How to Call Abroad Without Roaming Charges: 5 Ways

Key takeaways

• Roaming charges on calls apply when your home line makes or answers a call over a foreign cellular network. Keep calls off that network and the charge goes away.
• The five ways to do it: Wi-Fi Calling, internet calling apps, a travel data eSIM, a local SIM or eSIM, or a plan that includes roaming where you're going.
• Turn on Wi-Fi Calling before you leave. Some carriers won't let you switch it on from abroad, and each carrier sets its own rules for how those calls are billed.
• A second number such as 2Phon gives you a separate line for calls with hosts, drivers and booking desks. Calls use minutes in the app.

To call abroad without roaming charges, keep your calls off the foreign cellular network that your home plan would bill as roaming. You have five ways to do that: Wi-Fi Calling on your home line, internet calling apps, a travel data eSIM, a local SIM or eSIM, or a home plan that already includes roaming where you're going.

Most trips need two of them. One covers calls with people at home. The other covers calls to local numbers: the hotel, the driver, the restaurant. For those local calls, some travelers also use a second number such as 2Phon, an iPhone app that gives you a real second phone number from dozens of countries for verification codes and real calls. The app shows its current calling options.

This guide explains where the charges come from, how each option works on an iPhone, and the traps that still cost money. For the wider phone setup on a trip, including bank codes and data, see how to choose a phone number for travel.

When do roaming charges on calls apply?

Roaming charges apply when your home line uses a foreign cellular network. Your carrier has no towers abroad, so it rents access from a local network and passes the cost to you, at a rate it sets.

On a typical plan, three things can be billed while you roam:

• Calls you make, to local numbers and to numbers back home.
• Calls you answer. On many plans an incoming call counts as roaming too, even though you didn't dial.
• Mobile data, including the data that calling apps use when you're not on Wi-Fi.

Carriers differ a lot here. Some plans include certain countries, some sell a daily pass, and some charge by the minute. Apple's guide to cellular data roaming tells travelers to contact their carrier before the trip and shop its international roaming plans. Do that first, because everything else depends on what your plan already covers.

The EU exception

Inside the EU, a plan from an EU carrier is charged at domestic rates. The EU's Your Europe page on roaming calls this "roam like at home". It covers calls to mobile and fixed phones, texts and data while you travel in another EU country, within your carrier's fair use policy, and the page says the same regime applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (as of November 2026).

That rule only helps if your plan comes from an EU carrier. A plan from the US, the UK or elsewhere follows its own carrier's roaming terms.

Five ways to call abroad without roaming charges

Each option keeps your calls off the roaming network in a different way. The right one depends on who you need to reach.

1. Wi-Fi Calling on your home line

Wi-Fi Calling sends regular calls on your carrier number over Wi-Fi instead of a cell tower. People dial your normal number, and you call from the Phone app as usual.

How those calls are billed is up to your carrier. A common rule is that a Wi-Fi call is treated as if you made it from home. Verizon is one example: its Wi-Fi Calling FAQ says that on plans with unlimited talk and text, calling back to the US over Wi-Fi from abroad is free, while calls to any other country are charged under your international long distance plan or at pay-as-you-go rates (as of November 2026).

So Wi-Fi Calling is a good fit for calls home. It may be a poor fit for calling the restaurant down the street, because your carrier can treat that as an international call. Look up your own carrier's rule before you rely on it.

2. Internet calling apps

FaceTime, WhatsApp and similar apps place calls over the internet, so your carrier's per-minute roaming rates don't apply to them. The call only uses Wi-Fi or mobile data. On hotel or cafe Wi-Fi, that means no roaming at all.

The limit is that both people need the same app. That works for family and friends. It won't reach a hotel landline or a local taxi company.

3. A travel data eSIM plus calling apps

A travel eSIM gives you mobile data on a local or travel plan, so app calls work away from Wi-Fi. An eSIM is a digital SIM built into the phone. Apple's guide to using eSIM while traveling lists the choices: a plan from a local carrier, a plan from a worldwide service provider, or one of the App Store apps that sell data-only eSIM plans.

Apple also notes that you can keep using FaceTime and other apps for internet calls on your home line while you travel with a travel eSIM. The catch is in the word data-only. A plan without a phone number can't place or receive regular phone calls. You call through apps.

Your iPhone has to be unlocked to use another carrier's plan. Apple's guide says to look for "No SIM Restrictions" next to Carrier Lock in Settings → General → About.

4. A local SIM or eSIM with a local number

A prepaid plan from a local carrier gives you a local number and local call rates. According to Apple's travel guide, you can buy one on the carrier's website or app before you travel, or in person after you arrive.

This is the strongest option when you make many calls to local numbers. The downside comes later. A prepaid tourist number usually ends when the plan does, so don't tie any account you care about to it. If Dual SIM is new to you, read how two phone numbers work on one iPhone.

5. A home plan or pass that includes roaming

Sometimes the simplest fix is a plan that already covers your destination. That might be the EU rule above, a plan with certain countries included, or a daily pass from your carrier.

A pass still costs money, so it isn't "no charges". It swaps an unknown per-minute bill for a fixed one. For a short trip where you want your phone to work exactly as it does at home, that can be the right trade.

For the dialing side, with the plus sign and country codes, see how to make international calls from an iPhone and our table of international dialing codes.

How to set up your iPhone before you leave

Do the setup at home, on your own Wi-Fi and your own network. A few of these switches are hard or impossible to change once you've landed.

1. Ask your carrier three questions

   What does roaming cost where you're going? Are incoming calls billed? How are Wi-Fi calls billed when you're abroad? Write down the answers.

2. Turn on Wi-Fi Calling

   Apple's Wi-Fi Calling guide gives the path: Settings → Cellular, choose the line if you have more than one, then tap Wi-Fi Calling and turn on Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone. Do it before you fly: some carriers only let you activate Wi-Fi Calling while you're still in your home country.

3. Turn off Data Roaming on your home line

   Apple's roaming guide says to go to Cellular Data, tap Cellular Data Options and turn off Data Roaming. This stops your home plan from using foreign mobile data.

4. Install your travel or local eSIM

   Set it up while you're still on home Wi-Fi, then make it your data line when you arrive. Apple warns that with both lines on you "might still incur roaming fees from your home eSIM", which is why the previous step matters.

5. Set up your calling apps and second number

   Check that the people you'll call have the same apps you do. If you want a separate number for local calls and sign-ups, set that up now too.

What still costs money (the traps)

Most surprise bills come from a home line that quietly connected to a foreign network. These are the usual causes:

• Answering a call on cellular. If your home line is roaming and you pick up, many plans bill it. Let it ring and call back over Wi-Fi or an app.
• Wi-Fi calls to local numbers. Your carrier may bill them as international calls from home. Use a local line or an app for those.
• A weak Wi-Fi signal. If Wi-Fi drops, your iPhone may fall back to the cellular network. Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi on prevents this.
• A data-only eSIM. It keeps apps online but can't place a regular phone call. Plan for how you'll reach a landline.
• Emergency calls. Apple says that when cellular service is available, your iPhone uses it for emergency calls. Never avoid an emergency call to save on roaming.

One more thing to keep in mind: your bank and many accounts send verification codes to your home number. If you leave that line in Airplane Mode for the whole trip, those codes can't land. Turn the line on when you expect one. If a code still doesn't show up, see why verification codes don't arrive.

Where a second number fits

A second number gives you a separate line for the calls a trip creates, without handing your personal number to every host and driver. If the idea is new to you, start with what a second phone number is.

2Phon is one option on iPhone. Here's what it does, and what it doesn't:

• Real calls on a real number. You make and take calls on your second number while you travel. Calls use minutes in the app, and current options are shown there, so check before you count on it for a particular country.
• Your caller ID stays private. People you call see your 2Phon number, not your personal one. There are other ways to do this too, covered in how to hide your phone number when calling.
• Codes for local apps. 2Phon numbers are real mobile numbers, not VoIP, so ride-hailing, delivery and booking apps can send their verification codes there.
• Honest limits. 2Phon is iPhone only. It doesn't send texts. Your account has one number, and it stays yours while your subscription is active.

2Phon doesn't replace your home line for bank codes, and it isn't a data plan. Your iPhone still needs Wi-Fi or a data line to stay online. Think of it as the number you give out on the trip, next to the setup above.

Get 2Phon on the App Store and set up your second number before you leave. Start with a free trial; current plans are shown in the app.

The short version

To avoid roaming charges on calls, decide before you leave which connection each kind of call will use. Calls home go over Wi-Fi Calling or an app. Local calls go through a local line, an app or a second number. Your home line stays on for codes, with Data Roaming off, and you don't answer it on a foreign network unless you know the rate.

Then confirm the details with your carrier, because it sets the prices. Ten minutes on its website before the trip beats a surprise on next month's bill.