Roaming in the EU - pack auto-renew

Kroma · ‎23-07-2023

Hello,

I will be visiting Italy soon and have been reading up about how to activate roaming alongside my 7 day PAYG pack (which will be on day 4 when I arrive).

I plan to topup, disable roaming and disable WiFi calling on my phone before departure.

I understand I will receive a text when I arrive in Italy with instructions to send a text code which will start the ability to use my pack allowances abroad. I'll choose 7 days. I will then re-enable roaming and all should work. I'll need to text again after 7 days as my trip is longer than a week

However, my regular pack is due to run out 3 days after arrival. Will it auto renew (assuming there are sufficient funds in my account) and will the ability to roam continue for the rest of the initial 7 days?

The EE posts I've seen mention ensuring that your pack will last long enough for the entire trip which isn't an option with my 7 day pack.

They've always auto-renewed in the past but I'm concerned that this may have changed along with the introduction of charges.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kroma · ‎06-08-2023

Well, I have now returned from Italy and my 7-day EE pack worked perfectly. For clarity, here's what happened...

Before I left, I ensured that roaming was on, WiFi calling was off and that I had enough credit for my pack to auto-renew and to purchase the EU add-ons.

When I arrived in Italy on a Thursday, I received the text telling me what to do. Initially, I purchased a 1 day pack. £2.50 left my account and I received confirmation telling me that I would be able to use my allowances for 24 hours.

I had left for Italy a few days later than I had expected and that evening my pack auto-renewed as expected (I didn't do anything to pre-purchase the pack, it just renewed as if I had been in the UK).

24 hours after I had purchased the 24 hour EU add-on, I received another text telling me that it had expired and giving me instructions on how to purchase another pack. This time I purchased the 7-day pack for £10. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this covered the remainder of the day (Friday) PLUS 7 full days. It ended at 23:59 on day 8 - Friday (giving me almost 7 and a half days). That was the day I travelled home so it was enough to cover the remainder of my trip.

All I had to do when I got home was to reactivate WiFi calling. Job done!

So, it works well (or maybe I was just lucky) but the instructions and finer details aren't particularly clear. I just wish it was still free because, as well as the unwelcome extra cost, it's a lot of hassle!

I benefited from an EE offer (received by text) which gave me an extra 1GB of data for free if I topped up by £5 or more. So I topped up in £5 increments! That offer was timed well as I would have blown my usual data allowance halfway through my trip otherwise.

K

View solution in original post

James_B · ‎23-07-2023

Hi @Kroma,

Welcome back to the EE Community. 🙂

You'll need to leave roaming turned on in order to receive the arrival text that gives you instructions on how to purchase your roaming add-on. You'll receive another text when your add-on is about to expire.

You can also purchase your pack renewal before you leave so it's ready to start when your active one expires.

For more information please see Pay As You Go charges for roaming in the EU.

Hope this helps.

James

Kroma · ‎23-07-2023

Oh yes, that's a very good point about leaving roaming on - I hadn't thought about not being able to receive the required text!

Is there a risk that I'll use (and be charged for) some data before I manage to activate the roaming add-on?

How do I pre-purchase my next pack without it immediately taking over from what will be my current pack?

So, the pack won't auto renew as it does at home?

Thanks,

K

XRaySpeX · ‎23-07-2023

@Kroma wrote:

Is there a risk that I'll use (and be charged for) some data before I manage to activate the roaming add-on?

No, until you buy roaming add-on you have no data to use.

@Kroma wrote:

How do I pre-purchase my next pack without it immediately taking over from what will be my current pack?

So, the pack won't auto renew as it does at home?

The pack should auto renew while abroad, but you could buy it in advance before you leave UK in the normal way by Text Service or your online MyEE & it will be held pending until you need it. However I'm not sure that you can do this with the legacy pack that you have. Check in your online MyEE under Packs that it is listed.

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Kroma · ‎06-08-2023