What does it cost to call a UK 0870 number from abroad?
The dearest of the everyday service ranges, and one where the published price is worth checking before you dial.
Per minute in USD from a US caller ID. One minute minimum, then billed by the second. Resolved from the digits you dial, not from a band you are asked to guess.
What 0870 numbers are, and who uses them
Ticketing, travel and booking lines, and legacy support numbers. 0871 carries the highest Service Charge of the ordinary non-geographic ranges, up to 13p a minute inside the UK.
Inside the UK: Access Charge plus a Service Charge of up to 13p a minute on 0871. 0870 has been capped at a geographic-equivalent rate since 2015.
From outside the UK: Many of these refuse calls from outside the UK. That is a decision made by the organisation that owns the number and its own carrier, not something any calling service can override, so look for a direct-dial alternative as well.
Carrier roaming and international direct dialling for a UK call typically run $0.25 to $5.00 a minute before any of this range’s own charges are added. Airlophone publishes $1.29 a minute for this range and bills a 60 second minimum followed by per-second charging, rather than rounding every partial minute up to a whole one.
Every UK range, priced
This is the comparison that matters, and the reason guessing costs money: the dearest range below is about 18 times the cheapest.
| Range | Band | Per minute |
|---|---|---|
| 0800, 0808 | freephone | $0.07 |
| 0300, 0345, 0344, 0370 | service number | $0.15 |
| 0844, 0845 | service number | $1.29 |
| 0870, 0871 | service number | $1.29 |
| 070 | service number | $1.29 |
| 09, 118 | premium rate | refused |
Premium rate. These exist to bill the caller at a high rate and are the traffic-pumping fraud surface, so they are refused rather than priced. Prices from a US caller ID and read live from the published card, so this table cannot drift from what you are charged.
Price a UK number
Type the whole number and the exact price appears before anything dials. The first minute is free and needs no card.
Type a number to see its exact price.
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Worth knowing before you rely on it
- Outbound calling only. It cannot receive calls or texts.
- The number the person you call sees is one we assign, not your own, so a bank check that verifies you by caller ID will not pass and you should expect extra security questions.
- It cannot reach emergency services anywhere, and cannot report your location to a dispatcher. Keep a phone that can.
- Premium rate ranges (09 and 118) are refused rather than billed.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to call a UK 0870 number from abroad?
- On Airlophone a UK 0870 number costs $1.29 per minute from a US caller ID, billed with a 60 second minimum and then by the second. That price is published before you dial and is resolved from the digits of the number itself, so you are never asked to guess whether it is a landline, a mobile or a service number.
- Are 0870 numbers free to call?
- Access Charge plus a Service Charge of up to 13p a minute on 0871. 0870 has been capped at a geographic-equivalent rate since 2015. From outside the United Kingdom that domestic pricing does not apply: you are placing an international call, and it is charged at the international rate for that range. On Airlophone that is $1.29 per minute.
- Can I reach a UK 0870 number from another country?
- Many of these refuse calls from outside the UK. That is a decision made by the organisation that owns the number and its own carrier, not something any calling service can override, so look for a direct-dial alternative as well. Airlophone prices the range at $1.29 per minute, and you are only charged for a call that actually connects. A call that rings out or fails is not billed.
- Why do UK non-geographic numbers cost such different amounts?
- Because they are not one kind of number. Across the ranges we publish, the dearest costs about 18 times the cheapest: $0.07 a minute at one end and $1.29 at the other. Services that ask you to pick "mobile or landline" for a UK number quote one band price for all of them and are wrong for most. Airlophone reads the range off the number you type.