A British traveller has warned holidaymakers about the risk of unexpected roaming charges after just two hours in Monaco left him with a £109 phone bill.
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hours → warn → bill
Polo Lam, 30, from Whitby, North Yorkshire, was travelling across Europe with his girlfriend Laura Matos, 29, in September when the couple made a brief stop in Monaco.
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couple → travel → Monaco
Despite using just 18.66MB of mobile data between them, the pair incurred almost £85 (€99.79) in roaming charges, sending their monthly bill soaring to £109 (€128.88), compared with just £25 (€29.18) the previous month.
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bill → use → 25
To put that in perspective, 18.66MB is roughly the amount of data someone might use scrolling through Instagram for just three to 10 minutes.
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someone → put → minutes
The couple were enjoying what should have been a budget-friendly interrail holiday from Barcelona to Vienna, travelling through France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary.
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what → enjoy → France
While staying in Nice, they decided to visit nearby Menton and make a short stop in Monaco, which hadn't originally been part of their plan.
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which → stay → plan
Laura, a psychologist and founder of psychology centre La CoolMente, said: 'It was actually my idea to visit Monaco.
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It → say → Monaco
I'd heard so much about the luxury and the famous casino, and I wanted to see what it was like for myself.
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it → hear → myself
However, their brief visit proved considerably more expensive than expected.
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visit → prove → ?
Polo Lam, 30, from Whitby, North Yorkshire, was travelling with his girlfriend
It wasn't until they continued their journey into Italy that Polo checked their mobile account and discovered the charges.
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Polo → travel → charges
Speaking in an interview for Nomad eSIM, Polo said: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw the bill.
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I → speak → bill
We'd only been in Monaco for a few hours, and somehow our phone bill had jumped to £109.
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bill → jump → 109
We'd barely used our phones.
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We → use → phones
We only checked Google Maps and opened Instagram, but that was about it.
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that → check → it
'What really scares me is thinking about what could have happened if we'd stayed overnight.
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we → scar → me
If we'd spent a whole day or two there, we could potentially have been looking at a bill running into the hundreds, or even thousands of pounds.
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we → spend → pounds
I'm pretty stingy when it comes to money, so you can imagine how I felt.
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I → come → money
We'd gone interrailing to have a relatively inexpensive holiday, and suddenly we had this huge phone bill.'
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we → go → bill
Laura said: 'We were both confused about where the charges had come from.
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charges → say → where
We'd only used our phones briefly to find our location, so we felt the bill was completely unreasonable.
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bill → use → location
'We kept talking about it for days afterwards because we'd been trying so hard to save money throughout the trip.'
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we → keep → trip
The pair noticed their phone bill had jumped to £109 (€128.88)
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bill → notice → 109
Polo said the unexpected expense put a dampener on their holiday.
'
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expense → say → holiday
The worst part was thinking about what else we could have spent that money on.
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we → think → money
We were trying to keep costs down, and it would have paid for three or four meals out in some of the places we visited.'
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we → try → places
The experience left the couple more cautious about using their phones abroad, particularly when travelling between countries.
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experience → leave → countries
Polo said: 'I'd tell anyone travelling around Europe to check exactly which countries are covered by their mobile plan.
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countries → say → plan
Just because somewhere is in Europe doesn't mean your normal roaming allowance applies.
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allowance → mean → Europe
We found that out the expensive way.'
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We → find → way
Tim Page, marketing lead at Nomad eSIM, said: 'One of the biggest misconceptions about mobile roaming is that travelling within Europe automatically means you're covered by your usual mobile plan.
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you → say → plan
Despite being surrounded by France on three sides, it's not part of the European Union and isn't automatically covered by the EU's Roam Like at Home rules.
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it → surround → rules
They have warned other travellers to beware roaming charges and differing rules
'
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They → warn → charges
Introduced in June 2017, these rules generally allow customers of EU mobile operators to use their calls, texts and data across EU countries without paying additional roaming charges.
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customers → introduce → charges
'This means travellers could be using their phones in Nice without additional roaming charges, then cross into Monaco and face significantly higher rates for exactly the same usage.'
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travellers → mean → usage
He advises: 'Before travelling, always check which countries are included in your mobile plan, particularly destinations such as Monaco, Andorra and Switzerland.
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countries → advise → Monaco
Even small amounts of data can result in surprisingly expensive bills, so consider switching off data roaming or using a travel eSIM that specifically covers your destination.
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that → result → destination
'If you do receive an unexpected roaming charge, contact your mobile provider as soon as possible.
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you → receive → provider
While there's no guarantee, some providers may be willing to reduce or waive the charges as a goodwill gesture.'
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providers → be → gesture
The Aporia
