leto78 t1_ixqdwus wrote on November 25, 2022 at 2:20 PM

While the EU bans roaming between member states, this does not include airlines and cruise ships. People will be forced to turn airplane mode in order not to pay ridiculous prices for roaming.

Bumwax t1_ixqoig6 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 3:47 PM

Am I misunderstanding you here, the EU doesnt ban roaming among its member states. In fact it has quite strict regulations on roaming within the EU, currently valid until 2032, that severely limits roaming charges.

The cell operator Im a customer of has no extra roaming charges at all up until a very high monthly cap (higher than I reach in 6 months easily) and as far as Im aware, this is pretty much standard. Ive been to Germany, Poland, Romania and Portugal quite recently and incurred no extra charges for any of these trips.

Karmakazee t1_ixqzgdm wrote on November 25, 2022 at 5:10 PM

I read their post to mean the same thing you’re describing—that the EU restricts fees on roaming between member states. Their point was that these restrictions won’t necessarily apply in the context of calls made while in flight (why they wouldn’t, I have no idea).

ubiquitous_uk t1_ixr0fx4 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 5:17 PM

What he is saying is that roaming only covers ground charges, there will be chaarges for using the airlines system to make calls, so if you don't turn airplane mode, chances are you will have an enormous data bill from the network running in the background.

_DeanRiding t1_ixqp823 wrote on November 25, 2022 at 3:53 PM

I used to work for Vodafone and once had a call from someone who got the ferry over from Dover to Calais (pre-brexit). Apparently he didn't realise his phone was on in his pocket and used like 5mb of data (just through weather/ambient apps or whatever I guess). They charged him about £30 for it. They literally charged £6 per mb. When I spoke to general customer services to see if this was a mistake, they said the charges were totally legitimate and that he wouldn't be refunded for it.

Absolutely ludicrous.

tartare4562 t1_ixqm75c wrote on November 25, 2022 at 3:29 PM

You can disable data roaming, you know.

leto78 t1_ixqsvpl wrote on November 25, 2022 at 4:21 PM

I never have it disabled because every country that I travel to in Europe does not charge me for roaming. My operator also does not charge me for Norway, UK, Switzerland, and some other countries outside the EU.

Askduds t1_ixtxiw6 wrote on November 26, 2022 at 9:03 AM

The exception about cruise ships is important though, if you end up connected to a maritime network you absolutely will be charged.