Using Virgin Mobile Abroad
Using Virgin Mobile abroad has never been easier. Find out all you need to make the most of your phone while travelling, from data roaming charges to security and more…
How to set up phone before travelling abroad
There are a few things you can do to make sure your phone is ready for your trip abroad. Let’s take a look.
Before you go, make sure that your device's Access Point Name (APN) is set to Virgin Mobile, and not another network provider. Usually this is done automatically, but it’s worth checking just in case.
If you need help, check out our APN settings guide. Or, just text 'All' to 789922 and your settings will arrive to your handset, ready to be saved.
If you have any problems with switching on roaming or with your APN settings, just text us the issue for free on 07533 016 422* between 7am and 11pm Monday to Friday, 8am and 8pm Saturday to Sunday, and one of our team will be happy to help.
If you're a Pay Monthly customer, you can use your phone in over 200 destinations worldwide.
You can see which locations are covered by the Virgin Mobile network and check roaming charges on the Roaming Hub. Where you see the 5G Logo, this means 5G coverage is now available in this country. Full list of available countries:
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Bhutan
- British Virgin Islands
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Falkland Islands
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Niger
- Norway
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- United Arab Emirates
Check your data usage and allowance
Depending on where you’re travelling to, you may be able to use your inclusive allowance of data, minutes and texts, just like you would at home.
If you’re travelling in the EU
Roam Like Home allows you to use your UK allowance of minutes, texts and data in the EU just as you would in the UK. If you exceed your allowances you will be notified and charged at exactly the same rates as you do in the UK. For more information on charges please go here
If you’re travelling outside the EU
If you’re travelling outside the EU, you won’t be able to use your UK inclusive allowance. If you’ve switched on roaming, you’ll be charged for any calls, texts and data you use when abroad, and your data usage will be charged per Megabyte.
Check roaming charges on the Roaming Hub.
How do I check my inclusive allowance usage?
The easiest way to check your remaining allowance is by using the Virgin Media app. Simply sign in to see how much data, minutes and texts you’ve used and how much you have left.
You can also check your usage from Your Account. Simply review your bill to get the latest usage update.
For more information on the app, and links to download it, check out our Virgin Mobile app page
How to secure your mobile phone before travelling
We’ve put together a few tips to help you stay connected when you're out of the UK, while avoiding the dreaded ‘bill shock’ when you get back home. Check out our recommendations below.
It’s bad enough if you lose your phone in the UK, but lose it abroad and you could find someone running up a hefty bill of roaming charges at your expense. That’s why we always recommend you set up password or PIN for your phone and SIM card – especially when travelling. If you’re unsure how to do this, check out our device guides. Or, visit your phone manufacturer’s support site.
When you're on your journey, you may find that your phone connects to a different mobile network to normal. The costs of these networks can be a lot higher, so we recommend turning your phone off during the journey to your destination, or using Airplane mode where allowed on your flight. Check with your travel provider for exact details of the mobile options available on your trip.
When you arrive, switch on your phone and you’ll automatically connect to one of our partner networks. If you receive a text message saying PERS – just ignore it – it’s just us making sure you’re on the best network available.
Since phones are so valuable these days, it might be worth getting yourself some mobile insurance. This way, you can recoup the value of your phone if it’s lost, damaged or stolen.
How to set up voicemail
Setting up voicemail is the best way to ensure you don’t miss any calls from home, while ensuring you don’t incur any roaming charges for answering lengthy calls.
Receiving voicemail messages won’t cost you anything. If you’re in the EU, listening to voicemail will cost the same as it would at home. If you’re outside of the EU, you’ll be charged for listening to voicemail at the standard call rate for the region you’re in. Check out the Roaming Hub for call charges when roaming.
You can switch on voicemail from your Virgin Mobile account. To do this:
- Sign in to Your Account
- Click Plan and device
- Click Manage services
- Select the option to turn on voicemail
With voicemail diverts, you can set all calls to automatically go to voicemail. To do this:
- Dial your voicemail
- Choose Message settings
- Follow the instructions
To adjust the call divert options in your phone’s Settings, check out our device guides or visit your phone manufacturer’s support site.
How to use your mobile abroad
Learn how to set up data roaming and international calling on your phone.
What is data roaming?
Before you change any settings on your phone, it’s worth knowing what data roaming is. Data roaming is when you use your phone in a location outside your home country, and you receive phone services from a local network provider instead. Sometimes this is covered by your inclusive allowance, such as in EU countries where you can Roam Like Home. In other locations, you'll need pay roaming charges, which can lead to a hefty bill.
If you’d like your Virgin Mobile phone use mobile data abroad, you’ll first need to turn on roaming. You’ll also need to make sure you’ve turned international call barring off if you want to make any calls while on your travels.
To do this:
- Sign in to Your Account
- Select the Plans and devices tab
- Select the Manage services tab
- Turn ON roaming under the Going abroad
- Turn OFF international call barring under Call barring.
Remember, if you’re travelling to a location outside the EU that’s not covered by Roam Like Home, accessing data and making calls can be expensive.
Using data abroad can be expensive. If you’re travelling to country not covered by Roam Like Home, you’ll want to turn off data roaming to ensure your phone isn’t quietly using the internet without you knowing. That way, you won’t get any nasty surprises on your bill.
To do this:
- Sign in to Your Account
- Select the Plans and devices tab
- Select the Manage services tab
- Turn off roaming under the Going abroad
This depends on where you’re travelling to. If you’re going to one of the EU countries covered by Roam Like Home, you can use your inclusive data allowance while abroad at no extra cost. If you’re travelling outside the EU, you’ll need to check here what charges apply to that specific country as they differ from place to place.
Data Spend Cap limits
Post-trip blues are bad enough without nasty surprises lurking in your mobile bill, to help you stay in control of your chargeable data usage whilst roaming we have set up a £52.02 per month data spend cap (unless you tell us otherwise). We’ll text you when you’ve hit 80% of your chargeable roaming usage, and again when you’ve hit your limit.
Our tariff guide lists the data cap values – check it out here.
The roaming data cap will reset monthly on the 1st of each month. It’s best to turn off data roaming when travelling outside of the EU. Find out how in the How to turn off data roaming section above.
Look out for free Wi-Fi networks while you’re abroad. That way you can stay online without racking up a bill.
You may find that your hotel or a nearby café has Wi-Fi, and they’ll be able to tell you whether it’s free or not. They’ll also be able to tell you if you’ll need a password to connect to their network. Connecting to Wi-Fi means you can get online and keep data roaming switched off.
Why is data roaming not working?
If you’re having problems using your mobile data, check to make sure your phone and Virgin Mobile account are set up correctly for roaming.
Firstly, check that Roaming is switched on in Your Account. You can find out how to do this in the Set up data roaming and international calls section above.
Check to make sure the data and data roaming options are turned ON in your device Settings. Check your phone manual or the manufacturer’s support site for help.
Try turning the phone off and then back on again. Sounds simple, but it'll refresh the network signal on your phone and, more often than not, it does the trick.
If that doesn't work, you can try a manual network search. Check out your phone manufacturer’s support site to find out how.
You can also check your APN settings. You can find out how by checking out Set up APN settings on mobile at the top of this page.
Using your phone when you get back
You should be automatically reconnected to our network when you return to home after your visit.
If you’re struggling to reconnect, try these three things to give your phone a helping hand.
- Restart your phone
- Select the Virgin Mobile network manually from your phone’s Settings.
You can find out how to select a network on your phone manufacturer’s support site.
If you’ve turned on voicemail diverts while away and would like to turn it off now you’re home, simply do the following:
- Dial your voicemail
- Choose **Message settings **
- Follow the instructions
To turn off call divert in your phone’s Settings, visit your phone manufacturer’s support site, or check out our device guides.
Want to check how much you’ve spent on holiday, or make sure you haven’t overrun your inclusive allowance? Check by signing in to Your Account or using the Virgin Mobile app.
*The text is free for Virgin Mobile customers, or will be charged at your mobile provider’s standard rates.
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