Avoid EU data roaming fees and protect your IP address with this ludicrous deal

a woman checks her smartphone while holding a pullalong suitcase in the airport

With a free Saily eSIM, you'll be able to use mobile data on your iPhone or Android phone while travelling abroad without incurring any roaming charges from your network

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Aaron Brown

By Aaron Brown


Published: 21/06/2024

- 09:45

NordVPN wants to solve one of the biggest headaches when holidaying abroad

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Shield your personal data from hackers and avoid EU data roaming fees on holiday this summer, thanks to one of the best VPN deals around. For a limited time, NordVPN is offering new customers a whopping 73% off its award-winning subscription andup to 20GB of free mobile data to use abroad.


The mobile data allowance comes courtesy of eSIM provider Saily. For those who don't know, eSIMs are software-based SIM cards that allow your iPhone or Android to connect to a local mobile network. These often charge a much lower rate than you'd need to pay your UK carrier in roaming fees.

eSIMs will not replace your existing SIM, so you'll keep your existing phone number. When the eSIM data package runs out, or you return home, you'll resume your existing pay-monthly or pay-as-you-go SIM plan.

The technology has become so popular that international airports often have stands selling QR codes to unlock eSIMs with cut-price 4G data packages for travellers who have just arrived.

To give a sense of the savings on offer when switching to an eSIM, Saily charges just $13.99 (£11, converted) for 5GB of mobile data to use in the United States of America. In comparison, EE charges its customers £6.74 a day for 500MB of data and O2 will bill you £26 when you use 1GB of mobile data in the US.

Saily offers its eSIM data plans in 150 countries worldwide.

a man uses his phone at with a yellow suitcase beside him

NordVPN is offering up to 20GB of 4G or 5G mobile data to use in some 150 destinations worldwide via eSIM firm, Saily

NORDVPN PRESS OFFICE

With the latest VPN deal, you'll be able to claim free mobile data to use in any of these destinations. The amount of free data depends on your VPN subscription.

If you sign up for NordVPN Basic, you'll be treated to 1GB of free mobile data to use via eSIM. That increases to 3GB with the Standard and Plus subscriptions, rising to 10GB with the NordVPN Complete plan, and maxes-out at 20GB with the Ultimate subscription.

You'll be able to claim your free gift as soon as you've completed the checkout process. NordVPN users will be sent a coupon code to enter into the Saily app on iPhone or Android.

With the 73% discount available on NordVPN plans, you'll see monthly bills plummet from £6.59 per month down to just £2.69. As always with VPN deals, the biggest savings are available when you agree to a longer contract term.

Don't worry if you’ve not used NordVPN before and are worried about that level of commitment, the company offers a 30-day no-quibble money-back guarantee on all its subscriptions — so you can use the first month like a free trial.

line drawing that demonstrates how the end to end encryption in vpns worksThis simple illustration shows how VPNs work. Everything in a dotted-line is encrypted and shielded from outside eyes, including hackers, your broadband provider, employers, and advertisers NORDVPN PRESS OFFICE

For those who don’t know, Virtual Private Networks – more often referred to simply as VPNs – create a tunnel for everything you do online, shielding your website history and personal information from prying eyes. Since everything routed through this tunnel is encrypted, it’s impossible for your broadband provider, advertisers, or hackers to keep tabs on what you’re doing.

It’s the reason that employers usually insist that you switch on a VPN when working remotely on a company laptop. But providers like NordVPN offer that same enterprise-level protection to your personal devices and web browsing.

Without a VPN, security experts compare going online to sending a postcard, i.e. your message is easily visible as it passes through the system to get to the intended recipient. By switching on a VPN connection, you’re adding an envelope to that metaphorical postcard — keeping everything shielded from view until it lands in the right hands.

But using a VPN isn’t just about privacy and protection.

Whenever your devices connect to the internet, it's assigned an IP address, which includes information like the name of your broadband supplier and a rough approximation of your location.

This is what enables websites to find the takeaways or stores nearest to your current location.

a chart showing how nordvpn compares with expressvpn privatevpn protonvpn and purevpn in terms of number of servers malware scans for downloads ad blocker and other perksHow NordVPN compares to its closest VPN rivals. The brand recently increased the number of simultaneous connections with a single subscription and added servers in 23 new countries NORDVPN PRESS OFFICE

Several streaming services use this location data to adjust the library of titles available to you (usually based on the licencing deals struck in each country) or block its service entirely.

VPNs allow you to manually change your IP address by routing your traffic via one of thousands of server locations scattered around the globe. This can change the films, documentaries, and shows available to watch on your Netflix or Prime Video app. It can also unblock the likes of Hulu, Max (née HBO Max), Sky Go, ITVX, and BBC iPlayer when travelling.

You’ll just need to check the small-print of each streamer to make sure you’re not breaking the rules by spoofing your location to unlock more shows to watch.

NordVPN, which has sponsored Atlético de Madrid and Ipswich Town, is one of a number of critically lauded Virtual Private Network providers operating in the UK. Google and Apple also offer some limited VPN features with paid subscriptions.

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