Best mobile contract for international use?

[Kermit power]

Hi all,

I'm about to change companies, and will be going from one with fully centralised mobile phone billing to one where the intention is to pay us all an additional monthly allowance (amount TBC) so that we can acquire a phone & contract instead.

On the face of it, this seems nice and easy - I can get the handset I want, the contract I want, etc. The issue I'm having, though, is that my calling profile isn't exactly typical, and I can't find any comparison sites or the like which help!

Typically, my calls are more or less split evenly between calling in the UK or the EU, with also a smattering of calls to the States. However, I will also typically be travelling in the EU for up to around 6 days per month, and still needing to call to the UK/EU from there. Obviously I also expect to receive inbound calls from all those destinations, whether I'm in the UK or travelling.

Knowing there are plenty of people who travel on here, does anyone have a contract that can handle this sort of thing? Or do I just have to try and do as many calls as I can via data rather than phone?

Having a second SIM isn't really a desirable option, as I can't just leave people guessing which number to reach me on, plus I know I'd be forever forgetting to swap them out anyway!

[megaphone]

I thought most contracts now included European zone calls within the allowance? Unless you're in the UK calling abroad it shouldn't cost you more. You can also get 'add ons for overseas calling'

https://shop.ee.co.uk/international/pay-monthly-in...

[Kermit power]

megaphone said:

I thought most contracts now included European zone calls within the allowance? Unless you're in the UK calling abroad it shouldn't cost you more. You can also get 'add ons for overseas calling'

https://shop.ee.co.uk/international/pay-monthly-in...

Many do, but they all seem to do it to a greater or lesser extent, so I want to just make sure that I'm not going to merrily head off with a 24 month contract thinking that I've got essentially a fixed monthly fee, and then get badly stung by discovering, for example, that whilst I could call either the US or France from the UK from inclusive minutes, it's going to cost me a fortune to call the US from France.

As an example, "Three Go Roam" looks really good until you read the fair usage policy. At that point, you discover that whilst I could use it in the EU just as though I was in the UK, if I'm in the US, I could only use inclusive minutes for calls back to the UK. Calls to France, for example, or indeed to another US number would be charged at £1.40 per minute, which is an expensive mistake to make if I join an hour-long conference call without realising!

At the moment, I think a Vodafone Unlimited Max plan is probably my best bet.