Inclusive USA roaming on UK mobile networks’ plans

Three have the best options for USA data roaming

There are a couple of ways to get USA data roaming included on Three. Take one of their decent value 1‑month rolling Pay As You Go bundles or a pay monthly Value/Complete plan on phones or SIM only.

Three SIMs with inclusive USA roaming

Both let you use up to 12GB of your data allowance per month while you’re in the States. But it’s important to understand you don’t get any calls or texts to US numbers, just back to the UK (O2 do include these).

If you take the pay monthly option on a phone contract or SIM only, you will get a set number of days you can roam for. If you go for the PAYG option, there are no such limits. Here’s the current cheapest deal:

And the nice thing about both options is that they come with Go Roam Around The World, which gives you a total of 71 inclusive roaming destinations in Europe and further afield, not just the USA.

Useful link: Read our full Three review

Have a look at specialist travel eSIMs for one-off trips

You might not need your UK mobile plan to include roaming in the USA, if your phone supports eSIM (a digital version of the traditional SIM card). All modern iPhones have this and plenty of newer Androids.

There’s now a massive market of specialist travel eSIM providers, offering short term plans to use in your destination. You keep your regular UK plan going but have a travel eSIM working alongside it.

Generally speaking, our favourite provider for travel to the USA is airalo. The experience is slick and their prices are excellent. Other options exist but there’s little to split any of them.

The combined cost of temporarily running two SIMs could be much better value than paying a high premium for a monthly UK plan with American roaming you rarely use. So travel eSIMs are definitely something worth considering.

Useful link: Our guide to the best roaming eSIMs

Plenty of O2 deals get you some roaming in the USA

Your other main option is to join O2 on one of their Plus or Ultimate plans. On top of EU roaming, these also include 27 extra destinations including the USA. These are available as SIM only or with a phone contract.

O2 SIMs with inclusive USA roaming

While you’re in the USA, these give you unlimited minutes and texts back to the UK and to American numbers. You’ll also get unlimited data but speed limited to a 3G-style 2 Mbps (deliberately to keep your usage down).

That’s fast enough for things like music streaming, social media, emails and the like. But if you’re planning on high definition video streaming or tethering other device, 2 Mbps will quickly start to creak and buffer.

Naturally, the Plus and Ultimate plans are premium options too, so expect to pay more for the general cost of your monthly deal. If you don’t travel to the USA that often, one of the short term options might be better.

Useful link: More about O2’s Travel Inclusive Zone

Vodafone also have some ultra premium USA roaming plans

Similar to O2, on Vodafone you can pay more to get more included. If you take any of their phone contracts or SIM only deals marked as “Xtra Global Roam”, you’ll be able to roam in the USA at no extra cost.

Vodafone SIMs with inclusive USA roaming

That gives you up to 25GB of your plan’s regular data allowance per month to roam with. You’ll also be able to call and text back to UK numbers, though you will pay for any calls to US numbers (check latest charges here).

And it’s not just the United States. You can roaming in Canada and a total of 81 destinations worldwide (see Zones A,B, C here). If you travel a lot, it could be worth investing the extra cost of the plan.

Useful link: Our full network review of Vodafone

Some networks’ extra USA roaming rates are reasonable

All the examples above are where you choose specific monthly plans to get roaming included while you’re stateside. But they all make you pay a higher rate for your basic plan, than comparible deals without.

That only really makes sense if you’re going to be in the USA multiple times a year. Unless you join on Three’s 1-month SIMs, you’ll be paying for the luxury of roaming every month, despite being in the UK most the time.

If that is the case, you could be better off taking a secondary travel eSIM just for your trip, or joining on a better-value network and swallowing the extra charges while you’re away.

Best SIM deals with reasonable charges in the USA

These don't include USA roaming but do let you buy reasonable passes to roam there:

Sky Mobile offer a very reasonable £2 per day roaming pass in the USA that lets you access your usual UK minutes, texts and data. And VOXI have some nicely priced 8-day or 15-day roaming passes too.

Useful links: Our full Sky Mobile review | Our full VOXI review