If you are taking your mobile abroad call the network provider.  Under European law all mobile phone customers are entitled to have access to cheap roaming for international calls. The maximum price that can be charged for outgoing calls is 38pence/min and 19pence/min for receiving calls. Legally all customers must have access to these offers unless they have already opted for a cheaper roaming package.

All of the mobile phone providers, bar T-Mobile , have free add-ons enabling international calls at a low rate but bizarrely most don’t advertise their offers. These can work out an extremely cheap way of staying in touch while you are away.  For example, Vodafone Passport enables you to use your free minutes abroad; all you pay is a flat fee of 75 pence per call. As long as you don’t exceed your free minutes the calls are free. O2 has similar offers – O2 International Traveller and O2 My Europe . If you don’t have this option, then there are other ways to reduce your costs.

1. Text instead of calling. It costs nothing to receive texts on any network. If you are on T-Mobile and visiting Europe it is cheaper still to send a picture message than a text message, and you don’t even need to include a picture. You can also send 1000 characters unlike an SMS which is 160.
2. It may be worth buying a local SIM card when you arrive at your destination. If you stick to the same network there is no worry of having to ensure your phone is unlocked.
3. If you would rather have a mobile number before you go on holiday, buying a worldwide could be the answer. This will enable you to make reduced calls at your destination and most offers come with some initial credit. Prepaidgsm.net has a full list of SIMs available in each country and enables you to buy online. Other sites worth checking for local SIM cards are 0044.com, uk2abroad.com, storytelecom.com, mycherrymobile.com, sim4travel.com and letsroam.com.
4. Try and text over the internet if you are online. There are loads of different websites which allow you to send free or very cheap SMS messages. Try fonetastic.com and mtnsms.com