International roaming used to mean a phone bill that required a separate, difficult conversation when you got home. I paid $340 in roaming charges on a two-week trip to Europe in 2012 without making a single call longer than three minutes. The situation has improved considerably. In 2026 there’s no reason to pay that kind of money, and several genuinely good options that cost a fraction of it. The catch is that you have to choose one before you board the plane.
eSIMs: The Cleanest Solution for Most Travelers
An eSIM is a digital SIM card installed on your phone remotely, without swapping any physical hardware. Every iPhone since the 14 series and most current Android flagships support eSIM, and the technology has matured to the point where it works reliably in almost every market.
Airalo is the largest eSIM marketplace for travelers and the right starting point. You download the app, search for your destination or region, buy a plan, and activate it before departure. A regional Europe eSIM covering 30-plus countries runs roughly $5 to $7 for 1 GB and $17 to $25 for 10 GB on a 30-day plan. Southeast Asia regional plans run similarly. The data connects through local carrier networks, which means actual local speeds rather than the throttled speeds that most home carrier international plans deliver.
Holafly offers unlimited data plans priced by duration rather than data cap, which works better for heavy users who don’t want to watch a data counter. A 15-day Europe plan runs $44 to $55. More expensive than Airalo for light users, significantly less stressful for people who stream or use navigation constantly. Nomad is a third strong option with competitive pricing and a clean app. Saily, launched by the NordVPN company in 2024, has been aggressive on price and is worth a comparison check.
The practical limit of eSIM plans: they provide data only. Calls and texts to local numbers require either using your home carrier’s number over WiFi calling or buying a plan that includes voice, which costs more. For most leisure travelers who communicate via WhatsApp, iMessage, or similar apps over data, this isn’t a real constraint.
Carrier Day Passes: Convenient but Expensive for Longer Trips
AT&T’s International Day Pass costs $12 per day and activates automatically when you use your phone abroad. It gives you your normal plan’s data, calls, and texts in 200-plus countries. For a two-day trip, $24 is reasonable. For a two-week trip, $168 is not, especially when an eSIM would have covered the same data for $15 to $25.
T-Mobile’s higher-tier plans include international data and calls in 215-plus countries as part of the base plan, though the data speed is throttled to 256 Kbps on standard plans, which is enough for maps and messaging but not streaming or video calls. T-Mobile’s International Pass adds full-speed data for $5 a day or $35 for a month, which is more competitive for longer trips.
Google Fi Wireless deserves a mention for frequent international travelers. Its Unlimited Plus plan includes full-speed data in 200-plus countries as part of the monthly rate. If you travel internationally more than a few times a year and want one carrier that handles everything without thinking, Fi is the cleanest solution available, and you can use it as your primary US carrier in between trips.
Local SIMs: Still the Cheapest Option in the Right Markets
In Southeast Asia particularly, buying a physical local SIM at the airport or a convenience store on arrival beats every other option on per-gigabyte cost. A Thai SIM with 30 GB of data for a month costs roughly $10 to $15. A Vietnamese SIM with unlimited data for two weeks runs $5 to $8. The data is fast, the coverage is good, and the process is straightforward even if you don’t speak the local language.
The trade-off is your home number goes inactive while the local SIM is in. Anyone calling your regular number gets voicemail. For travelers who need to remain reachable on their home number, eSIM stacking (running a data-only eSIM alongside your home carrier’s active plan) is now possible on most modern iPhones and Pixels, giving you local data speeds while keeping your home number live.
The WiFi Calling Trick
WiFi calling is enabled in the settings of virtually every modern smartphone and supported by all major US carriers. When connected to WiFi, it routes calls and texts through your home carrier’s network over the internet rather than through local cell towers. This means you can call and text on your regular number at no extra charge, from anywhere with a WiFi connection, without triggering any international fees at all.
Enable it before you travel (Settings on iPhone: Phone, then WiFi Calling; similar path on Android). Pair it with a data-only eSIM for when you’re not on WiFi, and you have a full phone setup abroad for $15 to $25 total rather than $150 in carrier day passes.
The airport is the worst place to buy international data. The same principle applies to currency — airport exchange booths are equally expensive. We’ve covered how to avoid the worst exchange rates in a separate guide. Every carrier kiosk and SIM vendor in an international terminal charges a premium for the captive audience. Buy your eSIM from home before departure, activate it in the arrivals hall, and walk out connected at a fraction of the cost.
For the federal rules on international calling and roaming, see the FCC's international calling guide.
