Activate your SIM

When you go abroad, your device will be able to connect to local network providers, so you can carry on using your giffgaff SIM for calls, texts and data. This is called roaming.

Charges can vary depending on where you are travelling to, so be sure to check the roaming pricing page and the extra info in this guide.

Useful tipsa

Using your phone in the EU and selected destinations

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (South), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,Finland (including Aland Islands), France (including Corsica, French Guiana,Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, Saint Martin and additionally, SaintBarthelemy), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece (including all islands), Hungary, Iceland,Ireland, Italy (including Sardinia, Sicily, and additionally, San Marino, Vatican City),Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands (but NOT Aruba,Curaçao or Sint Maarten), Norway, Poland, Portugal (including Azores, Madeira),Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceutaand Melilla), Sweden.

We have created a map that you might find handy:

If you need further clarification on the country you are travelling to or want to checkout the costs when you are visiting other countries, see our roaming page.

Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus (North), Faroe Islands, Greenland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.

Both calls and texts made and received along with data usage while visiting these places are all charged at giffgaff "Rest of World" rates.

From November 2017, visiting Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey or Switzerland will be charged at preferential rates: 15p/ min, 5p/ text and 20p / MB. However, receiving calls and texts is free.

Please note: The preferential rates will be charged from credit and not goodybagallowances.

If you require further clarification for the country you are travelling to, see ourroaming page.

How your allowances are used

You can use your goodybag allowance while travelling in the EU. This means thatdata usage, calls and texts to standard UK landline and mobile numbers, andnumbers in the other EU countries will simply be deducted from your remainingallowance.

Calls and texts are free to receive.

This is at no extra cost, apart from on the £25 Always On goodybag where additional data is charged at 0.47p (£0.0047) per MB if you have used over 20GB of data.

Please Note: You will still be able to start your next goodybag early after you haveused 20GB of Always On data. Please see How can I buy a goodybag early for moreinformation.

This inclusive roaming is meant for members who reside and spend most of their time in the UK. If it seems you do not meet this description, you may have inclusive roaming removed.

For more info, see our fair usage guidelines.

If you do not have a goodybag, and are roaming within any EU member state or territory, our pay as you go rates for calls and texts to landline and mobile numbers in the UK and to landline and mobile numbers in other countries and territories within the EU are charged at the same rate as calls and texts to UK landline and mobile numbers when those calls are made and those texts are sent within the UK.

giffgaff-to-giffgaff calls are not free to make when you are roaming. In the EU, having a goodybag and calling another giffgaff number will deduct minutes from your allowance like any other standard call. Without a goodybag, the standard pay as you go rates apply.

Your goodybag works in the EU like it does in the UK. This means that things not included in your goodybag are charged for at the same rate when roaming, as they are in the UK.

Picture messages (MMS) are charged the same wherever in the world the sending and receiving phones may be: 16p/message to a UK number, 24p/message to a non-UK number.

If you are roaming and call or text another country outside of the EU, this will also be charged for.

There are some destinations that are in the "Roam like Home" zone where we do not charge VAT. Charges applied in these countries, are the standard EU rate but with VAT taken off.

The countries where this applies are: French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Mayotte, Norway and Reunion.

Check your balance abroad

There are several ways to easily check your balance when abroad:

How to submit proof of UK residency?

Note: The vast majority of members will not need to submit any proof of residency.You can check your current eligibility in your account settings, just scroll down toRoaming Status in Phone and call service settings.

To be eligible for the inclusive EU roaming on our goodybags, we need to make sure you are a genuine giffgaff member, and someone who typically lives in the UK, but may take trips to other EU destinations from time to time. The vast majority of our members will become eligible without needing to do anything different.

We will make things easy by automatically turning on EU roaming as part of your goodybag. However, if we can’t see any recent UK usage, we’ll send you an email and SMS asking for proof of residency in the UK. You’ll have to provide this to us within 14 days to ensure you remain eligible.

If you fail to submit such evidence, you’ll receive an email advising you of yourimpending ineligibility for inclusive roaming and an SMS shortly thereafter confirmingthat your inclusive roaming has been switched off. If you submit the requiredevidence at a later stage, (or we see evidence of UK usage) your inclusive roamingwill be switched on again.

You can submit various documents as proof of residency.

We typically require 2 types of documents:

Once you have got them, contact our agents here, explain your situation and submitthe documents by pressing the paperclip ERROR. 📷 - button. They will respond assoon as possible and will guide you through the next steps. In case you forgot to addthe documents beforehand, do not worry. You will be given a place to upload themlater.