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Before you go abroad

Whether you're on pay monthly or pay as you go, you can use your Tesco Mobile phone in more than 100 countries worldwide. Before you leave the UK it's a good idea to check the call charges from abroad. You can also check roaming costs in the Tesco Mobile app.


When you’re in one of our 48 Home From Home destinations across the EU and beyond, you can use your UK allowances at no extra cost, so you can…

  • Use your data for maps, apps and anything else you fancy
  • Call and text people in the UK and Home From Home destinations – and receive calls and texts from them too
     

And if you use up your UK allowances, you’ll just pay our standard rates – the same as at home.

To find out what's not included in your UK allowances, please check our Price List.

If you're calling or texting people who live outside of the UK while you're abroad then you will need to put the code of the country you're calling in front of the number dialled.

Your pone has already been set up to work abroad so you can use it as normal.  There's no need to dial the UK country code - the numbers stored in your contacts will work just as they are.

Using your device abroad isn't included in your monthly allowance for some parts of the world. When you use your phone outside our Home From Home destinations, the charges will come out of your safety buffer until you've used it up. 

To use your phone outside our Home From Home destinations or to carry on using your device once you've hit your safety buffer, you'll need to increase your safety buffer. You can do this


> Find out more about safety buffers  

We'll still protect you with a high-usage limit to stop you running up unexpectedly high bills. This limit varies per tariff but could be up to 4 times the cost of your monthly tariff. If you reach this high-usage limit you won't be able to use your phone until you make a payment. 

Also, there's a limit on how much you can spend on data abroad - to help you avoid a scary bill when you get home. You can spend up to £40 on data, but after that we'll bar your device, so you don't rack up any more charges unless you’ve set a safety buffer higher than £40.

  • You can call us on 4455 from your Tesco Mobile phone, or
  • Call our automated payment line free on 4488

 

and once you've made a payment you can use your phone again within 2 hours. If you're on a tariff with a safety buffer then you can protect what you spend by choosing a safety buffer that's right for you. 

If you're happy to spend more than £40 on data when you're away,

  • Go to My Account to increase your safety buffer
  • call us on 4455 before you go

If you're a business customer, please call us on 0345 601 2448.

When you’re abroad, we’ll send you ‘bon voyage’ messages via text to keep you posted with updates and info to help you manage your roaming experience. If you do not want to receive these texts, you can opt out by letting us know via web chat or by giving us a call on 4455 for free from your Tesco Mobile phone. It can take up to 24 hours for this change to come into effect.

Please be aware, if you do opt out, you will not receive roaming updates and info, which could lead to unexpected charges when you’re abroad. So, if you do opt out, we recommend you set a zero bill cap or safety buffer to make sure you never spend more on your bill than you’re happy to. You can manage your zero bill cap or safety buffer in My Account or our app.

Turning off data

You can avoid data charges altogether by turning off data on your phone and using Wi-Fi where it's available. Not sure how to do this? Find out with our device guides. Our social media team are also here to help. You can get in touch with them on Facebook or X. 

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