Don’t get me wrong the feel at home tariff from three is a fantastic product and using a three sim in Australia at least for the first few weeks/months provided me with the perfect option while i found my feet and sorted out an Australian sim. There are however a few restrictions you may not actually be aware of if you have just read the headline. Things that could mean you still end up with a large bill to pay when you return.
Restrictions not really covered obviously in the details section
International waters:
The first issue I would like to highlight, which you probably won’t even know about even if you have read all the terms and condition carefully is that when travelling between adjoining countries included within feel at home tariff (i.e. UK to France) there is still an area in-between that will not be included. There is an area you will be connected to some kind of maritime network that is neither in the UK or France. Suppose it's obvious when you know but caught my dad out who just happen to think of something he wanted to look at on eBay just at the point he was in the grey area and instantly received a load of texts saying he had been charge x amount for data. Total charge for a few seconds/minutes of surfing came to over £30. Contacted three and got this reduced by 50% and I’m sure he could probably have got this reduced further but still something everyone should be aware of. Is easy to avoid these charges by turning your phone off between countries
Restrictions that shouldn’t be a problem as long as you know about them
The rest of the issues are actually highlighted more obviously in the small print but still most people may not be aware.
12GB limit – Even if you have unlimited data there is a 12GB limit for a feel at home country. This is not an issue but something that is nice to know.
You can’t tether – This turned out to be a bit of a pain for us as I was intending to use my girlfriend’s data and was unable to do this due to the tethering restriction. Funny thing is, if I had known about this upfront I probably would have gone with three as well!!!
3g only (not 4G) – You will not get 4G even if the country has 4G available and you have a 4g tariff. Although i have heard that if you contact them you may get this restriction removed.
Speed restricted – Even at the lower 3G connection the speed also seemed to be throttled, and it says in the details some sites will have restricted performance. From my experience YouTube videos where generally too slow to play. Bit of a pain when you were relying on this to play videos to your daughter to keep her occupied during some of the journey. Could have planned around this if I had know upfront.
No more than 2/3 months together – If you go away for more than 2/3 months together Three can cancel your feel at home functionality.
Can’t call local numbers – You can only call UK numbers this includes people who are on holiday with you from the UK but if your in Australia you can't call a local Australian number or local mobile number as part of your feel at home tariff. i.e. you will be charge extra outside your tarriff as an international call.
Can’t use 070, 09 and 118 numbers – fair enough, not sure these are even included at home
Things included that you might not think are
One a more positive note here are some things that you may not expect to be included but are:
08 numbers – These are included as part of your allowance
Receive calls and texts – It is always free to receive calls and texts
Summary of using three sim in Australia
To be honest despite some of the restrictions using a Three mobile contract while in Oz or abroad within a "feel at home country" is a very good solution. If your just on holiday your only other option really is to visit lots of WiFi hotspots and/or McDonald’s restaurants as there connection is almost always free and usually very good. You can also sign up to Three and use this service straight away or even take out a pay as you go contract and use it.
If you are moving to Oz for good I feel the ideal solution would be to use three while in the UK and time it so that your three contract ends within three months of being there. This way you have a phone you can use to call back to the UK while you sort out an Australian SIM.
