Charges whilst in Canada

[Anonymous]

I’ve just received a phone bill after returning from vacation in Canada. I had signed up for O2 travel (thankfully) but didn’t think I’d made use of it since I had data roaming switched off and only connected to the the internet via Wi-fi. However, on my bill there are random daily charges for £4.99. 

I was told that this was because connection via some wi-fi providers may incur a charge, but I didn’t use anything other than ‘free’ Wi-fi services. There’s some reference to this in the O2 help pages but I’m still not clear about it. Is this right? Does it mean, going forward, that to avoid any charges I need to turn my phone off? How can I know when the Wi-fi Service will be genuinely free?

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

O2 travel will kick in for making or receiving calls and texts too (receiving charges if over the 120 allowance), not just using data.

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/o2travel-paymonthly-terms-and-conditions

[pgn]

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@MI5 wrote:

O2 travel will kick in for making or receiving calls and texts too (receiving charges if over the 120 allowance), not just using data.

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/o2travel-paymonthly-terms-and-conditions

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It really is a challenge keeping on top of what might, or might not, result in a charge, or trigger an automatic fee, when travelling.  Good summary, @MI5!

[MI5]

Yes, it certainly pays to make sure all the ins and outs are fully understood, just in case . Especially since the changes this summer.

[sheepdog]

I recently had this happen to me over in Canada - one solitary charge of £4.99 because I did an iOS update and for some reason it re-activated the data roaming setting. Soon fixed that but otherwise I was connecting to various free wifi places without being charged.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply MI5. I'm still missing something though.  I didn't go over the 120 limit and the guidance you linked says that O2 travel won't kick in if that's the case.  I'm certain I didn't have data roaming on anywhere, but there were a couple of calls and some texts.  What I don't get is why the the £4.99 charges were so random i.e. for only part of the vacation.

[MI5]

Those couple of calls and texts (outgoing) will invoke the charge unfortunately.