Thanks to smartphones, traveling has never been easier. Book a hotel room, navigate a city, translate signs with your camera, and easily pay for goods and services with several apps and built-in features built into your iOS or Android smartphone. can be done. You can also use AI-powered tools to translate conversations in real-time.
However, these great phone features and apps require a data connection. Data connectivity is included in your domestic phone plan, but roaming charges usually add up when you move beyond your home network. Here’s how to avoid these charges:
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First and foremost, you need to understand how expensive these extra charges are, or whether the area you’re traveling to with your carrier is cheap or free. Some carriers have partnered with carriers in other countries to offer more affordable roaming or free service with some restrictions. For example, some plans, such as T-Mobile’s Essentials, offer free service in Canada and Mexico, but the slower speeds are similar to “2G” and “3G,” meaning that the connection requires a large amount of You can’t expect to stream videos.
However, if you travel to most countries, you’ll have to pay mobile roaming charges if you try to use data services, make voice calls, or send text messages on your phone as usual. If you have such plans, check out our guide to the best travel phone plans.
If you want to avoid mobile roaming charges, keep these tips in mind.
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Please set up your mobile service in advance
Some airlines may allow you to pre-select travel service options, which include a fixed daily, weekly, or monthly fee to receive service from partner airlines in other countries. may occur. You can wait until you arrive at your destination and be prompted to select your chosen service, or you can set it up in advance. Note that some carriers simply utilize these services by default rather than charging higher roaming fees. However, it’s worth checking before you travel.
These international plans are very convenient, but there may be some caveats, such as lower priority compared to other carriers’ customers and slower speeds during peak traffic times. Check the fine print of each itinerary to see its restrictions and charges for additional services.
Verizon’s international plans start very simply, with 2GB of high-speed data per day for $10 a day, then unlimited 3G speed data, free voice calls and free voice calls in over 210 countries. Text messages are available. This plan is discounted to $5 per day in Canada and Mexico.
If you have one of the carrier’s newest plans, known as Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome, these features are included for Canada and Mexico. Those with Verizon’s top Unlimited Ultimate option get international data for more than 210 countries, as well as Canada and Mexico.
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AT&T similarly offers a $10 per day travel plan with unlimited data, voice calls, and text messages. Data counts against your regular plan allowance. Exceeding this will result in charging and slow download speeds on connections like ultra-slow 2G. If you don’t sign up for this plan, you’ll incur traditional roaming charges and be charged for every text message, megabyte of data, and voice call per minute.
Unlimited data in Canada and Mexico is included in AT&T’s main Unlimited plans, and the carrier’s Unlimited Premium PL and Unlimited Elite plans also offer unlimited data in 20 Latin American countries.
T-Mobile has its own international plans with unlimited calling, but data amounts are fairly modest, starting at $5 per day for 0.5 gigabytes of downloaded data. However, keep in mind that your carrier’s standard plan also includes international data allowances.
The basic Magenta and Go5G plans offer up to 10GB of high-speed data per month in Canada and Mexico, and once you use that up you get unlimited data at very slow 2G speeds (as mentioned above, most The cheaper Essentials plan only gets data in Canada (Mexico can connect at 2G speeds). Go5G Next, Go5G Plus and Magenta Max plans come with a small travel allowance of 5GB per month for high-speed data in over 215 countries, but additional taxes and terms may apply. The standard Go5G plan offers the same 5GB data allowance across 11 European countries.
It’s possible to increase your plan for the month (or more) you’re traveling and then go back to your old plan, but it’s probably easier to just pay the international data fees.
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Get mobile service directly from your local carrier
Before airlines had friendlier international agreements to support each other’s customers, one of the better travel strategies was to receive service directly from the airline in the country you were traveling to. Once I landed, all I had to do was walk into the local airline retail store. Buy and buy a prepaid SIM card to use for the duration of your trip.
It’s still possible, but it’s a little more complicated. If you have many mobile phones that don’t have a physical SIM slot, such as the latest iPhone 15 series or the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, you’ll need to register for the service through one of the eSIM accounts on your device. This is very easy and is actually one of the benefits of having multiple digital eSIM slots. This means you can have one for domestic use and one for travel, but you’ll need to register it through the appropriate carrier. You can also load your eSIM before your trip using apps like Airalo or Ubigi.
Unfortunately, there are other things to consider. That is, whether the phone is unlocked, meaning it is not associated with a carrier and is restricted from using eSIMs from other carriers (even international carriers). If you purchased your device unlocked, you’re good to go.
If you pay your mobile phone bill in installments through your mobile carrier, the process becomes more complicated. For Verizon users, installment plans offer the best value as they unlock your phone after 60 days. However, AT&T and T-Mobile require you to complete an installment and pay the phone in full to unlock it. Because AT&T’s plans have a minimum of 36 monthly installments, customers may not be able to obtain an eSIM with a local carrier unless their contract is nearing its end. In that case, it may make sense to pay off your balance to increase your travel freedom.
Depends on hotspot and tethering
Another way to avoid roaming is a little more roundabout, requiring you to sign up for service with your local carrier anyway, but without having to fiddle with your eSIM. Once you arrive in the country you’re traveling to, you can rent a mobile hotspot (or subscribe to the service on one you already own). This is a handheld device that converts cellular signals to Wi-Fi.
Please note that you will be required to pay the hotspot manufacturer’s or local carrier’s service fees, and there is no guarantee that their network will work properly with your particular hotspot device. Check to see if it works in the area you’re traveling to.
Once set up, simply connect to the hotspot’s Wi-Fi using your phone as usual. It’s a bit of a hassle, but this allows you to use the internet on other devices like tablets and laptops almost anywhere you can get a phone signal from your local carrier.
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Another thing to note is that the hotspot itself needs to be charged. For this too, you have to worry about the battery of your device. It might be worth carrying an external battery to ensure your hotspot lasts a full day while you’re out and about.
Ultimately, whichever option you choose should fit your travel habits and destination. Some carrier partner options are more attractive, but may be slower than receiving service directly from your local carrier. But don’t worry about being limited by your options. Once you arrive, you can always try one method and switch to another if a better option appears.
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