10 October 2011

Don't Let International Roaming Charges 'Ring' Your Holiday Budget Dry

With many UK mobile phone networks recently changing their roaming allowances and prices, Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) has compared the costs for pay-as-you-go and monthly contract customers of the major UK mobile firms. The research is available in the Know Before You Go section of the website at www.aph.com/dataroaming.

The table highlights the costs of calling, texting and internet data packages of all major UK networks; Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone and 3 Mobile. This also compares the difference between monthly contract and pay-as-you-go costs when travelling in the various regions abroad.

When calling from Europe to the UK, a 10 minute call with O2 from Eastern Europe will cost £8.10 on a monthly contract but only £3.50 on pay-as-you-go. T-Mobile customers travelling to Andorra, Faroe Islands or Switzerland (Price Zone 3) should also be very careful when calling the UK as the mobile network is found to charge £10.00 for a 10 minute call.

With regards to data-roaming charges, travellers should be cautious if accessing the internet through networks such as Orange or T-Mobile who charge up to £8.00 per MB or £10.00 per MB respectively, when travelling to countries such as Canada and Thailand. Vodafone was found to be quite generous to travellers visiting the 'Rest of the World' by charging only £3 for the first 5MB, however this increases to an expensive £15 for every MB used afterwards.

Nick Caunter, Managing Director of APH said: "Travellers should certainly plan ahead and make sure they are aware of the extra costs when using their mobile phones or smart phones on holiday. By checking their network costs in the Know Before You Go section (internal link) of the APH website, holidaymakers can plan ahead and make sure they're prepared for these extra charges, keeping them to a minimum. Travel bundles are also a beneficial way for travellers to save money when using phones abroad which can also offer discounts of up to 30% off calls and texts in international destinations."