In this guide
- How we put this guide together
- Does Three include roaming?
- Will you pay to roam? Find your plan
- Where can you roam with Three?
- How much roaming data do you get?
- What happens if you go over the limit?
- Roaming outside Europe
- Fair usage and long trips
- What a typical trip actually costs
- How Three roaming compares
- How to check and manage your roaming
- Roaming FAQs
- How much does Three charge for roaming in Europe?
- What is a Three Data Passport?
- How much roaming data do I get with Three?
- Does Three still limit how many days I can roam?
- Is roaming free in the Republic of Ireland on Three?
- Editorial policy
Whether you pay anything to use your phone abroad on Three depends on your plan and when you joined, and the amount you pay, if any, depends on where you are going. Three has changed its roaming rules more than once, so two people on Three can pay completely different amounts for the same trip. This guide explains whether your plan includes roaming, what the daily charges are if it does not, and how Three compares.
Reviewed by: Phil Brown, founder of SIM Only Finder. Phil previously worked in UK mobile retail at Three UK, advising customers on SIM plans, contracts, and network choices. He has spent over a decade running consumer comparison platforms and reviews networks and SIM-only deals based on that hands-on industry background. About the author
Last reviewed: May 2026. Updated regularly to reflect current plan pricing, network changes, and roaming policies.
How we put this guide together
To put this guide together, we reviewed Three's published roaming terms against its own support pages and Advanced Plans Price Guide, checking the Go Roam structure, the daily charges by destination, the plan and join-date rules for inclusive roaming, the fair use cap, the Data Passport, and the destination lists. Where relevant, we have drawn on our own experience of using UK SIMs abroad. Three operates its own network in the UK, and coverage reliability assessments reference the most recent RootMetrics UK RootScore Report and Ofcom Connected Nations data.
Does Three include roaming?
Sometimes, and it depends on your plan. Three's roaming service, Go Roam, lets you use your UK allowance abroad in over 160 destinations, but whether that is included free depends on which plan you are on and when you took it out, and any charge depends on where you travel. There is no single answer that applies to every Three customer, which is the main thing that makes Three roaming confusing.
In short: long-standing customers and those on the right current plans roam free, while many customers who joined or upgraded in recent years pay a daily charge unless they hold an inclusive roaming plan. The next section is the one that matters most, because it tells you which of these you are.
Will you pay to roam? Find your plan
Three customers fall into one of three groups, set by the date you joined or last upgraded.
If you joined or last upgraded before 1 October 2021 and have not upgraded since, you keep free Go Roam in Europe and Around the World destinations, with no daily charge. Around the World Extra destinations are not included.
If you joined or upgraded between 1 October 2021 and 22 June 2025, your plan may include a number of Go Roam passes. Once those run out, or if you have none, you pay the daily roaming charge to unlock your allowance.
If you are on a plan taken out from 22 June 2025, what is included depends on the tier: Complete plans include all Go Roam destinations at no extra cost, Value plans include Go Roam in Europe, and Lite plans include none, so you buy a pass or pay the daily charge.
When a daily charge applies, the amount depends on where you are, not when you joined. Go Roam in Europe costs £2.75 per day, and both Go Roam Around the World and Around the World Extra cost £8 per day. A daily charge unlocks your UK allowance for 24 hours from first use. These rates apply from 1 April 2026 and rise annually.
Where can you roam with Three?
Three splits its destinations into three Go Roam tiers. Go Roam in Europe covers 49 European destinations. Go Roam Around the World adds 22 destinations beyond Europe, including the US and Australia. Go Roam Around the World Extra covers a further 92 destinations, including Canada, Japan, China, India, and the UAE, for more than 160 in total.
Two practical points. The Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man are excluded from any daily roaming charge, so you will not be charged the daily fee there. And a destination being on the Go Roam list is not the same as it being covered by a Data Passport, which works in 89 destinations; if you are heading somewhere unusual, check both lists before you travel.
How much roaming data do you get?
A fair use limit of 12GB per month applies to all pay monthly customers while roaming, regardless of which era or plan tier you are in. If your plan includes less than 12GB, you can use your full allowance abroad; if it includes more, including unlimited plans, you are capped at 12GB while roaming unless you take a Data Passport. Pay as you go customers have a lower 9GB roaming fair use cap.
So the 12GB figure is the number to hold onto: it is the ceiling on standard roaming data for almost everyone, and the only way past it is the Data Passport covered below.
What happens if you go over the limit?
Reaching the 12GB fair use cap is handled differently from running out of an included allowance, so it is worth separating the two.
If you simply do not have roaming included, or have used your allowance, the route to unlock your UK allowance is the daily roaming charge (£2.75 a day in Europe, £8 a day worldwide) or a Go Roam pass bought in advance. A daily charge unlocks your allowance for 24 hours from first use abroad. Multi-day Go Roam passes can work out cheaper than repeated daily charges and can include up to two days of roaming free compared with paying daily, so for a longer trip a pass bought ahead usually beats letting the daily charge run.
If you have hit the 12GB fair use cap and need more data, the answer is the Data Passport. For £7 a day it gives genuinely unlimited data for 24 hours in 89 destinations, including hotspot use, and while it is active you are not also charged the daily roaming fee for data. For a heavy-data day, such as uploading work files or tethering a laptop, the Data Passport is the tool that removes the 12GB ceiling. These prices apply from 1 April 2026 and rise annually, so confirm the current figure in the Three app before relying on it.
Roaming outside Europe
Three's worldwide tiers are built into its plans rather than sold as bolt-ons. On a Complete plan taken out from 22 June 2025, free roaming extends to over 160 destinations worldwide, not just the EU. On other plans, both Go Roam Around the World and Around the World Extra destinations carry an £8 daily charge, unless your plan includes them.
For unlimited data anywhere on the 89-destination Data Passport list, the £7 Passport applies worldwide, not just in Europe. For a country outside all Go Roam tiers, standard roaming rates apply and can be expensive, so for those a local eSIM is usually the cheaper option.
Fair usage and long trips
Three's roaming is intended for travel rather than living abroad. The headline constraint is the 12GB monthly fair use cap rather than a fixed number of days: notably, Three removed its old system that limited you to a set number of roaming days per year, so on current plans you can roam as often as you like within fair use. Older plans taken out before 22 June 2025 may still carry day limits, such as 14 or 28 days per trip depending on the plan and contract length, so if you are on an older plan check your specific terms. Three can still take action against use that is clearly permanent rather than travel, and receiving calls in a Go Roam destination can itself trigger charges or scrutiny, so the service remains built for trips.
What a typical trip actually costs
Consider a two-week holiday in Spain using around 10GB of data, and assume you are on a plan without inclusive European roaming, so you face the daily charge.
Paid daily, 14 days of Go Roam in Europe at £2.75 would be £38.50. This is where a Go Roam pass bought in advance can save money, since a multi-day pass costs less than 14 separate daily charges and can include up to two free days. If instead you are on a current Value or Complete plan with inclusive roaming, the same trip costs nothing extra, because 10GB sits within the 12GB fair use cap. The lesson is that on Three your trip cost is decided less by your data use and more by your plan: an inclusive plan makes a European holiday free, while a pay-per-day arrangement adds up across a fortnight unless you buy a pass ahead. Always check whether your plan includes roaming before assuming you will or will not be charged.
How Three roaming compares
Three's roaming is a tale of two customers. On a current Complete plan, its worldwide reach, with over 160 destinations included free and a 12GB cap, is among the strongest of any UK network and clearly beats the budget pack for travel beyond Europe. On a pay-per-day arrangement, the £2.75 daily charge in Europe is reasonable for occasional trips but adds up over a longer holiday, where networks like SMARTY include 12GB with no daily charge and giffgaff includes EU roaming as standard.
The deciding factor is therefore your plan, not the network. If you travel beyond Europe and hold a Complete plan, Three is an excellent roaming choice and the Data Passport is a genuinely useful unlimited-data option few rivals match. If you only ever go to Europe and would be on a daily charge, a budget network with inclusive EU roaming is usually cheaper.
How to check and manage your roaming
The most important step is to confirm which roaming era and plan tier you are on, which you can see in your My3 account or the Three app under your plan details. That tells you whether you roam free or face a daily charge. Activate roaming and buy any Go Roam pass or Data Passport in the app before you travel, where you can also see your spend.
Set your Spend Cap to an amount that covers any daily charges, passes, or Data Passports you expect to need: if it is set to zero or too low, you may find you cannot roam at all. If you are moving to Three from another network and want to keep your number, our PAC code transfer guide explains how.
Roaming FAQs
How much does Three charge for roaming in Europe?
It depends on your plan. Customers from before 1 October 2021 who have not upgraded roam free in Europe and Around the World destinations, and current Value and Complete plans include free European roaming. Otherwise you pay a daily charge to unlock your allowance: £2.75 a day in Go Roam in Europe destinations, or £8 a day for Around the World and Around the World Extra destinations, from 1 April 2026.
What is a Three Data Passport?
It is an add-on giving unlimited data for 24 hours in 89 destinations, for £7 a day. It removes the 12GB fair use cap for that period and includes hotspot use, and while it is active you are not also charged the daily roaming fee for data. You can buy several in advance.
How much roaming data do I get with Three?
A 12GB per month fair use cap applies to pay monthly customers, or your plan allowance if that is lower. Pay as you go customers get a 9GB cap. Beyond 12GB you need a Data Passport for more data.
Does Three still limit how many days I can roam?
On plans taken out from 22 June 2025, no: Three removed the old fixed number of roaming days, so you can roam as often as you like within the 12GB fair use cap. Older plans may still carry day limits, so check your specific terms.
Is roaming free in the Republic of Ireland on Three?
Yes. The Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man are excluded from the daily roaming charge, so you can use your allowance there without the daily fee.
Best for: Travellers on a current Three Complete plan who go beyond Europe, where 160-plus inclusive destinations and the unlimited Data Passport make it one of the strongest roaming propositions available. Europe-only travellers who would face the daily charge for a longer trip should consider a budget network with inclusive EU roaming, or an inclusive Three plan, instead.
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Editorial policy
This guide is produced by the SIM Only Finder editorial team to help travellers understand Three roaming charges, allowances, and limits. Network terms, pricing, and roaming availability are checked regularly and updated to reflect current policies. Always confirm current terms directly with the network before travelling.
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