giffgaff International Calls: Charges, Bolt-ons and Cheaper Options

giffgaff does not include international calls in any of its plans. Every call from the UK to a foreign number is paid from your credit balance at a per-minute rate set for that country, so you need credit on your account before you dial. As of October 2026, giffgaff's help pages list no international bolt-on, so if you call one country often, you pay the full rate for every minute.

Why your plan does not cover calls abroad

A giffgaff plan (the thing giffgaff used to call a goodybag) gives you data plus unlimited UK minutes and texts for a month. giffgaff's help page on calling an international number from the UK is clear: "Calling international numbers isn't included with our plans." As of October 2026, giffgaff lists these as the things you need credit for:

• Calling international numbers
• Using your phone in the "Rest of the world" (outside the UK, EU and selected destinations)
• Picture messages (MMS)
• Premium rate numbers

That applies whatever your plan is called: an old goodybag, a monthly rolling plan or an 18-month contract. Unlimited minutes means unlimited minutes to UK numbers.

So if your credit is dropping even though you have a plan, check your international calls first. giffgaff's help page on falling credit puts "Making international calls" at the top of its list.

What giffgaff charges per minute

giffgaff publishes a separate per-minute rate for each country, with landlines and mobiles priced separately, on its international calling page. Rates are per minute, taken from credit, and vary a lot from one country to the next.

giffgaff changes these rates from time to time, so this guide does not copy them. Before you call:

1. Open the international page and search for the country.
2. Note both prices: calls to landlines and calls to mobiles.
3. Multiply by the minutes you expect to talk. A 10-minute call is ten times the listed rate, and a weekly 30-minute call is about 120 minutes a month.
4. Compare that monthly total with your credit balance and the £45 spend cap described below.

Is there a giffgaff international bolt-on?

No. giffgaff's help pages describe only one way to pay for calls abroad, and that is credit. There is no monthly international bundle, no "international pass" and no minutes pack like the ones EE sells.

That has two consequences:

1. Light users pay nothing extra. You never pay a monthly fee for international minutes you do not use.
2. Heavy users get no discount. If you ring Lahore for two hours every week, you pay the full per-minute rate for every minute. A network that sells international minutes, or an app, will usually beat that.

How to call abroad from a giffgaff phone

1. Add credit. Use the giffgaff app or your dashboard on the website, paying by card, PayPal or a top-up voucher. Vouchers can also be redeemed by calling 43430 (free) from your giffgaff phone.
2. Check the rate on giffgaff's international page.
3. Dial in international format: press + (or 00), then the country code, then the number without its first 0.

Calling	Country code	Example of what to dial	BoraPhone, 10-minute call (landline / mobile)
India	91	+91 then the 10-digit number	$1.11 / $1.11
Pakistan	92	+92 then the number without the 0	$3.50 / $4.00
Nigeria	234	+234 then the number without the 0	$5.10 / $5.20
USA	1	+1 then the 10-digit number	from $0.40
Poland	48	+48 then the 9-digit number	$0.70 / $1.60
Ireland	353	+353 then the number without the 0	$1.11 / $2.10

BoraPhone prices are in US dollars at the time of writing (October 2026). giffgaff has no add-on for any of these six countries, so your only giffgaff price is the credit rate for that country.

Stop a long call eating your credit: the spend cap

International calls are the easiest way to burn through giffgaff credit, especially if you are calling a mobile in a long-haul country. giffgaff has a tool for this. The credit spend cap stops you spending more than £45 of credit in a month, and that £45 includes credit spent on plans, calls, texts and data. It is off by default.

To switch it on in the app: Account, then Service settings, then Credit spend cap, then switch the toggle on. On the website it sits under Profile and settings on your dashboard. giffgaff texts you as you get close to the limit.

Two other habits help:

• Think twice about auto top-up. giffgaff can add credit automatically when your balance drops below £3. That is handy, but it means a long call will not stop when your credit runs low.
• Call the landline if it is cheaper. giffgaff prices landlines and mobiles separately. If the household you call has a landline and it costs less, use it.

Calling abroad is not the same as roaming

These are two separate sets of charges.

• Calling abroad means you are in the UK and you ring a foreign number. That is always charged from credit, as above.
• Roaming means you take your giffgaff phone to another country and use it there. In the EU and selected destinations, giffgaff lets you use your plan like at home, with unlimited calls and texts and up to 5GB of data per plan, subject to fair use and a 63-day limit. In the "Rest of the world", which includes the USA, India, Pakistan and Nigeria, your plan does not work and everything comes out of credit.

If you are travelling, read our guide on how to call the UK from abroad.

Cheaper ways to call one country a lot

giffgaff credit is fine for the occasional call. If you call one country every week, compare these:

• A free app, if the other person has it. WhatsApp, FaceTime and similar apps call for free over data or WiFi. They do not help when you need to ring a landline, a bank, a hotel or a relative who does not use the app.
• A second SIM or network with international minutes. Some UK networks sell bundles of minutes to India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Compare them in our guides to Lebara international calls and the best SIMs for international calls in the UK.
• A phone card or access number. See our round-up of phone cards for international calls.
• A browser calling service. BoraPhone calls real landlines and mobiles from Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, with pay-as-you-go credit from $5, no subscription, and the rate shown before each call. It is cheap to the USA, Poland, Ireland and India. It is not cheap to Pakistan or Nigeria, so for long weekly calls there, a SIM bundle or an app is probably better value.

Frequently asked questions

Does giffgaff charge for international calls?

Yes. International calls are not included in any giffgaff plan, so each call is paid from your credit at the per-minute rate giffgaff lists for that country. Landline and mobile numbers have separate prices. Check the rate on giffgaff's international calling page before you dial.

How do I make international calls using giffgaff?

Add some credit first, then dial + or 00, the country code and the number without its first 0. For example, a Pakistani mobile number written locally as 03 followed by nine more digits becomes +92 3 followed by the same nine digits. If the call will not connect, check your credit balance before anything else.

Does giffgaff have an international bolt-on?

No. giffgaff's help pages only describe paying for calls abroad from credit. There is no monthly international bundle, so frequent callers to one country usually save money with an app or a network that sells international minutes.

Do giffgaff plans or goodybags include international minutes?

No. giffgaff now calls goodybags "plans", and its help pages say calling international numbers isn't included with any of them. The unlimited minutes cover calls to UK numbers only.

Can I make international calls from the UK for free?

Only app to app. WhatsApp, FaceTime and similar apps are free over WiFi or your data allowance when the other person has the same app. Calls to ordinary phone numbers abroad always cost something, either from credit or as part of a paid bundle.