iD Mobile Roaming: Inclusive Destinations, Roam Beyond and Charges Elsewhere

Where iD has neither free roaming nor an add-on, as in Dubai or the Dominican Republic, a HelloRoam eSIM can handle your data instead. The eSIM sits beside your iD SIM on the same phone, so you keep your UK number.

We read every iD Mobile price and rule in this guide on iD's own help pages on 8 November 2026 and in its Community help articles on 6 November 2026. The rates quoted are iD's pay monthly rates.

iD Mobile roaming has three zones and a no-service list

iD puts every destination in one of three zones, and the zone decides what you pay. Roaming comes as standard on every iD Mobile phone plan and SIM only plan.

Three gaps catch people out: Switzerland, Turkey and Albania are not free, though each has a Roam Beyond add-on. Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea get no iD calls, texts or roaming at all.

iD sets its free roaming against the networks it says charge daily for EU roaming on standard plans: EE, Vodafone, Three, Sky Mobile and Voxi. If you're weighing iD against one of them, our guide to EE roaming charges shows one daily fee at work, and our explainer on what UK networks charge abroad compares Three, Vodafone, O2 and EE.

The 50 free roaming destinations and what they include

Band 1 is the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. It also counts some islands and territories separately: the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands, and France's French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin. So a week in Tenerife or Martinique uses your plan as it would at home. Not every UK network goes this far: our comparison of UK networks that still include Europe shows which ones cover Monaco and the Channel Islands.

In Band 1 you can use your remaining minutes and texts to call or text UK landlines and mobiles, numbers in the country you're in and numbers in any other Band 1 destination. Band 2 is stricter: from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan or North Macedonia, your allowance covers only the UK and the country you're in. Receiving calls and texts from anywhere is free in both bands, and UK add-ons work there too.

Some numbers are blocked while you roam: premium numbers starting 118 or 09, the non-geographic 084 and 087 numbers, and 080 freephone numbers. Before you go, note the number your bank and travel insurer give for calling from abroad.

Once your monthly allowance runs out in a free destination, iD charges out-of-plan rates for calls and texts to the UK or another free destination: 40p a minute, 14p a text and 10p per MB of data. Answering a call stays free.

The 30GB roaming data limit depends on when you joined iD

If you joined iD or upgraded on or after 21 June 2023, you can use up to 30GB of your plan's data a month while roaming in the 50 free destinations. On a plan with less than 30GB, you can use all of it. Past 30GB, iD adds a surcharge of £3 per GB for the rest of your allowance, rolled-over data and add-ons included, and then charges its standard out-of-plan rate of 10p per MB. Unlimited plans get 30GB a month, then £3 per GB.

If you joined or upgraded on or before 20 June 2023, iD says you can use your full data allowance in the 50 destinations with no surcharge. Your join date sits at the top of your Contract Summary, under 'Pay Monthly Agreement'. Ireland is outside the limit for everyone, so your full UK allowance works there, though iD's country checker still shows Ireland with the general 30GB wording; ask iD if you'll use more than 30GB there.

One iD page goes further than the rest. Its fair usage policy page says that from 1 October 2024, "until further notice", all customers can use their full UK data allowance in the free destinations, and that iD will tell you when the 30GB limit returns. Its roaming, add-on and Community help pages still state the 30GB limit. Plan on 30GB, and ask iD which applies before you count on more.

iD texts you at 80% and 100% of your monthly allowances and of the 30GB roaming limit. Long stays are the other catch. Free roaming is for UK residents who travel now and then. Spend 63 days or more in the free destinations within 4 months, and iD adds charges of 3.2p a minute, 1p a text and 10p per MB, after 14 days' notice.

Roam Beyond add-ons cost £5, £20 or £35 and cover data only

Roam Beyond covers 50 destinations outside the free list, including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Switzerland, Albania, Montenegro, Egypt, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. The UAE, the Maldives, Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic are not on it. Each add-on is data only, and each works out at 2GB a day:

When you buy matters as much as which one. An add-on starts the moment you buy it and can't be cancelled, so iD suggests buying it on the day you travel, while you're still in the UK. Or keep mobile data off when you land and buy it over Wi-Fi. It can't be backdated to cover data you've already used. To buy one, open the iD Mobile app or my.idmobile.co.uk, go to your add-ons, choose Roam Beyond and your destination, and confirm. The cost goes on your next bill, and the app's dashboard shows when the add-on expires.

Here is how the add-ons work out on common trips at iD's prices, buying each new add-on when the last one ends:

Skip the add-on and the per-MB rate applies. In the USA, 500MB at 30p per MB would cost £150, though iD's £45 roaming data limit caps data charges at £45 unless you've asked iD to remove it. In Canada and Japan, both Roam Beyond destinations, data without an add-on costs £9.60 per MB. To pick a size, estimate how much data you'll use on a normal day abroad.

The add-on covers data, not calls. In the USA, calling the UK costs £1.68 a minute, answering a call £1.50 a minute and a text 42p. In Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and Switzerland, calls cost £2.40 a minute either way and a text 60p.

Switzerland sits in Roam Beyond, not the free list. A day across the border from France or Italy needs an add-on on iD, or, on a travel eSIM, a Europe plan that lists Switzerland, which covers both sides of the border.

iD Mobile roaming charges outside both lists reach £15 per MB

In iD's Rest of the World zone, your UK allowance and add-ons don't work, and every minute, text and MB costs extra. Answering a call costs money too. The table shows iD's rates for places UK travellers often visit, with some Roam Beyond destinations for comparison:

At £9.60 per MB, iD's £45 roaming data limit is used up by less than 5MB in Dubai, the Maldives or Barbados. The top rate, £15 per MB, applies in places such as Oman and Trinidad and Tobago. iD charges data in 1KB steps and rounds any part KB up, so even a quick look at a map adds up.

In some places iD's network partner has no roaming agreement, and your SIM won't connect to any network, so calls, texts and data all fail. The list includes Curaçao, Zimbabwe, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Palestine. It also names Namibia, though iD's country checker still shows call and text rates there and lists data as not available, so ask iD before a trip to Namibia. Check the list before a safari or Caribbean trip, and save offline maps before you fly.

A £45 data limit and your Bill Cap guard against bill shock

Wherever you are, iD has a £45 roaming data limit in place to protect you from big data bills. You can ask iD to remove it, though on a trip it's a useful backstop to keep.

Your Bill Cap is a second guard. It limits out-of-plan spending, and you can set it anywhere between £0 and your credit limit in the iD Mobile app or My Account online. Your monthly plan cost and add-ons sit outside it. Once you reach the cap, or if it's set to £0, you can't make calls, send texts or use data that would cost extra.

A £0 Bill Cap works well for some trips. In the 50 free destinations your remaining allowance still works. Elsewhere, it blocks every chargeable minute, text and MB, and iD recommends keeping it at £0 in Rest of the World destinations. Roam Beyond add-ons still go through on a £0 cap, because they sit outside it. Ofcom adds its own safeguard: with a bill limit in place, iD must warn you as you near it, and it can't charge past it unless you agree.

Accidental roaming is the charge people don't see coming. If iD texts to say you're in a different country, your phone has most likely joined a foreign network, often near a border or on a ferry or cruise ship. That text is an Ofcom rule: unless you've opted out, providers must send one as you cross into another country. One of Ofcom's examples of a border region where a phone might accidentally roam is Turkey and Greece. For iD customers the costly neighbours sit next to free countries: Turkey and Switzerland at £1.50 per MB without an add-on, and Andorra, between France and Spain, at £9.60. iD's advice is to set a Bill Cap and turn off automatic network selection in your phone's settings.

At sea, ships and ferries often use satellite networks, and iD doesn't include them even between two free countries. Calling the UK costs £6 a minute, answering £1.50, a text £1.20 and data £9.60 per MB. iD suggests flight mode until you reach shore, and its Community guide says the same for planes.

If a roaming charge looks wrong, raise a complaint with iD first. iD says most complaints it can't settle straight away can be resolved within 7 days. If it hasn't resolved yours within six weeks, or sends a deadlock letter, you can take it to the Communications Ombudsman, a free scheme approved by Ofcom.

Turn roaming on in the iD Mobile app and on your phone

Roaming has to be on in two places, and if it's off in either one, your phone won't connect abroad. First, the iD Mobile app or my.idmobile.co.uk:

• Tap Plan, then Manage your iD services.
• Switch the Roaming toggle on and tap Save.
• If you'll make calls abroad, check the International toggle is on too.

Then turn on your phone's own setting. On an iPhone, open Settings, then Mobile Service or Mobile Data, then Mobile Data Options, and turn on Data Roaming. On a Samsung Galaxy, it's Settings, then Connections, then Mobile Networks. On most other Android phones, open Settings, then Network and Internet, then SIMs, choose your iD SIM and turn on Roaming.

If roaming still fails, work through iD's troubleshooting guide in order. First, make sure your destination isn't on the no-service list. Next, check a £0 Bill Cap isn't blocking paid use outside the free zone. Then pick a network by hand from iD's roaming partner list. As a last step, reset your network settings, which erases saved Wi-Fi networks and VPN settings.

On a 5G phone you can get 5G roaming in selected destinations, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, the USA, the UAE and Thailand. Comparedial's guide of 30 October 2023 still says iD roaming tops out at 4G, which iD's current list no longer supports.

Don't confuse Roam Beyond with iD's Call Abroad add-ons. Those cover calls from the UK to numbers abroad, and iD says they don't work while you're overseas.

A travel eSIM fits where iD charges by the MB

For most trips in Europe, iD's free roaming is all you need, and for a week in the USA or Turkey a Roam Beyond add-on keeps things simple. A travel eSIM earns its place where iD charges by the MB, where it has no service at all, and on trips that would pass 30GB or 63 days.

On a dual-SIM phone you can keep your iD line for calls and texts and run mobile data on a travel eSIM. Set the eSIM up at home before you fly. Then make the travel eSIM your line for mobile data, as Apple's Dual SIM guide explains. To keep iD from using data, tap your iD number, go into Mobile Data Options and set Data Roaming to off on that line only. Apple's roaming steps for Dual SIM show where that switch sits.

• Samsung Galaxy: a Galaxy has just one Data Roaming toggle, in Connections, then Mobile Networks, according to Samsung's roaming page. Leave it on. To send data through the travel eSIM, go to Settings, Connections, SIM Card Manager, then Mobile data, and pick the eSIM, as Samsung's steps for switching SIMs show.
• Google Pixel: in Settings, go to Network and Internet, then SIMs, and pick the travel eSIM under Mobile data. Then tap your iD SIM and switch its Roaming setting off.

HelloRoam sells data plans for several places that sit outside both of iD's lists. On 6 November 2026, our plans for mobile data in the UAE listed Du, and our Dominican Republic data plans listed Altice. Each page shows the current networks.

Your iD number still matters on the trip. Answering a call on it costs £1.50 a minute in Dubai and £2.40 in the Dominican Republic, so ask people to message you on WhatsApp or another app that runs over your data.

Our plans for Andorra, where iD charges £9.60 per MB right beside free France and Spain, listed Mobiland when we checked. In Curaçao, where iD has no roaming partner, our Curaçao eSIM plans listed Chippie.

Our eSIM plans are data plans, so calls and texts to your UK number still go through iD, at iD's rates.

We aren't a neutral party here, because travel eSIMs are what we sell. Our conflict of interest disclosure says we never alter a rival's figures to make our plans look better. To weigh the costs side by side, read roaming and travel eSIMs compared.