O2 Pay & Go UK SIM card

An O2 SIM card in your phone gives you cheap local and international calls from the UK. Its main advantage over other UK SIM cards is the excellent range of bolt-ons that give you internet access, cheap international calls and cheap European roaming.

O2's Pay & Go plans have an add-on option that lets you use data on your phone on a prepaid plan. Although O2's voice charges are slightly higher than our Lebara SIM, the O2 data charges are very good value and the My Europe Extra bolt on makes it an excellent value option for use throughout Europe. Overall an O2 SIM card is an excellent choice if you're visiting the UK and making side trips to Europe.

Call charges are as follows:

• Calls to UK landlines and O2 mobiles 25p per minute for the first three minutes each day, then 5p per minute for the rest of the day
• Calls to other UK mobile networks 25p per minute
• Video calls 50p per minute
• Calls to 0500, 0505, 055, 056, 080 and 082 numbers 15p per minute
• Calls to 07744 and 07755 numbers 25p per minute
• Calls to 070 numbers 50p per minute
• Calls to 0844, 0845 and 0870 numbers (similar to 13 and 1300 numbers in Australia) 25p per minute
• Calls to 0871 numbers 35p per minute
• UK text message 12p
• International text message 20p
• Picture message 25p

Please note that this is a UK SIM card. You activate it by making your first call on O2's network in the UK and you can only buy credit at shops in the UK (although you can buy credit online if you have a credit card issued by a UK bank with a UK billing address). Although it is a great SIM for travelling in Europe, you should only buy this SIM if the UK is your first port of call in Europe and you should buy enough credit before leaving the UK to travel around Europe.

You can set up an account on O2's website (although this entirely optional) so you can check your account balance online. If you want to do this you will need to enter a UK address (your hotel address will be fine).

Cheaper international calls with the O2 Your Country SIM

The O2 UK SIM cards that we sell are already set up with the International Caller bolt on, giving you much better value international calls than a regular O2 SIM. You also benefit from bonus international calls every time you top up your credit.

Top up £10 or more to get bonus international calls from your mobile phone.

Once you have used up your free international allowance calls are charged at O2's International Caller Bolt On rates. Examples of these rates are:

Bolt ons

Bolt ons are the best bit about O2's Pay & Go plans. These let you pay a bit more in exchange for lower call charges or extra features like unlimited data and low-cost roaming in Europe.

Rather than confuse you with the full list of available bolt ons, we will just list the four most popular ones here.

Web bolt ons

O2's Web bolt ons let you access the internet from your phone.

The Basics Web bolt on gives you access to 100MB of 3G data for £3 per month. This bolt on is ideal if you only need a little bit of data or if you will only be in the UK for around one week..

The All Rounder Web bolt on gives you access to 500MB of 3G data plus unlimited Wi-Fi access at thousands of BT Openzone and the Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK on your phone plus 20 MMS picture messages for £6 per month. This includes both 3G data and Wi-Fi access at 7500 BT Openzone and the Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots. This is the most popular Web bolt on and is ideal if you're travelling with a smartphone like the Apple iPhone.

The Works Web bolt on gives you access to 1GB of 3G data plus unlimited Wi-Fi access at thousands of BT Openzone and the Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots on your phone plus 50 MMS picture messages for £10 per month. This includes both 3G data and Wi-Fi access at 7500 BT Openzone and the Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots. This bolt on is ideal if you're travelling with a smartphone like the Apple iPhone and need more data.

To set up O2 Web bolt ons call 2425 free of charge from your Pay & Go mobile phone.

Data is only included with O2's Web bolt-ons in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. No data is included when roaming outside the UK.

You are charged £1 per day for data if you don't have a web bolt-on or if you have used all your web bolt-on allowance.

Blackberry bolt-on

This bolt on gives you 500MB data and Blackberry email for one month for £5 per month.

My Europe Extra

This bolt-on is designed to give you an affordable option for roaming in Europe. O2's standard European roaming call charge is reduced from 35p per minute to 25p per minute and incoming calls are free (usually 18p per minute).

There are two options to suit you and your travels:

• One month, to tie-in with your next trip
• A rolling monthly subscription, which you can cancel whenever you like (minimum 1 month)

The My Europe Extra bolt-on costs £10.21 per month. To sign up for one month only just text 'EXTRA MONTH' to 21300. For the rolling option text 'EXTRA' to 21300.

My Europe Extra works in the following countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France (including Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and La Réunion), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canaries), Sweden and Switzerland.

The My Europe Extra is subject to an overall cap of 1000 minutes/month applies for calls made and received.

International Favourites

The International Favourites 3 bolt-on gives you 3000 minutes of calls to three landline numbers in 42 countries (including Australia) plus a local number in one of those countries so friends and family can call you in the UK for the price of a local call. The International Favourites 3 bolt-on costs £10.21 for one month.

The International Favourites 5 bolt-on gives you 3000 minutes of calls to landlines and 200 minutes of calls to mobile phones to five numbers in 42 countries (including Australia) plus a local number in one of those countries so friends and family can call you in the UK for the price of a local call. The International Favourites 5 bolt-on costs £20.42 for one month.

You can read more about O2's International Favourites bolt ons here.

O2 Rewards

As a reward for staying with O2, you get 10% of your top ups back every three months and you can also get gift vouchers, extra credit and discounts on gig tickets.

To sign up for O2 Rewards, text REWARD to 50202 or call 313 from your mobile.

Please note the above rates are current as of 11 May 2011