O2 Roaming Charges 2026: Free in Europe, O2 Travel and Bolt Ons
O2 is the one big UK network that still charges nothing extra to roam in Europe. That applies to every plan, pay monthly and pay as you go, up to 25GB of data. Outside Europe, O2 Travel costs £7 a day for unlimited calls, texts and data in 75 destinations, including the USA, Turkey, Dubai, Egypt, Thailand and Japan. Morocco is not one of them. Below is each O2 zone, what the bolt ons cost, and when you are better off with a travel eSIM. If you are going to Europe, the honest answer is that you probably are not.
Prices checked on 8 October 2026 against O2's Europe roaming page, roaming fair use policy, O2 Travel page and Data Roaming Bolt Ons page.
O2 roaming in Europe: included
O2's Europe Zone has 48 destinations: the EU, plus the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French overseas territories. O2's fair use policy says it plainly: "Roaming in our Europe Zone is included in your tariff". There is no daily charge, and no join date to check.
That applies to pay as you go too: O2 says pay as you go customers "can also roam … in Europe at no extra cost".
Three limits apply:
- 25GB. If your UK plan has more than 25GB of data, you can use 25GB a month in the Europe Zone. When you reach it, O2 stops your data and you need to buy a bolt on.
- 63 days. Using roaming for more than 63 days in any four-month period counts as unfair use. After that O2 can add surcharges of £3.50 per GB, 3.3p a minute and 1p a text.
- Phones only. O2 says free EU roaming is only available on phone SIMs at the moment, not tablet SIMs.
Not in O2's Europe Zone: Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Greenland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia. If your trip includes Turkey or the Balkans, read the next section.
O2 roaming outside Europe
O2 groups the rest of the world into three zones:
| Zone | Popular destinations | O2 Travel (£7 a day)? |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 (27 destinations) | USA | Yes |
| Zone 2 (48 destinations) | Turkey, UAE (Dubai), Egypt, Thailand, Japan | Yes |
| Zone 3 (120 destinations) | Morocco | No |
O2 Travel: £7 a day
The O2 Travel Bolt On gives pay monthly customers unlimited minutes, texts and data in 75 destinations (Zones 1 and 2) for £7 a day, charged only on the days you use it. How it works:
- A day starts only when you call, text or use data. Receiving calls or texts does not trigger it.
- Each day runs midnight to midnight local time, based on the capital city of the country you are in.
- Data speed is capped at 2Mbps. That is enough for maps, messaging and music, but slow for video calls and uploading photos.
- If you have a spend cap, O2 Travel charges do not count towards it.
A week of daily use costs £49, and two weeks £98.
Data Roaming Bolt Ons
If you only need data, O2's Data Roaming Bolt Ons are cheaper than O2 Travel for light users:
| Zone | 1GB | 3GB | 5GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 (USA) | £6 | £13 | £18 |
| Zone 2 (Turkey, Dubai, Egypt, Thailand, Japan) | £9 | £20 | £29 |
In Zone 3, which includes Morocco, bolt ons are much more expensive: 100MB for £26, 500MB for £45 or 1GB for £65. For a Moroccan holiday, that is the most expensive O2 roaming option.
If you don't buy a bolt on outside Europe, O2 stops your data, so you cannot run up a data bill by accident. Calls still work at £3 a minute, making or receiving, and texts cost £1.
Some plans include roaming outside Europe. Volt and selected Plus plans include the 27 Zone 1 destinations ("Travel Inclusive Zone"), and Ultimate plans include all 75 O2 Travel destinations.
Pay as you go: O2 Travel and Data Roaming Bolt Ons are pay monthly only. Pay as you go customers outside Europe pay O2's standard rates, which are shown on its destination checker.
Is a travel eSIM cheaper than O2 roaming?
- Europe: no. O2 already includes Europe at no extra cost. Unless you need more than 25GB, keep using O2.
- USA: O2's 5GB Zone 1 bolt on is £18. A USA eSIM from £2.59 costs less for a similar amount of data, and it isn't capped at 2Mbps like O2 Travel.
- Turkey, Dubai, Egypt, Thailand, Japan: a week of O2 Travel is £49, and 5GB on a bolt on is £29. An eSIM for £1.76 Turkey or £1.75 Japan is usually cheaper, and it runs at full local speed.
- Morocco: O2 Travel doesn't cover it, and 1GB costs £65. A Morocco eSIM from £2.59 is the obvious choice.
| Data | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1GB Data | 7 Days | £1.75 |
| 3GB Data | 15 Days | £4.32 |
| 5GB Data | 30 Days | £5.98 |
| 10GB Data | 30 Days | £9.97 |
| 20GB Data | 30 Days | £16.62 |
| 50GB Data | 30 Days | £25.68 |
| 1 Day | 1 Day | £2.59 |
| 2 Days | 2 Days | £5.19 |
| 3 Days | 3 Days | £7.78 |
| 4 Days | 4 Days | £10.20 |
| 5 Days | 5 Days | £12.93 |
| 6 Days | 6 Days | £15.67 |
| 7 Days | 7 Days | £18.41 |
| 8 Days | 8 Days | £19.78 |
| 9 Days | 9 Days | £21.83 |
| 10 Days | 10 Days | £23.20 |
| 11 Days | 11 Days | £25.25 |
| 12 Days | 12 Days | £27.30 |
| 13 Days | 13 Days | £28.67 |
| 14 Days | 14 Days | £30.04 |
| 15 Days | 15 Days | £32.09 |
| 16 Days | 16 Days | £33.46 |
| 17 Days | 17 Days | £34.15 |
| 18 Days | 18 Days | £35.51 |
| 19 Days | 19 Days | £37.57 |
| 20 Days | 20 Days | £38.94 |
| 21 Days | 21 Days | £40.30 |
| 22 Days | 22 Days | £40.99 |
| 23 Days | 23 Days | £41.67 |
| 24 Days | 24 Days | £42.36 |
| 25 Days | 25 Days | £43.04 |
| 26 Days | 26 Days | £43.73 |
| 27 Days | 27 Days | £44.41 |
| 28 Days | 28 Days | £45.09 |
| 29 Days | 29 Days | £45.78 |
| 30 Days | 30 Days | £47.15 |
Using a travel eSIM with your O2 number
O2 supports eSIM on pay monthly, SIM only and pay as you go. On a dual-SIM phone you can add a data-only travel eSIM and keep your O2 line for calls and texts:
- Install the travel eSIM at home over Wi-Fi.
- When you land, choose the travel eSIM for mobile data.
- Leave data roaming off on your O2 line, so no bolt on or O2 Travel day can start from data.
O2 Travel only starts when you make a call or send a text from your O2 line. Receiving calls and texts on O2 while your data runs on the eSIM won't trigger it.
Keeping the bill under control
There is no longer a legal limit on what roaming can cost you. The old £45 default cap on data roaming came from EU rules that lapsed in the UK in June 2022, and Ofcom confirmed in 2024 that networks no longer have to apply it. What Ofcom does require, since 1 October 2024, is a free message when your phone connects to a network abroad, telling you the charges and how to limit your spending.
O2's own rules do most of the work. Outside Europe, O2 stops your data unless you buy a bolt on, so data can't run up a bill by accident. Bolt ons send alerts at 80% and 100% of their data, and stop when they run out. O2 Travel isn't counted in a spend cap, so a week of it adds £49 whatever your cap is set to.
Frequently asked questions
Does O2 charge for roaming in Europe?
No. Roaming in O2's Europe Zone is included on every plan and on pay as you go, up to 25GB a month and within the 63-day fair use limit.
Is Turkey in O2's Europe Zone?
No. Turkey is in O2's Zone 2. It is covered by O2 Travel at £7 a day, or by Zone 2 bolt ons from £9 for 1GB.
Does O2 Travel work in Morocco?
No. Morocco is in O2's Zone 3, which O2 Travel doesn't cover. Data there costs £26 for 100MB, £45 for 500MB or £65 for 1GB.
Is O2 Travel unlimited?
Calls, texts and data are unlimited, but data is capped at 2Mbps, which is slow for video calls and photo backups.
Does O2 roaming work on my tablet in Europe?
Not for free. O2 says free EU roaming is currently only available on phone SIMs.
Heading beyond Europe with O2?
Install a data eSIM at home, keep your O2 number for calls, and skip the 2Mbps cap.
See travel eSIMs