--- title: "Erasmus and your phone: what to do with your line | Gigapass" description: "Where your line is registered changes everything. On an EU line your data travels with you; on any other, roaming starts the day you land." url: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/erasmus-phone-line markdown: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/erasmus-phone-line.md lang: en site: Gigapass generated: 2026-10-24 languages: es: https://getgigapass.com/blog/erasmus-preparar-el-movil de: https://getgigapass.com/de/blog/erasmus-handy-leitung it: https://getgigapass.com/it/blog/erasmus-telefono-linea fr: https://getgigapass.com/fr/blog/erasmus-telephone-ligne pt: https://getgigapass.com/pt/blog/erasmus-telemovel-linha nl: https://getgigapass.com/nl/blog/erasmus-telefoon-lijn ja: https://getgigapass.com/ja/blog/ryugaku-keitai-kaisen ko: https://getgigapass.com/ko/blog/yuhak-hyudaepon-hoeseon zh-hans: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hans/blog/liuxue-shouji-haoma pl: https://getgigapass.com/pl/blog/erasmus-telefon-numer sv: https://getgigapass.com/sv/blogg/erasmus-telefon-linje no: https://getgigapass.com/no/blogg/erasmus-telefon-linje da: https://getgigapass.com/da/blog/erasmus-telefon-linje tr: https://getgigapass.com/tr/blog/erasmus-telefon-hat ru: https://getgigapass.com/ru/blog/obmen-za-granitsey-telefon zh-hant: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hant/blog/liuxue-shouji-menhao ar: https://getgigapass.com/ar/mudawana/aldirasa-fi-alkharij-alhatif he: https://getgigapass.com/he/blog/limudim-bechul-nayad index: https://getgigapass.com/llms/en.txt --- # Erasmus: what to do with your phone and your line before you go > Where your line is registered changes everything. On an EU line your data travels with you; on any other, roaming starts the day you land. [Home](https://getgigapass.com/en) › [Blog](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog) › Erasmus: what to do with your phone and your line before you go Students Where your line is registered changes everything. On an EU line your data travels with you; on any other, roaming starts the day you land. **Bea Nogales** 10 Aug 2026 6 min Photo by Marius Serban on Unsplash In this article › What decides it is where your line comes from › For those travelling on an EU line: fair use › What a local number is actually for › How to set it up without losing your number En corto - If your line is from an EU or EEA country, your plan works the same there for the first few months. - If it is from anywhere else, that rule does not cover you: roaming starts on day one. - A local number is for paperwork, not for talking to people back home. - And keep your home number: your bank and the authorities ask for it. Going on Erasmus with your phone looks like one of the few easy parts of the whole process, and yet the thing that actually matters is a distinction most guides skip over. ## What decides it is where your line comes from A line issued in a European Union or European Economic Area country travels with its plan by regulation: same data, same minutes, no surcharge. But the rule looks at the country the line is REGISTERED in, not the country you are going to. Erasmus+ includes countries outside the Union, and students on those lines pay roaming from the moment they land — a UK line is in exactly that position since Brexit. ## For those travelling on an EU line: fair use The roaming included in your plan is meant for travelling, not for living somewhere. If for months you use more abroad than at home, your operator may warn you and, if nothing changes, apply a surcharge. That is lawful and it is written into your terms. In practice both cases land in the same place: a whole academic year on your home line ends in trouble, and you want a plan by the second or third month. On a line from outside the Union, you want that plan on day one. What European roaming covers and what it does not is in [roaming in the European Union](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/eu-roaming-rules). ## What a local number is actually for - For the country's bank, if you open an account there. - For university paperwork and dealings with the local authorities. - For transport, delivery and rental apps, which sometimes reject foreign numbers. - And so someone rings you back about a room while you are flat-hunting. For talking to people back home you do not need one: that goes over messaging and over data. ## How to set it up without losing your number On a compatible phone the local line can sit alongside your home one: yours stays in to receive texts from the bank and the authorities, and the local one handles everything on the ground. If you are keeping the home line without using it, check first what the cheapest plan is and whether dropping to it while you are away is worth doing. How to set the phone up with both is in [your SIM card and an eSIM at the same time](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/use-sim-and-esim-at-the-same-time). Before you leave, check you can get into your bank and your email without depending on a text to a number you may stop using. It is the one people discover too late. Know where you're going? Pick your destination, days and data. Install it before you leave and pay once. [See destinations](https://getgigapass.com/en#destinos) Bea NogalesDevices and compatibility She has been repairing phones since before eSIMs existed. She explains what a handset does inside without it sounding like a manual. ## Frequently asked questions **Can I use my home plan on Erasmus?** If your line is from an EU or EEA country, yes for the first few months, because roaming is included there. From anywhere else, no: roaming starts on day one. **What is fair use?** A legal provision that applies to EU lines: if for several months you use considerably more abroad than at home, your operator may apply a surcharge. **Do I need a local number?** For paperwork, the bank and some of the country's apps, yes. For talking to people back home, no: that goes over data. **Will I lose my home number?** Not if you keep the line. On a compatible phone the two can sit side by side, and it is worth keeping the home one for your bank and the authorities. ## Keep reading - [Students](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/health-insurance-student-abroad) | Healthcare while studying abroad: what covers you and what you must buy | 5 min - [Students](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/studying-abroad-paperwork) | Studying abroad: the paperwork in order, with its deadlines | 6 min - [Students](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/first-weeks-studying-abroad) | The first weeks in another city: a student's list | 6 min