Phone plans for international travel

[Sand&Salt]

I'm wondering what most of you do when you travel internationally, re phones. Do you have an international plan on your U.S./Canadian or other country's phone service? That seems expensive to keep all year long, or can you just get it temporarily?

Our world-traveling late friend said he just picked up a SIM card at any airport he landed in. We've never seen a kiosk for that, so I don't know what he was talking about. We had to sit for an hour at AT&T or another provider JUST to get a month-long pre-paid plan that we had to renew for the 2nd and 3rd month. Not very cheap at $50 a month plus sign-on. That was in CA, but when we traveled to Europe for shorter lengths of time, we just went without. Just was not worth it. We could use WhatsApp since it was related to our home phone number.

Our new neighbors from the U.S. are just keeping their U.S. international plan that charges $10 every time they use it here. Since we don't have cell coverage at the condo, it's rarely needed. We all use WhatsApp. But they are paying about $90 a month for that plan, base rate. We pay $8 a month for our local plan here.

But what do you world travelers use?

[StealthRabbit]

Newer phones allow eSIM (loaded internally)

T mobile is supposedly international friendly, but I bought a T-Mobile plan specifically for that, and was disappointed. (Data Only worked on 3g) Unavailable in some countries.

I have a multiSIM phone for travel, and buy local SIM (~$40/ month). There are usually kiosks near travel hubs, and most airports.

[Teacher Terry]

I use Airalo and purchase a virtual SIM card. I paid 10 for 30 days which covered 30 countries. I had text and data but couldn’t make calls. I use facebook or what’s app if I want to call.

[Upminster-1]

My daughter and I have traveled a lot internationally, but I haven't needed to use my cell phone, as I prefer connecting via laptop. But she does a lot of business internationally, with lots of calls when she is traveling overseas.

For a while she was using Verizon and paying an extra $10 per day for international coverage. Then she switched to Google Fi which has proven to be much cheaper and more international-friendly. She has had no problems using it in South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

So then I also switched to Google Fi ( eSim makes it quite easy to switch ). As did my son and DIL.

Google Fi [ Flexible Plan ] = $25 a month plus $10 per GB of data, includes hotspot tethering and international coverage in 200+ countries. I'll have to ask my daughter what the international charges are, but she says much cheaper than Verizon's $10 a day.

[IonRedline08]

I have T Mobile, my plan gives you 5GB of Higher Speed Data Internationally, then slows down after.

I just returned from 2.5 Weeks in the Balkans, it worked really well 99% of the time.

[Star691]

If you have ATT, you can use their International Day Pass plan. Currently only $10 per day, and only charges for the days data and voice is used internationally. Works in many countries.

[Gator Fan 79]

Originally Posted by IonRedline08

I have T Mobile, my plan gives you 5GB of Higher Speed Data Internationally, then slows down after.

I just returned from 2.5 Weeks in the Balkans, it worked really well 99% of the time.

5GB per month per line. In the past year we've used it in the Balkans, Helsinki, Poland, Japan, S. Korea, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, NZ, Australia, the Netherlands, Kenya, South Africa, and Mexico. When we were on the Curonian Spit in Lithuania we briefly connected to the Russian Federation. Calls are a bit expensive but data is fast and rock solid so we use WhatsApp for most calls. We fly mostly AA, Alaska, and Delta and if the flight has wifi we use our T-Mobile number for free Internet. Usually works very well. No complaints and I've recommended it to friends who were also pleased. A bit off topic but we switched our home Internet to T-Mobile 5G. $35 a month and it works great.

[kgordeeva]

My T-mobile plan includes international data that works in most countries.. When I traveled throughout Europe and Egypt last year, it made things a lot easier.

[Gator Fan 79]

Originally Posted by kgordeeva

My T-mobile plan includes international data that works in most countries.. When I traveled throughout Europe and Egypt last year, it made things a lot easier.

It's relatively seamless too. Usually while we're still on the plane heading to the gate we get a text from T-Mobile notifying us that we have coverage in that country.

[K12144]

I've always bought sim cards upon arrival. Usually several kiosks at the airport to choose from. You'll need a phone that will work internationally, though.