Roam like at home: what the EU rule actually guarantees
If your mobile plan comes from an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, you can call, text and use data in all of those countries, and in Moldova and Ukraine, at the same price as at home. It is set by EU law, so no operator in the area can drop it, but it has limits: a fair use cap on cheap or unlimited data, a check on long stays, and places that look European but sit outside it.
See the Europe packsWhere the rule applies, and where it does not
Roam like at home covers the 27 EU countries and the three other members of the European Economic Area: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Decisions of the Council of the EU have since added Moldova and Ukraine, in both directions: plans from those two countries get the same treatment in the EU. It also applies in EU regions far from the mainland, such as the Canary Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Åland and the French overseas departments.
It does not apply in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, Turkey, the Faroe Islands or Greenland. There your operator sets the price: some include a few of these places in their own Europe zone and others do not. The full list, with the border areas where phones switch network without warning, is on our EU roaming map.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
Not sure about your model? Ask us before you pay and we will tell you — a person answers within 24 hours.
How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
What “home prices” means on your bill
While you travel in the area, calls, texts and data are charged as if you were at home: they come out of the same allowance, or at the same price per unit. Calls and texts to EU numbers cost nothing extra, and receiving calls or texts carries no surcharge either, whoever is calling. You do not have to switch anything on: the European Commission describes the rule as activated automatically whenever you use your phone in another country of the area.
The rule also covers quality. Your operator should give you the same kind of connection abroad as at home, 5G included, when the network you are visiting offers it, and tell you if it cannot. What it does not cover are special-rate numbers, such as customer service lines charged per minute, which can cost more from abroad; your operator’s welcome message has to warn you about them.
The text message you get when you cross a border
Each time you arrive in another country, your operator sends you a free message. Inside the area it confirms that home prices apply, sums up your fair use policy and any surcharge beyond it, and gives you the emergency number. Outside the area it lists the prices that apply there instead. You can ask your operator to stop the pricing messages, but not the information about emergency services.
That message is the quickest way to know where you stand. If it arrives with a price list instead of home prices, either you have left the area or your phone has latched on to a network from a neighbouring country that is not part of it. Check the network name in your phone’s settings before you start using data.
The limits operators are allowed to set
Roam like at home is meant for periodic travel. Operators may put a fair use limit on unlimited plans and on plans that are very cheap per GB, but the law sets a minimum, and beyond it they can only add a small surcharge, also capped by the regulation. Our fair use calculator works out that minimum from what you pay.
They may also look at how you use the line over at least four months. If you spent more days abroad than at home and also used more abroad than at home, they can warn you and, 14 days later, start adding surcharges. A national regulator can also allow an operator to add surcharges if it proves that free roaming makes its home prices unsustainable; if that applies to your plan, the welcome message has to say so.
Ships, planes and the €50 brake
On a ferry or cruise ship in port, or on a plane at the gate, you are on an ordinary land network and the rule applies. Once the ship or plane connects you through its own satellite-linked network, it does not: there are no price caps there, and the Commission warns that these networks usually carry high surcharges. Your operator must send you a free message each time you connect to one, and flight mode keeps you off them altogether.
There is a safety net for the rest. For data charged on top of your plan, including outside the area and on those on-board networks when they allow real-time monitoring, operators must cut you off by default once the extra charges reach a limit close to, but not above, €50 excluding VAT per monthly billing period, with a warning at 80%. You can choose a different limit or confirm that you want to carry on.
Who the rule does not protect
The rule follows your plan, not your passport. A plan from a country in the area is covered everywhere in the area; a plan from the United States, the United Kingdom or Switzerland gets nothing from it, even inside the EU, and its roaming is priced by its own operator. The reverse is also true: an EU plan in London or Zurich costs whatever its operator decides.
It is also not designed for living abroad on a home SIM. For long stays, trips that mix EU and non-EU countries, or a phone from outside Europe, a data eSIM is often simpler: Snoozim’s Europe pack covers 33 countries, Switzerland and the United Kingdom included, while your usual number stays on the phone for calls and WhatsApp.
Do I have to activate roam like at home?
No. It applies automatically whenever a plan from a country in the area is used in another country of the area. You may still need data roaming switched on in your phone settings.
Does roam like at home apply in Switzerland or the UK?
No. Neither is in the EU or the EEA, so your operator decides the price there. Check whether your tariff includes them before you travel.
Can my operator slow down my data when I roam in the EU?
It should give you the same quality as at home, 5G included, when the visited network offers it. If it cannot, it has to tell you.
Is a cruise ship covered?
Only while your phone is on a land network, for example in port. The ship’s own network is outside the EU rules and has no price cap.
Get your eSIM before you fly: the QR arrives by email in minutes and the plan only starts when you connect at your destination.
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