Jio, Airtel & Vi roaming in the UK vs a travel eSIM

Get an eSIM for the United Kingdom — from ≈ ₹286arrow_forward

Short answer: which Indian packs cover the UK

The UK sits on Jio’s 100-country, 75-country, World Pack and data-pack lists, in Airtel’s one all-country set, and in Vi’s UL and Budget Set 1 zones. On price per day, Jio leads at both lengths we checked: about ₹95 a day for 10 days on its ₹951 pack and for 30 days on its ₹2,851 pack.

If people must reach your Indian number, a pack keeps those calls. If you mainly need data, a UK eSIM from India covers it: install the eSIM in India; it connects when you land abroad. Our UK catalogue has data-only plans and plans with a UK number, local minutes and SMS; none includes calls to India.

India’s Ministry of Tourism counted 1,398,540 departures to the UK in 2025, against 1,322,848 in 2024: about 5.7% more (our calculation). Leisure and business accounted for 55.44% of 2025 departures. The PIE News, citing a Rajya Sabha reply, reports 173,190 Indian students in the UK on 1 Jan 2025 (a secondary figure).

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have an interest here. The table still shows when your operator pack is the better choice.

Jio international roaming plans for the UK, including the East Asia, Europe and US pack

There is no Jio UK pack of its own: Jio international roaming UK coverage comes from multi-country packs. The five rows below cost ₹951 to ₹3,999 as listed on 12 Oct 2026, a selection. Jio labels the ₹2,851 pack “East Asia, Europe and US”: 12 GB for 30 days, the lowest Jio price per day for a month here.

eSIM Go is not affiliated with Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL. Pack details are taken from their own pages on the date shown.

Moving up from ₹2,851 to ₹3,999 buys 8 GB more for ₹1,148, about ₹144 per extra GB. Jio states that pack benefits apply “only on the preferred partner network in the visited country”, and that “Your plan validity begins only with your first usage—call, text, or data.”

Airtel and Vi packs for the UK (table)

Any Airtel IR pack UK travellers buy comes from its all-country set: ₹1,298 for 10 days or ₹2,998 for 30 days prepaid, ₹3,999 postpaid. Vi roaming UK packs fall in two zones: the UL zone, where Vi prints Ultra data as FREE, and Budget Set 1. The six rows cost ₹1,298 to ₹6,995 on 12 Oct 2026.

Airtel’s FAQ page still shows older prices, while the T&C dated 24 Sep 2026 list ₹998 and ₹1,298. Vi states that its IR packs are “not applicable for customers in J&K, Assam and North East”. We do not show Vi’s postpaid table: we could not confirm it is current.

Long stays: 30-day packs vs a UK plan with a local number

A month in the UK costs ₹2,851 to ₹3,999 on the 30-day packs above, and ₹6,995 on Vi’s 28-day pack. Airtel postpaid packs differ by circle. Outside the Maharashtra circle, they start at ₹2,999 for 10 days, and the 30-day pack is ₹3,999. Maharashtra-circle users get ₹2,599 for 7 days, ₹3,499 for 14 days and ₹3,999 for 30 days.

Our UK catalogue also sells plans with a UK number, minutes and SMS for local calls. For 5 GB over 30 days, the plan with a number costs ≈ ₹1,244 (12 Oct rate) and the data-only plan ≈ ₹861 (12 Oct rate) (12 Oct 2026). Both cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, not Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man.

A UK SIM-only plan from a local operator is the other long-stay route; we have not verified current offers and quote no UK SIM prices. For a student’s first month, see the student eSIM guide.

Cost per GB for a 10-day and a 30-day trip

On Jio international roaming UK packs, ten days cost about ₹95 a day with the ₹951 pack, against about ₹130 on Airtel’s ₹1,298. Over 30 days, Jio’s ₹2,851 pack is about ₹95 a day, Airtel’s prepaid ₹2,998 about ₹100, both ₹3,999 packs about ₹133, and Vi’s ₹6,995 about ₹250 over 28 days.

Airtel’s 2 extra GB over Jio’s 10-day pack cost ₹347, about ₹174 per GB. All figures are our derivations from prices listed on 12 Oct 2026.

Our UK plans run on EE. 10 GB for 30 days costs ≈ ₹1,340 (12 Oct rate), about ₹134 (US$1.40) per GB, charged US$13.99; 20 GB for 30 days costs ≈ ₹2,394 (12 Oct rate), charged US$24.99 by card. Your card is charged in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction (forex markup) fee. How card payments work.

Weigh those against the per-GB column on your purchase date. Pack validity runs on different clocks: ours from the first connection to a UK network, Jio’s from first use, Airtel’s from when the phone latches on to a covered foreign network. Plans are on the UK eSIM page, local SIMs in the UK SIM card guide, and continental trips under Europe.

Which Indian SIM works in the UK for bank OTPs is a question about SMS. OTPs reach your Indian number, never a data-only eSIM. To keep Indian number for OTP messages, leave the SIM in as a second line, data off, and ask your operator about SMS in the UK. Airtel prepaid sells a ₹118 activation that “allows unlimited incoming SMS” for 28 days with an active base pack; Vi’s ₹118 pack gives 28 days of free incoming SMS.

One r/nri commenter wrote on 29 May 2025, about Jio in the UK: “i have never bought an IR plan … I still get SMS.” That is one person’s experience, not a Jio rule; check the MyJio app. No page can promise that every OTP will reach you; see the OTP guide.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

How we checked these prices

All rows give their checked on date, 12 Oct 2026 (IST). Sources are Jio’s plan list, Airtel’s T&C PDF dated 24 Sep 2026 and Vi’s prepaid T&C PDF. ≈ ₹ per GB is price ÷ GB. These are published prices; we ran no activation test. Vi’s zone list is a hand-transcribed image, so confirm the UK in the Vi app.

Updated on 12 Oct 2026: first version, all rows checked that day. Written and reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova; see the editorial policy. Operator pages: Jio, Airtel, Vi; all countries: international roaming.

FAQ

Get an eSIM for the United Kingdom, from ≈ ₹286 Pay by card in US$. Your bank converts the US$ charge at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by e-mail after payment. See plans