Bali eSIM vs EE, Three, Vodafone UK roaming: real 2026 costs

Last updated 15 April 2026 · 3 min read

A British traveller saves £30-45 on a week in Bali by using an eSIM over their home telco’s roaming pack.

Bali isn’t in the EU, it isn’t on any UK telco’s “free roaming” list, and the prices most networks charge for Indonesian data are genuinely expensive. This is how to avoid them.

The bottom line

For 7 days in Bali at normal usage (5-8 GB):

The eSIM is £29-43 cheaper than the cheapest UK telco option.

How each UK telco handles Bali

EE — Bali is not in EE’s free “Roam Like at Home” zone or in the expanded “Roam Abroad Pass” inclusions for most plans. You pay £6-8 per day for data access to Indonesia. Seven days = £42-56. New plans from late 2025 have tightened Roam Abroad to exclude Indonesia entirely on some tiers, so always check your specific plan before you fly.

Three — Three’s Go Roam scheme historically included Indonesia but removed it after Brexit-era regulatory changes in 2021. Bali is now charged at standard daily roaming rates — around £5 per day for data. Seven days = £35.

Vodafone UK — Global Roaming Plus is £7 per day for destinations outside Europe. Bali sits in this tier. Seven days = £49.

All three UK telcos piggyback on Telkomsel or Indosat in Bali — same networks a local eSIM uses. Signal quality is identical. What changes is price.

The bill-shock risk

UK telcos apply automatic roaming charges the moment your phone uses data in Bali — unless you’ve actively disabled international data or added a specific travel plan beforehand.

If you arrive in Denpasar with data roaming on but no active travel plan, you can be charged per-megabyte rates of £5-10 per MB on some networks. A couple of days of background app activity (email sync, cloud backups, app updates) can produce a bill in the low three figures.

An eSIM doesn’t have this failure mode. It’s prepaid. When the data runs out, it stops.

When the UK telco option is worth it

Three scenarios where paying your UK network is reasonable:

1. Short business trips where your employer pays. £56 for a week of Telstra-equivalent convenience isn’t the end of the world.

2. Frequent traveller schemes — if you’re on EE’s Essential Plus or Full Works plan and Bali happens to be included that quarter (inclusions change, check before you fly), the day pass might be free or near-free.

3. Heavy-SMS users — if your UK bank (Monzo, Starling, Revolut, traditional high-street banks) sends SMS codes frequently for transactions, keeping your UK number active on a second line is essential. Luckily, dual SIM solves this for free.

For holiday travellers, the eSIM wins every time.

Two-week and longer trips

Over 14 days in Bali:

• EE Roam Abroad — £84-112
• Three daily roaming — £70
• Vodafone Global Roaming Plus — £98
• Travelren Bali eSIM (10 GB / 30 days) — £10

Savings are £60-102 on a two-week trip. That’s a Balinese cooking class, a sunset dinner at Rock Bar, and change.

What Brits specifically should know

Bali is not covered by any UK roaming freebie. Since the Brexit regulatory shift, most UK telcos have quietly removed Indonesia from their bundled overseas inclusions. If a friend says “my EE plan covers Bali,” ask when they last checked — it probably doesn’t.

iPhone XS or newer, Samsung Galaxy S20 or newer, Pixel 3 or newer — all eSIM-compatible. Most UK phones bought in the last four years will work. Check yours at our device check tool.

Keep your UK SIM for bank 2FA. High-street UK banks SMS 2FA codes for large transactions abroad. Dual SIM (eSIM for data, UK SIM with roaming off for calls/SMS) keeps this working for free.

The Boots pharmacy / hotel voucher trap. Some Bali hotels advertise “free UK calls” via hotel Wi-Fi calling. It works, but only if your UK telco supports Wi-Fi calling on your plan. Not all do. Don’t rely on it — use WhatsApp.

What to do next

1. Check your phone works with eSIM (60 seconds) 2. Browse Bali plans and pick 5-10 GB based on trip length 3. Install the eSIM on home Wi-Fi before you fly 4. Land in Denpasar, switch data to your Indonesia line, done

If you want the full setup guide including network comparison, data usage breakdown, and install troubleshooting, read our Bali eSIM hub guide.

Travelling to Bali from somewhere else? Australia · US · NZ