AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Finding a good international data plan is not always easy, and the costs can be daunting. Recently, T-Mobile launched two new international data plans at a great price.
Old T-Mobile Data Plans
For years, T-Mobile has offered free international roaming with their data plans, but the speed was usually capped at 2G speeds. That's fine if you just want to use Google Maps or check your email, but not so good if you want to watch a bit of Netflix or YouTube, upload your videos, or manage a website. You also had to spend $0.25 per minute for calls, which is hardly a good rate.
Another option was to spend $5 a day for half a GB of data at 4G speeds. While this might have been good for short journeys, a full month would get ridiculously expensive, and it was also a hassle to make the purchase for every day you were traveling.
New International Data Plans
There are two new plans available, both at 4G speeds. If you're only planning a short vacation up to 10 days, grab the 5 GB plan for only $35. If you plan to travel longer, you have the option of getting 15 GB for $50 a month. Both plans are available to use in all of T-Mobile's 210+ countries with partner companies.
This means that for less than $2 a day, you can get 4G speeds in almost any place you'll need it in your travels. In fact, I only found one country (Albania) where the service wasn't available in the dozens I traveled through with my T-Mobile plan.
Are the New Plans Worth It?
Quite often, you can find fantastic deals on SIM cards in countries across the world. In fact, I found the U.S. to have some of the most expensive SIM card rates. However, that would mean purchasing a new SIM card in each country you traveled to (except in the European Union where they have free roaming). That's just too much hassle in my opinion (and I talk from experience with over a dozen SIM cards in my backpack). Besides, who wants to change phone numbers when they travel?
Sure, there might be better options for those traveling overseas nearly the whole year, but if you don't fall into that category, the $35 for 5 GB or $50 for 15 GB plans at 4G speeds are great options.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
