SMARTY's EU roaming: why it's here for the foreseeable future

What you get with SMARTY’s roaming

SMARTY’s parent company, Three, were one of the first networks to pull their inclusive EU roaming schemes. But SMARTY have kept their policy in place, letting you roam with your UK plan in these 34 EU/EEA destinations.

It works on every plan, even their cheapest here:

They cover most popular EU holiday destinations. Unfortunately SMARTY don’t offer inclusive roaming beyond the EU, so you’ll have to top up and pay as you go (see rates here) outside Europe.

There are a couple of downsides to their EU roaming. While you’re abroad you’ll be restricted to 12GB if your plan is over that amount. And you’ll have to turn roaming on manually before you leave, or you could end up with no network connection.

But it’s a much better roaming scheme than Three’s or any other network that makes you pay a daily fee to roam. And 12GB will be enough for a short trip for most people. So, SMARTY’s roaming is decent overall.

Useful link: How to set up EU roaming on your SMARTY SIM

Why we think SMARTY will keep their EU roaming in place

From everything we’ve seen, we think SMARTY will keep their EU roaming scheme in place for the foreseeable future. It takes up a decent chunk of their marketing, and is one of the reasons people would join them over Three.

We’ve actually spoken to the people behind SMARTY in real life. They see EU roaming as one of the key ways they add value to SMARTY, while Three is more of a premium option with worldwide roaming options.

Since most of SMARTY’s low-cost rivals still have their EU roaming schemes in place, it makes sense to keep it on SMARTY, so as not to fall behind.

So, we predict that SMARTY will not get rid of their EU roaming in 2022. But that doesn’t mean they won’t make any changes. We’ll keep this page updated to reflect any changes they make if and when they happen.

Useful link: SMARTY’s guide to their EU roaming

What if SMARTY did remove EU roaming?

This is purely hypothetical, but let’s say SMARTY removed their EU roaming scheme tomorrow. What would your options be then?

All of SMARTY’s SIM only plans are 1-month deals. This means you can leave them whenever with very little notice. If they make a change that you don’t like you’re more than free to leave.

If EU roaming is important to you and you wanted to stay on Three’s network then your best option would be iD Mobile. Their prices are similar to SMARTY’s, but they offer contracts rather than 1-month plans. Their EU roaming is decent, but not the best.

Our number one best network for EU roaming is Tesco Mobile. While they’re a little bit pricier than SMARTY, they let you roam in the EU with no fair usage policies. They’re the only network that let you use your whole allowance while abroad.

Because it’s so easy to switch from SMARTY and because all their low-cost rivals offer inclusive EU roaming, we can’t see SMARTY getting rid of their own scheme. But it’s good to know your options just in case.

Useful link: Our guide to the best EU roaming networks