Best Roaming EU Internet SIM Cards 2022
Please note: this post has been superseded by this one.
Cutting to the chase, the best value roaming EU PAYG SIM card as of August 2022 appears to be Tesco Mobile’s ROCKET 30 pack. This offers 100GB a month for £30, all of which *should* be available abroad with no additional charges (keep reading before ordering this though!). We’ve also been told this is reduced to £20 if you register your Tesco Clubcard before ordering.
UPDATE Aug 2022: popit mobile is also worth a look. They have a 30 day 100GB SIM for £25 a month and their FAQs state all the data can be used roaming in the EU.
PLEASE NOTE: you may want to read our post about buying a SIM card from the EU before committing to a UK-based SIM supplier. You can get much more data for a similar cost that way.
According to Tesco Mobile’s fair usage policy (FUP), and confirmed by their web chat advisor, all of the 100GB can be used abroad, for up to 2 months from any 4 month period. However (thanks to Adam from motorhomewifi.com for this info), be aware their FUP also states the SIM can’t be used in a router (like a MiFi or personal wireless hotspot, although we’ve had some feedback this isn’t enforced). Also, Adam has had feedback that some Tesco Mobile SIM users are reporting a 12GB cap abroad. We’d highly recommend using web chat to confirm there is no cap before buying the Rocket Pack, and keeping a screen shot of the chat in case of problems while you’re abroad (like I did below).
There are no affiliate links in this blog post by the way, we earn nothing if you use the links in this post. This is just the best info we could find and wanted to share it with you.
We found the Tesco Mobile deal using the best consolidated source of information we know of for pay-as-you-go (PAYG) SIM cards: the Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki. This Wiki is always up-to-date, and has details of all the UK operators, as well as all those abroad. Below is the table we pulled together which lists all the deals with data around or below the operator’s EU cap (we’ve not listed a 50GB deal if that operator only allows 25GB to be used abroad, for example). Also be aware some operators charge a per-day fee for using their SIM abroad, so it’s well worth checking the small print before committing to any payment.
We were also made aware by motorhomewifi.com that Smarty offer add-on Data Passes which allow you to use all your UK allowance abroad. These are documented in their FUP (see the screenshot below) and cost £3 for 1 day or £7 for 3 days. Effectively that means you could get unlimited data for about £90 a month (£20 for a Smarty unlimited data plan plus ten £7 add-ons). Not cheap – getting close to Starlink RV cost territory! Also, we’ve no idea how well these data passes work in practice (how easy it is to keep renewing them for example).
Have you used Tesco Mobile’s SIM card abroad? Any problems with it? Or do you know of a better value pay-as-you-go roaming SIM deal? Let us all know in the comments below.
Cheers, Jay
Spanish SIM card.
So, as with many, I’m the type of person who just ‘needs’ ubiquitous high bandwidth WiFi always available. The challenge for many this year has been with Brexit, the type of unlimited data roaming enjoyed before, is no longer available.
There have been numerous topics on this for the last few months; with creative solutions to getting 20-30G of data, none of these work for me as I need 200-300G a month, just to get on and do whatever we went.
Anyway, my searching and searching has finally turned up what I think is perfect. I’ve been using it for two days now in Spain and all seems to be working as advertised.
In basic terms, it’s non throttled (save for signal challenges) so up to 150mb download, 300Gb per month, rolling one month commitment, it’s on Vodafone ES and less than €40 per month. Yes that’s correct, zero commitment, no topping up, 300 Gigabyte for <€40 per month!!!!
I’m using the data SIM in my Netgear router, it was a very simple set-up and registration process and they very kindly supplied me with two sims so I can use another on my next visit to Spain. They couriered to my campsite in Spain and the customer service I received and the instant replies to messages was simply fantastic.
The company is Tiekom based in Madrid. They have completed everything with me via email, from initial contact, through ordering to setup etc. https://tiekom.com/internet-at-home/data-sim/
The person I have been dealing with is Camino and she’s been absolutely fantastic, super responsive, fantastic English and made everything incredibly easy! You can email her at: sales@tiekom.com
I have no association whatsoever with this company or this person, but I’ve been genuinely impressed with the service. Please do mention me to Camino if you reach out to her, as she and Teikom have just the product and service we need in Spain and I promised that if Teikom did what they advertised, that I would recommend her to others, so the association of me to your enquiries would allow me to fulfil on that promise.
So, the final point is a cautionary one. I’ve been using this for two days now, 22Gigabytes ‘only’ so it’s still early days. I shall update after the first few weeks and months use. Im also planning on using this for three weeks in France (zone1) whilst I'm fishing on the way home, so will be another good test.
Anyway, a long post, but for several could be a very useful one as we have all been struggling to find the sort of data usage we all expect these days when travelling!
Harvey
PS – For testing purposes, we have watched several Netflix and Amazon movies in 1080HD, used a hooky Sky streaming service on my Amazon Firestick again streamed in HD (I do pay for a full sky package so I’m not really stealing any content from Sky, just using the best solution whilst travelling) and browsed content on phones and MacBooks etc
Good info, thanks Roger 👍
Jay
We have also heard great things about Tiekom too and are getting a sim sent to the uk before we leave for a 5 month trip. Do you VPN with your fire stick for catch up and invisibility?!
A good article, we’re planning 5 weeks in Europe, mainly Italy , Austria & Germany in mid September. We use the Superdrug SIM as per one of your previous blogs for Netflix etc. If 12Gb isn’t enough I’ll hotspot off my phone , EE 40Gb per month, with EU coverage as standard.
Another Spanish sim is Lobster. They won’t send to the UK but sim cards can be bought from certain locations in Spain, list on their website, I got one in Granada in February when the Super drug uncapped supply expired. Been using it in Spain, France, Belgium & UK whenever I’ve travelled since. Sign up for one of their monthly packages, then untick the automatic renew option when you no longer need it, restart when you do. Cover comparable to the Three & Superdrug sims I’ve used before. I use it for web browsing, emails, google maps, perhaps an hour’s tv in the evening (Nord vpn), nothing too demanding. Two packages currently but they do special offers too. Long list of countries covered, I’m planning Italy in the autumn so will see how it goes, may take a Tesco sim as well as backup, but I believe their roaming policy is due to change next year. One thing to beware of, Lobster customer service is very slow to non-existent & they don’t work Sundays if you try to activate a new sim at the weekend as I did! Otherwise the sim does what it says on the tin & I’m very happy with it. Hope this info helps. Sue
Good info, thanks Sue 👍
PS – Lobster website i in English & I use the sim in a router 😀
Can also highly recommend Camino at Tiekom for a Spanish SIM card, same as Roger’s experience, a fantastic service so far.
We have just started a 3 month trip to include France, Spain and Portugal. Camino sent the Vodafone SIM with a spare to our UK address before we left. We emailed her when received about a week after we placed our order and she activated it for us whilst in UK. We have been using it with great signal roaming on various networks everywhere so far in UK, France and now Spain for past few weeks.
Only used 16GB so far in a Huawei Mifi with various devices attached at the same time, we will always be well within the 300GB limit per month. We don’t stream much really, mostly use it for planning stops, maps, email, music or radio and social media.
Less than 40 Euros per month plus a 15 Euro cost to ship to UK. We believe it is rolling monthly, cancel anytime and includes roaming across all EU and UK at no extra cost and with no fair use cap whilst outside Spain.
They emailed me a few days ago to say my first payment is due and will be automatically collected soon from the details I gave them when I originally returned by email the registration and order form.
Hope that helps, happy travels :)
Cracking info, thanks Andy, have a great tour fella, Jay
Hi, just to say away at the moment and Tesco Mobile behaving as planned (used more than 25Gb now) also seems hopeful that you can buy another Rocket Pack when you have exhausted it, not just at the renewal date.
Another option is maya.net which is an eSIM (which will work as a hotspot in iPhones and I believe premium Android phones alongside the main SIM)… unlimited data in Europe for £50 a month, including tethering. Have t tried it though…
Frank
Great stuff, many thanks for the information Frank, happy travels, Jay
Sadly Tesco Rocket is going to be restricted soon.
https://www.tescomobile.com/why-tesco-mobile/award-winning-network/home-from-home#FreeRoaming
Take your minutes, texts and data with you to 48 destinations in the EU and beyond. Use your phone just like you do at home, at no extra cost, until late Spring 2023*.
* Roaming usage will become chargeable from late Spring 2023.
I just contacted tiekom regarding a sim data card and she replied the use is only for in Spain.
Sorry for the inconvenience…
So they stopped delivering??
Tiekom replied their sim cards are for Spain use only. So it contradicts what I read here…
Yep, it seems Vodafone removed the underlying service last month so Tiekom can no longer offer it. Shame.
Hey – Ive been using the Maya e sim for the last 6 months all through Europe and the Balkans. I’ve found that coverage is great but after the first 12 GB the speeds become agonisingly slow. There are specific packages for each Balkan country but it was EXPENSIVE (around 90 euros for three weeks roaming around each country). I’m back home in UK seeking an alternative…. Will give this a try, so thanks!
Ups… take it back…