Going abroad with your mobile number from home can make life easier. Friends and family can still reach you, you can get OTPs and you don’t need to reset apps on your phone. Airtel offers international roaming plans for tourists, students and Non-resident Indians (NRIs)- but they have an additional cost. Learn more about Airtel’s international SIM cards and consider whether to get one the next time you go overseas.
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Airtel is a popular telecom service provider in India that offers international prepaid and postpaid roaming packs for students and tourists. The packs can let you use your mobile number in over 180 countries worldwide and include unlimited data and 24x7 customer support.1
How it works is that telecom companies will team up with a local telecom partner when you travel, providing you with data and mobile coverage. Airtel will simply charge you for the service.
Both prepaid and postpaid current customers can add the Airtel International roaming plans to their existing plan. The best part is that you need not change your SIM card. All you do is visit the official Airtel website and choose a plan that works for your trip or stay overseas and your budget.2
Here is a list of international roaming packs available for Airtel prepaid and postpaid users.
Airtel offers two plans for prepaid users that differ depending on which country, or countries, you are going to. Users can check the covered countries here.3
| No | International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹649 | 1 day | 100 minutes | 500 MB | 10 |
| 2 | ₹755 | 5 days | - | 1 GB | - |
| 3 | ₹756 | 5 days | 100 minutes | - | - |
| 4 | ₹899 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 1 GB | 20 |
| 5 | ₹2,997 | 365 days | 100 minutes | 2 GB | 20 |
| 6 | ₹2,998 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 5 GB | 20 |
| No | International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹649 | 1 day | 50 minutes | 250 MB | 5 |
| 2 | ₹755 | 5 days | - | 500 MB | - |
| 3 | ₹756 | 5 days | 50 minutes | - | - |
| 4 | ₹899 | 10 days | 50 minutes | 500 MB | 10 |
| 5 | ₹2,997 | 365 days | 50 minutes | 1 GB | 10 |
| 6 | ₹2,998 | 30 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
Postpaid users can choose a pack depending on the country they intend to visit.
| No | International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹649 | 1 day | 100 minutes | 500 MB | 10 |
| 2 | ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes per day | 5 GB | 20 |
| 3 | ₹3,999 | 30 days | 100 minutes per day | 12 GB | 20 |
| 4 | ₹5,999 | 90 days | 900 minutes | 2 GB | 100 |
| 5 | ₹14,999 | 365 days | 3000 minutes | 15 GB | 100 |
| No | International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹649 | 1 day | 50 minutes | 250 MB | 5 |
| 2 | ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
| 3 | ₹3,999 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 6 GB | 10 |
| 4 | ₹5,999 | 90 days | 450 minutes | 1 GB | 100 |
| 5 | ₹14,999 | 365 days | 1500 minutes | 7.5 GB | 100 |
The most popular Airtel postpaid international roaming plan is the 30-day ₹3,999 plan. It works out to ₹133 per day.
Airtel offers prepaid and postpaid plans for tourists. Since tourists usually need international roaming for around 30 days or less, they can opt for the 30-day Airtel international temporary calling plans.
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹899 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 1 GB | 20 |
| ₹2,998 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 5 GB | 20 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹899 | 10 days | 50 minutes | 500 MB | 10 |
| ₹2,998 | 30 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes per day | 5 GB | 20 |
| ₹3,999 | 30 days | 100 minutes per day | 12 GB | 20 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
| ₹3,999 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 6 GB | 10 |
If you are staying for less than 10 days, check with Airtel for customisable calling plans.
International students will likely want to get a local SIM card when they arrive abroad, especially if the course or program is long-term. However, until you get a local number, you can opt for the short-term calling plans from Airtel.
In general, 30 days could be enough time for students to settle down and obtain a local SIM card. Depending on the country they visit, they can go for the 10-day or 30-day Airtel prepaid or postpaid international short-term calling plans. Chat with Airtel if you need a longer plan.
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹899 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 1 GB | 20 |
| ₹2,998 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 5 GB | 20 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹899 | 10 days | 50 minutes | 500 MB | 10 |
| ₹2,998 | 30 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes per day | 5 GB | 20 |
| ₹3,999 | 30 days | 100 minutes per day | 12 GB | 20 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,999 | 10 days | 100 minutes | 2.5 GB | 10 |
| ₹3,999 | 30 days | 200 minutes | 6 GB | 10 |
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Unlike students and tourists, NRIs are usually permanent or long-term residents abroad with a local SIM. However, NRIs might have accounts in India where they would have registered their Indian Airtel phone numbers to receive OTPs via SMS from banks or other services.
To manage accounts in India, NRIs can retain their Airtel SIM cards and subscribe to the 365-day prepaid/postpaid international roaming plans. It makes sure you maintain your Airtel local Indian phone numbers and receive OTPs via SMS whenever required. In addition, Airtel provides free data limits and voice calling facilities.
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,997 | 365 days | 100 minutes | 2 GB | 20 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free Voice calls (outgoing and incoming) | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,997 | 365 days | 50 minutes | 1 GB | 10 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | Free Data | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹14,999 | 365 days | 3000 minutes | 15 GB | 100 |
| International Roaming Plans | Validity | Free voice calls | **Free Data ** | Free SMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹14,999 | 365 days | 1500 minutes | 7.5 GB | 100 |
You can activate the Airtel international roaming service from the Airtel official website. Alternatively, you can download and install the Airtel Thanks App and enable your international roaming pack.
While it's ideal you subscribe to your Airtel international roaming plans before leaving India, you can enable or activate the roaming pack when you are abroad too.5
If you're in India, you can always head to the nearest Airtel branch to activate an international pack in person.
If you are done with your travels, got a foreign SIM card or feel you don’t need an international roaming pack anymore, you can disable international roaming service on your Airtel SIM in four ways:
Users should know that the Airtel international roaming packs cannot be disabled during your validity time window once it has been activated.
Subscribing to and activating an Airtel international roaming pack keeps the Airtel SIM alive. This will let you receive OTPs while you are abroad. Find a plan that covers SMS messages for the amount of time you want to be able to get OTPs. Data-only packs may make it difficult to receive OTPs, and if you think you will receive many OTPs, then getting a plan with a high number of SMS’ is ideal.
If you don’t get an international roaming pack, you can still turn on data roaming when you are abroad but you may get charged at much higher rates than if you opted for a plan.
Your Airtel SIM does not support Wi-Fi calling on international roaming. This feature is known as Voice over W-Fi (VoWiFi), does not work on Airtel SIM when you're traveling abroad7.
You can use apps like WhatsApp and Facebook messenger allow convenient alternative for calling over Wi-Fi.
If you decide to stay longer abroad or need your plan for more days, you must keep your international pack active abroad to avoid high international roaming charges. Recharging your Airtel account is critical to keep the SIM card active; here's how to do so:
When recharging your Airtel account from abroad, you may need an international debit or credit card.
Airtel offers an international toll-free number to provide customer care and support to users when they are abroad.8
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Sources used for this article:
Sources verified on 25 January 2024.
Cover photo by abillion on Unsplash.
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