Written by Vinciane – Virgin Mobile Brand Manager

 

In Dubai, we have so many examples of things that help make our lives easier, but here is the most useful thing I’ve discovered since I arrived in the UAE—trust me: the Roaming Pass 😊! I am French, and it used to always be complicated when I was traveling back then. All the offers from my operator were complicated, super expensive, and of course, I always forgot to buy them or realized it at the boarding gate…

 

Since I’ve been in the UAE and with Virgin Mobile, I’ve had this magical “Roaming Pass,” and it is activated for one year! It means that I can use my plan abroad in 144 countries as if I were in the UAE. I can use my data and my minutes. Just make sure you have international minutes in your plan because this is what’s utilised (not the local minutes).

 

It’s super simple to get, just go to your Virgin Mobile app, go to the “Roaming” tab, and then select “data” or “minutes.” Then go to the top and make sure you’ve selected the “Pass” tab. This is the best way to be set up with roaming for a whole year, but if you don’t need one year, you can also choose 7 days or 30 days.

 

Ah, and also very important—don’t forget to activate your “Data Roaming” when you land. Usually, my phone connects automatically to the local partner operator, but if it doesn’t on your phone, here is the list of our partners by country.

 

To summarise my highlights if you need help:

 

How to Turn on “Data Roaming”:

  • Android: Settings → Network & Internet → Mobile Network → Data Roaming
  • iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options → Data Roaming

 

How to manually select a partner network:

  • Android: Settings → Network & Internet → Mobile Network → Network operators → Search networks
    Select an available partner network manually.
  • iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Network Selection → Turn OFF Automatic → Select an available partner network manually.

 

List of partner networks: Check the Roaming Countries list for Virgin Mobile AE

 

Finally, you can always contact our customer care.

 

Have a safe and amazing trip! Talking about trips… you must visit France one day 😊