EE roaming charges vs a travel eSIM: what a trip costs

Short answer: EE roaming in Turkey, the USA and Thailand costs £6 per 24 hours or £30 per 7 days, from EE's price guide effective 31 March 2026. In the Europe zone it is £2.72 a day unless your plan includes it. For a week or more outside Europe, a travel eSIM sized to your trip usually costs less.

If you are on EE and flying outside Europe, EE roaming charges for data start at £6 a day. If you are staying inside Europe, EE roaming may already be in your plan and cost nothing extra.

This guide sets out EE's own published roaming prices and zones, dated and linked, then works through 7 and 14 day trips to Turkey, the USA and Thailand against an Aynet travel eSIM. Every EE figure below comes from EE's own pages and price guides, checked on 29 September 2026.

How much are EE roaming charges?

It depends on the zone. EE pay monthly customers roaming in the Europe zone pay a daily EU charge of £2.72 unless their plan includes EU roaming. In Rest of World Zone 1, which includes Turkey, the USA and Thailand, you need a pass to use data at all.

EE roaming option (pay monthly)	Price	What you get
Daily EU charge	£2.72 per day	Your UK allowance, midnight to midnight UK time
Weekly EU Roaming Pass	£16.50	Your UK allowance for 7 days (168 hours)
12-days EU Pass	£27.50	Your UK allowance for 12 days (288 hours)
Zone 1, 24-hour pass	£6.00	Your UK allowance for 24 hours
Zone 1, 7-day pass	£30.00	Your UK allowance for 7 days (168 hours)
Zone 1, no pass	calls £2.46 a minute, texts 98p	EE says you need a pass to use data

Source: EE Pay Monthly price guide, "all charges applicable from 31 March 2026". EE also says the daily EU charge "will increase each year by the annual percentage increase", so check the current guide before you travel.

A fair use limit applies to all of it: EE's plan terms set a 50GB data fair use policy outside the UK, with a surcharge of £0.0036 per MB above that.

Which EE roaming zone is my destination in?

Turkey, the USA and Thailand are all in Rest of World Zone 1, at the same price. Turkey is not in EE's Europe zone: EE's plan terms say Turkey is "outside the EU/EEA and not included in our European Roaming Zone."

The Europe zone covers the EU countries plus places such as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, and several French overseas regions. The Republic of Ireland is included in the allowance.

When is EE roaming fine?

EE roaming is fine, and often free, when you stay in the Europe zone on a plan that includes it. EE's plan terms say EU roaming is included on its Essentials Plus, All Rounder and Full Works plans taken on or after 29 August 2024. Plans launched before 7 July 2021 also roam in the EU at no extra cost.

Two more cases where EE roaming holds up:

• Full Works plans include roaming in both the EU zone and Rest of World Zone 1 since 5 March 2025, so Turkey, the USA and Thailand are covered too.
• A short trip of a day or two in Zone 1, where one or two 24-hour passes at £6 each are simple and the pass lets you use your UK allowance.

On EE pay as you go, EE's Europe zone option is Roam like Home at £2.50 for 24 hours or £10 for 7 days, with an active 30-Day or Saver plan.

What does a week in Turkey, the USA or Thailand cost on EE?

£30 with a 7-day Zone 1 pass, or £42 if you buy seven 24-hour passes at £6. Two weeks is £60 with two 7-day passes. The price is the same in all three countries.

Here is the same trip on an Aynet travel eSIM. Aynet prices are from our catalogue on 29 September 2026, in euros with VAT included, and the plan sizes follow our how much data do I need guide (about 0.6 GB a day for normal use).

Trip	EE (Zone 1 passes)	Aynet travel eSIM
Turkey, 7 days	£30 (one 7-day pass)	Turkey Smart 5 GB, 30 days: €5.99
Turkey, 14 days	£60 (two 7-day passes)	Turkey Smart 10 GB, 30 days: €7.99
USA, 7 days	£30	USA Smart 5 GB, 30 days: €7.99
USA, 14 days	£60	USA Smart 10 GB, 30 days: €12.99
Thailand, 7 days	£30	Thailand Smart 5 GB, 30 days: €6.99
Thailand, 14 days	£60	Thailand Smart 10 GB, 30 days: €10.99

EE's prices are in pounds and Aynet's in euros, VAT included. On every trip in the table, the eSIM price in euros is below a quarter of the EE price in pounds.

EE's pass lets you use your UK allowance, up to the 50GB fair use limit, while an Aynet plan has a fixed amount of data. If you stream video for hours every day, size the eSIM up, or check the data calculator first.

When does a travel eSIM win over EE roaming?

A travel eSIM wins on trips of more than a couple of days outside the Europe zone, unless you are on Full Works. That covers the three destinations above and most long-haul trips.

The setup is the same whichever country you visit:

1. Keep your EE SIM in the phone, so texts such as bank codes still reach your number.
2. Turn data roaming off on the EE line, so no pass is triggered for data.
3. Install the travel eSIM at home, set it as the line for mobile data, and turn data roaming on for that line only.
4. Make calls over WhatsApp or FaceTime on the eSIM's data. Calls on the EE line in Zone 1 cost £2.46 a minute without a pass.

If the eSIM route is new to you, how does an eSIM work walks through each step, and your phone needs to be unlocked; EE unlocks its own phones free online.

In short: inside Europe, check your plan first; you may already have roaming. Outside Europe, price a travel eSIM for the trip before you buy an EE pass.

Can EE's spend cap stop roaming charges?

Partly. EE's spend cap page says a cap can restrict EU roaming daily charges, but it cannot restrict data pass purchases. So a cap will not stop you buying a £30 Zone 1 pass; switching data roaming off on the EE line will stop the data use itself.

Planning a trip to one of these? See the eSIM for Turkey, eSIM for the USA and eSIM for Thailand pages for every plan with its network, or tell Aynet your trip and get one plan picked for you.

FAQ

How much does EE charge for roaming in Turkey?

£6 for a 24-hour pass or £30 for a 7-day pass, because Turkey is in EE's Rest of World Zone 1, not the Europe zone. The pass lets you use your UK allowance. Prices are from EE's price guide, applicable from 31 March 2026.

How much is EE roaming in the USA?

The same as Turkey: £6 per 24 hours or £30 per 7 days, as the USA is also in Rest of World Zone 1. Without a pass, EE says you cannot use data, and calls cost £2.46 a minute. A week on a 5 GB USA travel eSIM costs €7.99 on Aynet (29 September 2026).

Is EE roaming free in Europe?

It is included on EE's Essentials Plus, All Rounder and Full Works plans taken on or after 29 August 2024, and on plans launched before 7 July 2021. Other pay monthly plans pay a daily EU charge of £2.72, or £16.50 for a weekly EU pass.

Does EE have a roaming cap?

EE lets you set a spend cap that can restrict EU roaming daily charges, but EE says it cannot restrict data pass purchases. A 50GB fair use limit also applies to data outside the UK.

Can I use a travel eSIM and keep my EE number?

Yes. Leave your EE SIM in the phone for calls and texts and add the travel eSIM for data, with data roaming turned off on the EE line. Your number stays active; calls on it abroad follow EE's roaming rates.

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Sources: EE Pay Monthly price guide, charges from 31 March 2026 (PDF), EE roaming prices, EE Pay Monthly plan terms from 7 August 2025 (PDF), EE, Pay as you go roaming in the EU, EE, Spend cap, Aynet catalogue, 29 September 2026. All checked 29 September 2026.