let you use your UK allowances for calls, texts and minutes in 71 worldwide destinations.

Using 3 in Europe

If you’re holidaying in Europe, you can buy a Go Roam in Europe pass from Three. This costs £2 a day, and lets you use your UK allowance of minutes and texts while you’re away. You can use data too, but only up to a fair usage limit of 12GB a month.¹

There’s a limit to how many daily Go Roam passes you can get, ranging from 14 to 56 depending on the type and length of your Three plan. Each pass is valid for 24 hours.¹

There’s also the option to buy a 3, 7 or 14 day pass in the Three app. If you plan to use your phone for the length of your trip, this could work out a little cheaper.

Here’s the cost of each, based on a trip to France on a Pay Monthly Advanced plan:²

3 day pass - £5
7 day pass - £12
14 day pass - £24.

Using 3 abroad - other destinations

Travelling outside of Europe? Three offers another roaming pass, called Go Roam Around the World. This is £5 a day,¹ and covers destinations such as:³

Australia
USA
Hong Kong
Indonesia
New Zealand
Vietnam
Sri Lanka
Singapore
Brazil.

You can check the full list of supported destinations here.

And as with the Go Roam in Europe pass, you can also buy 3, 7 and 14 day passes. These cost £12.50, £30 and £60 respectively (based on a trip to the US on a Pay Monthly Advanced plan).²

3 international roaming charges

If the destination you’re travelling to isn’t supported by one of Three’s Go Roam passes, you should still be able to use your phone there. But you’ll have to pay standard roaming charges, which can be quite high.

Here’s a look at some of the roaming charges for popular destinations not included in the Go Roam pass:²

Destination	Calls to the UK	Receiving calls	Sending texts	Receiving texts	Data
Turkey	£1.40 per min	£0.99 per min	£0.35	Free	£3 per MB
Canada	£1.40 per min	£0.99 per min	£0.35	Free	£6 per MB
India	£2 per min	£1.25 per min	£0.35	Free	£3 per MB
Thailand	£2 per min	£1.25 per min	£0.35	Free	£3 per MB

Ready to travel? Don’t forget your Wise card

Now that you’re all clued up on roaming with Three, it’s time to think about how you’ll spend during your trip.

The Wise card is the ideal travel companion, as it lets you spend and withdraw in the local currency in 150+ countries.

Your pounds are automatically converted at the mid-market exchange rate whenever you spend, without any margins or mark-ups. You’ll just pay a small conversion fee, or no fee if you already have the currency in your Wise account.

Open a Wise account online and you can order your own Wise card for a one-time cost of just £7.

Please see the Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise fees & pricing for the most up-to-date information on pricing and fees.

And that’s it - our handy guide to using 3 abroad, including details of the Go Roam passes for Europe and other destinations.

If you’re travelling outside the Go Roam area though, it could be sensible to turn data roaming off or add a spend cap to your Three account. Otherwise, your phone bill when you return home could be seriously expensive.

Sources used for this article:

Three - Roaming and Calling Abroad FAQs
Three - Roaming Abroad
Three - Roaming destinations

Sources checked on 08-May-2024.

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.