Lebara Roaming in the USA: Costs, Add-Ons and Setup

The useful answer

The USA is outside Lebara's included roaming area

You cannot use a standard Lebara UK allowance in the United States as if you were in the EU. Lebara says customers outside the EU or India need PAYG credit or a roaming add-on suitable for the destination.³⁴

For most short trips, the easiest answer is the USA-compatible roaming add-on on your existing SIM. It keeps your UK number usable for ordinary calls and texts, and it includes a fixed data allowance. There is no daily pass that quietly multiplies itself while you are admiring the Grand Canyon.

If you have not joined yet, open the current Lebara referral plans. Activate the UK line before travelling, then buy the USA roaming product separately.

Current roaming add-ons

Two fixed bundles for your usual Lebara SIM

Both product pages explicitly list the USA. Calls made within the USA or back to the UK use the minute pot, and incoming calls use it too. Incoming texts are free.¹²

Neither add-on renews automatically. When an allowance runs out, Lebara says you can buy another add-on or fall back to PAYG rates if there is enough credit.¹² Buying another fixed bundle is easier to budget than letting background app updates nibble at PAYG data.

You can buy through Lebara or use top-up credit. The official product pages also give text codes: RA28 to 38885 for the eight-day option and RA29 to 38885 for the fifteen-day option.¹² Check the destination, allowance and price shown before confirming, because roaming products can change.

The data-only alternative

Travel eSIM has more trip lengths, but no normal calls

Lebara's official destination file lists those standard prices and also contains discounted fields of £3.75, £7.50 and £11.25.⁵ Treat the app or checkout as final. A data file can describe an offer, but the payment screen is where your actual price has to appear.

The Travel eSIM is separate from your normal Lebara SIM. It provides mobile data, while calls and messages use apps such as WhatsApp or FaceTime. Lebara currently limits the product to Apple iPhone users paying with Apple Pay.⁶

A dual-SIM phone can keep the UK line active for bank texts while the Travel eSIM handles data. Turn off automatic mobile-data switching. Otherwise the phone may decide to be helpful at precisely the moment the travel data drops out, which is a costly interpretation of helpful.

Still choosing the UK line? compare the current referral plans, then add the travel product that suits the trip. The UK plan discount does not pay for USA roaming.

The timing trap

Eight days does not mean 192 hours from purchase

Both add-ons start on the day you buy them and run until 23:59 UK time on the eighth or fifteenth day.¹² Buy several days early and you waste part of the validity. Buy after landing and you may be wrestling with airport Wi-Fi while tired.

The sensible compromise is to buy on the travel day while you still have a reliable UK connection. Confirm the product appears in MyLebara, then leave mobile data and data roaming switched off until you are ready to connect in the USA.

Remember that 23:59 UK time can be afternoon or evening in the United States, depending on the state and time of year. If the add-on ends during your final American day, download boarding passes and directions in advance rather than discovering the expiry at a hire-car return depot.

Before departure

Set up the phone in five careful steps

1. Activate and test the UK SIM.Make a call, send a text and open a web page while still in the UK.
2. Buy the exact USA-compatible product.Check the destination list, price, allowance and validity before paying.
3. Confirm it is active.Look for the add-on in MyLebara and keep a screenshot of the allowance.
4. Control the data line.On dual-SIM phones, select the intended data SIM and disable automatic switching.
5. Test gently after landing.Enable roaming on the correct line, wait for a network, then open one small web page.

If calls work but data does not, check that mobile data and data roaming are enabled for the correct SIM. Lebara's add-on pages publish the APN uk.lebara.mobi with WAP as both username and password, followed by a restart.¹ Photograph the existing APN settings before changing anything.

Download offline maps, airline apps, hotel details and any authentication codes before departure. Video autoplay, cloud photo backup and app updates deserve a holiday too, preferably one with no access to your 4GB pot.

A plain recommendation

Choose by trip length and how you communicate

• Choose the £5 roaming add-onfor a trip of eight days or fewer when 4GB is enough and you want normal calls and texts on your UK number.
• Choose the £10 roaming add-onfor up to fifteen days, 7GB and a larger calls-and-texts allowance on the same SIM.
• Choose Travel eSIMif you need the 30-day option or prefer a separate data line, have a supported iPhone and can pay with Apple Pay.
• Compare a US SIM or another travel eSIMfor heavier data use, a local number or an unsupported handset. Check that the phone is unlocked first.
• Use Wi-Fi onlyfor very light use. Keep mobile data roaming off and remember that public Wi-Fi is not available everywhere.

If the UK plan itself also needs changing, open the live referral plans. Sort the home plan and the USA connection as two separate purchases.

Quick answers

Lebara USA roaming questions