Best wireless plans for international travel 2026

Getting one of the best wireless plans for international travel is essential if you're planning an overseas trip soon, because the last thing you need to be concerned about while in a different country is wireless connectivity. Thankfully, majority of the carriers these days offer their consumers (at least) some level of international coverage. You just have to choose a plan that fits your requirements and budget.

Just a few years ago, only the priciest unlimited data plans used to offer overseas connectivity. However, with continued improvements in wireless technologies such as 5G and fiercer competition in the field, things have changed quite a bit. The 'Big Three' carriers (e.g., AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) already include roaming services in Mexico and Canada, but if you want faster connectivity and data access while traveling outside North America, you're going to need some more. That being said, here are some of the best data plans from both mainstream operators and MVNO carriers, and these should help in making your upcoming international journey an enjoyable experience.

At a glance

Best overall

Verizon's plan structure is primarily based around customization. You start off by choosing a plan at the base price and then mix and match perks based on your requirements for a given month. These add-ons are priced $10-15 a month. This can be convenient if you have a trip coming up, as you can easily plan ahead by adding goodies such as 'TravelPass' and extra hotspot data, all without any real commitment beyond the month in question.

The Unlimited Ultimate plan gives you unlimited talk, text, and 15GB high-speed data in more than 210 countries worldwide. Once those 15GB run out, you still get unlimited data at 1.5 Mbps, which is more than sufficient for most everyday tasks. Having a starting price of $90 per month (before any taxes and fees, and autopay discounts), the Unlimited Ultimate plan can be pretty expensive if you're signing up for one line, but the price drops considerably when you bring over your family members.

Alternatively, you could sign up for a more affordable Verizon plan and simply use TravelPass. This feature costs $12 per day and gives you unlimited talk, text, and data in over 210 countries. Once you add TravelPass to your Verizon account, you'll only be charged for the days you actually use the service, which can come in handy if you generally rely on Wi-Fi calling when traveling overseas.

Best budget

The top-of-the-line plan from the Verizon-owned wireless carrier, Visible Plus Pro gives you unlimited talk, text, and premium data access on the 'Ultra-Wideband 5G' network. You also get up to 4K UHD resolution video streaming, unlimited mobile hotspot data usage at 15Mbps, automatic blocking of spam and robocalls, and bundled smartwatch service.

Travelers get to enjoy free talk, text, and 2GB data in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, after which speeds are reduced to 3G. With the Visible Plus Pro plan, you also get two days of the 'Global Pass' add-on every month, and it gives you unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of high-speed data in over 140 countries around the world. That may not seem very generous, but you can also save up to 12 (at a time) of these Global Pass days to utilize when traveling, which is a pretty good deal for only $45 per month (inclusive of taxes and fees, and before regular discounts). Alternatively, you can pay upfront for an entire year of the Visible Plus Pro plan and receive 24 Global Pass days to use at your convenience. Global Pass can also be purchased a la carte for $10 per day if you're on the base Visible plan.

Best premium

If you can afford it, T-Mobile's new Experience Beyond is pretty much the perfect wireless plan, offering you access to a bounty of generous benefits like unlimited premium data, free streaming on Netflix (with ads) and Hulu, free satellite service wherever it's available, unlimited mobile hotspot usage (with 250GB high-speed data), and a whole lot more.

Experience Beyond becomes even more impressive if you travel a lot, as the plan will also hook you up with unlimited texts and high-speed data (capped at 15GB, then 256Kbps) in more than 215 countries around the world. There are also a few surprising perks that I haven't seen anywhere else, such as discounted hotels and rental cars if you book through T-Mobile Travel. International calling will still cost you $0.25 per minute, but it's easy enough to use Wi-Fi calling when you're overseas. Oh, and you also get 30GB high-speed data in Canada and Mexico.

The problem is that the Experience Beyond plan is quite expensive, costing over $100 per month for a single line, that too before factoring in taxes and fees, and a $35 device connection charge per line. Do all the fancy benefits justify the price? Well, that's between you and your bank account.

Best for Latin America

Even though it's not a great choice if you're heading to Europe or beyond, AT&T's recently rechristened Premium 2.0 plan is a surprisingly comprehensive pick for visitors traveling to Central and South America.

This plan includes unlimited talk, text, and high-speed data in 20 Latin American countries, provided the international usage doesn't exceed domestic. Apart from that, you'll enjoy standard AT&T perks like 100GB mobile hotspot data per month for each line, up to 4K UHD resolution streaming, as well as unlimited talk, text, and data in/between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Similar to Verizon, if you are planning to travel overseas you can also pay $12/day for the carrier's 'International Day Pass' add-on. It can be activated on your data plan whenever you want and comes with unlimited talk, text, and data in more than 210 countries worldwide. And if you pay $20/day, this add-on will also give your phone coverage on more than 400 cruise ships.

Sure, $90 per month (before taxes and fees) for one line is fairly expensive but you can easily lower the rate by bringing along your entire family, which will take the single line price to just $55 per month, for a maximum of five lines.

Best perks

Google Fi is an MVNO that uses T-Mobile's 5G network to offer incredible service at relatively lower costs than the competition. The most expensive of its offerings is the Unlimited Premium plan, which gives you a range of compelling perks like 100GB free cloud storage (via Google One), six months of free YouTube Premium subscription, full connectivity on select smartwatches, and much more.

The plan also offers a bunch of international benefits that may sound familiar if you compare them with T-Mobile's Experience Beyond plan. I'm talking about unlimited texts, and 50GB high-speed data (then 256 kbps) access in more than 200 destinations worldwide, and free calls, texts, and data in Mexico and Canada. Use a 5G-compatible Android phone and you can even enjoy 5G service in several countries around the globe.

Google Fi's Unlimited Premium plan starts at $65 per month (prior to taxes and fees) for a single line, but you can save some cash by adding a maximum of five lines with your account. All said and done, it's a pretty reasonable price for what you're getting, as long as you don't rack up costs overseas with the $0.20/minute phone calls.

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How to choose

There are plenty of great phone plans for people who regularly travel abroad, but that doesn't mean there's a one-size-fits-all solution. Before you settle on a plan, it's very important to consider your requirements as a device user, your budget, and of course, your destination(s) of choice.

For starters, it's best to look at your current wireless plan and see what benefits it has. Do you only require talk and text on your travels? If so, how much? Do you need data for navigation or surfing the web? Asking yourself these questions is a great way of starting off when selecting a plan for your upcoming trip. And who knows, maybe your carrier already has a great option that'll work out well for you.

If you can't get coverage from within your destination of choice, you could also look into your carrier's Wi-Fi calling policy. Wi-Fi is readily available in majority of the countries across the globe, and if you don't frequently send texts or use data while traveling, it could be sufficient for your needs while abroad.

Another piece of advice I'd like to offer is to watch out for how carriers describe their international coverage. For example, there's a big difference between "free calls in XX countries" and "free calls to XX countries". Both are useful but mean very different things. The former will allow you to make calls from inside another country, while the latter means that you can only call to the other countries from inside the United States. It may seem like an obvious distinction, but it's easy to get mixed up if you aren't careful.

Lastly, it's very important to remember that most wireless carriers have a la carte international coverage, so you may not need to switch to an entirely new plan to use your provider's network overseas. Verizon, for instance, offers its TravelPass in over 210 countries worldwide. It costs just $12 per day and can easily be activated on any of the carrier's data plans just for the duration of your upcoming travel.