Carrier Comparison
US and UK carrier roaming costs compared
HelloRoam is the top pick against every day pass on this page: its 7-day unlimited plan has a median price of $22 across the 35 countries where all five providers were priced (30 Oct 2026), and Nomad is next at $25. AT&T and Verizon each charge $12 a day abroad and T-Mobile's International Pass charges $10 a day, so 7 days cost $84 on AT&T and $50 on T-Mobile's 10-day pass. HelloRoam, an eSIM platform, bills in 31 checkout currencies and refunds an unactivated eSIM within 180 days. Airalo covers 200+ destinations to HelloRoam's 185. Rates checked June 2026.
All carriers at a glance
| Carrier | Country | Plan | Daily Rate | 7-Day Cost | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | US | International Day Pass | $12/day | $84 | LTE |
| Verizon | US | TravelPass | $12/day | $84 | LTE |
| T-Mobile | US | International Pass | $10/day | $50 | LTE |
| Vodafone | UK | Roaming Passport | £6.85/day | £47.95 | LTE |
| EE | UK | EU Daily Charge and Zone 1 Pass | £6/day | £30 | LTE |
| Xfinity Mobile | US | International Pass | $10/day | $70 | LTE |
Rates sourced from official carrier websites. Verified June 2026.
Compare carrier roaming by destination: Japan · United Kingdom · France · Thailand · Australia
US carriers
AT&T: International Day Pass
$12 per 24 hours from first use in 210+ countries, at most 10 daily fees per line each bill cycle. Without a plan, pay-per-use hits $200+/day. A 7-day trip costs $84 with the daily pass. A 14-day trip costs $120. Without the $12/day International Day Pass, AT&T charges $2.05 per megabyte ($2,099/GB).
Verizon: TravelPass
$12 per 24-hour session for data, calls and texts in 210+ destinations, and $6 in Mexico and Canada, where Verizon's Unlimited plans include use at no extra cost. A new session starts each time you use the phone abroad after the last one ends. A 7-day trip costs $84 with the daily pass. A 14-day trip costs $168. Without TravelPass, Verizon charges $2.05 per megabyte ($2,099/GB).
T-Mobile: International Pass
$10 for the 1 Day International Pass: 2GB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, usable for up to 24 hours. The 10-day pass is $50 for 15GB and the 30-day pass is $75 for 30GB. Experience More includes 5GB of high-speed data abroad and Experience Beyond 15GB, then up to 256Kbps. A 7-day trip costs $50 with the daily pass. A 14-day trip costs $75. Past the 5GB or 15GB allowance, data runs at up to 256Kbps. More high-speed data needs an International Pass.
Xfinity Mobile: International Pass
$10/day with a 200 MB daily high-speed cap. Throttled after. A 7-day trip costs $70 with the daily pass. A 14-day trip costs $140. The 200 MB daily cap means heavy users get throttled after about 20 minutes of browsing.
T-Mobile abroad: where it works and what it costs
T-Mobile's International Pass costs $10 for 1 day and $50 for 7 days on the 10-day pass, and AT&T's Day Pass costs $84 at $12 a day, while a 20GB Mexico eSIM in this site's catalog costs $37.02. HelloRoam, an eSIM platform, lists AT&T and Telcel as its Mexico operators. Airalo covers 200+ destinations to HelloRoam's 185.
This site's T-Mobile record lists 10 top destinations for its travellers: Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Spain. That is a list of top destinations, not T-Mobile's coverage list. No site file holds a T-Mobile country count, so this page prints none.
T-Mobile does not charge for calls, texts or data in Mexico and Canada; depending on the plan, up to 30GB is at high speed, then up to 256Kbps, so the Mexico table below has no T-Mobile row. Verizon bills $6 a day in Mexico on TravelPass (Mexico and Canada). Verizon's Unlimited plans include Mexico and Canada at no extra cost.
| US day pass | Carrier total | 20GB eSIM (catalog) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T International Day Pass | $84 | $37.02 | $46 |
| Verizon TravelPass (Mexico and Canada) | $42 | $37.02 | $4 |
Outside Mexico and Canada, 7 days of T-Mobile's International Passes cost $50 on the 10-day pass. The Mexico plan price comes from HelloRoam's catalogue, read 29 Oct 2026. HelloRoam's checkout shows the current price. Rates checked June 2026.
See HelloRoam's Mexico plans or read the full T-Mobile roaming vs eSIM comparison.
UK carriers
Vodafone: Roaming Passport
£2.00/day in the EU (Zone B) and £6.85/day worldwide (Zone C/D) on Roaming Passport. A 7-day trip outside the EU costs £47.95 with the daily pass. Since Brexit, EU roaming is no longer automatically free on all UK plans. Check your specific plan terms before traveling.
EE: EU Daily Charge and Zone 1 Pass
£2.72 a day in the Europe Zone on Pay Monthly plans started after 7 July 2021 (7-day EU Pass £16.50). In Zone 1 (39 places in EE's list, including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand) there is no mobile data without a pass: £6 for 24 hours, £30 for 7 days or £50 for 15 days. A 7-day trip outside the EU costs £30 with the daily pass. Since Brexit, EU roaming is no longer automatically free on all UK plans. Check your specific plan terms before traveling.
MVNOs: Google Fi, Visible, and Mint Mobile abroad
MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) resell service on the major carrier networks. Their international roaming terms differ from the Big Three:
Google Fi
Google Fi charges $10/GB for data in 200+ countries with no daily pass. You pay for what you use, capped at $60/month (6 GB). After the cap, data is free but throttled. For a traveler using 3 GB abroad, Fi costs $30. Compare that to $84 for a week on AT&T or $4 to $15 for a travel eSIM. Fi runs on T-Mobile's network in the US and roams on local carriers abroad at full LTE speed.
Visible
Visible offers no international data roaming. Your phone does not connect to data on foreign networks. Visible customers must rely on WiFi or install a travel eSIM for data abroad. Calls and texts to the US from Mexico and Canada are included on the Visible+ plan ($45/month), but no international data is available outside those two countries.
Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile offers a $5/day international pass called Minternational in 200+ countries. The pass includes unlimited talk, text, and 200 MB of high-speed data per day. A 7-day trip costs $35. A 14-day trip costs $70. Compare that to $4 to $15 for a travel eSIM over the same period. Mint runs on T-Mobile's network.
AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile plan details
AT&T International Day Pass: $12/day
AT&T International Day Pass covers 210+ countries. The $12 fee starts on first use abroad and covers 24 hours, at most 10 fees per line each bill cycle. You can use your domestic plan data abroad, so there is no separate data cap. Without the pass, AT&T charges $2.05/MB ($2,099/GB). To disable auto-enrollment, call *611 or remove the add-on in the myAT&T app. Rates checked June 2026.
Verizon TravelPass: $12/day ($6/day in Mexico and Canada)
Verizon TravelPass costs $12/day in 210+ countries and $6/day in Mexico and Canada, and Verizon's Unlimited plans include Mexico and Canada at no extra cost. Each fee starts a 24-hour session per line. Two phones traveling together pay double. Verizon bills the full daily rate even if you use only 1 MB. TravelPass gives 5GB of high-speed data per session, then 3G speeds (Verizon's TravelPass page, October 2026). Without TravelPass, Verizon charges $2.05/MB. Rates checked June 2026.
T-Mobile International Pass: $10/day
T-Mobile's International Pass costs $10 for 1 day. At the cheapest pass mix, 7 days cost $50 (10-day pass) and 14 days cost $75 (30-day pass). The base plan includes data at a reduced speed with no add-on. T-Mobile US includes free data in Mexico on some US plans; the T-Mobile abroad section prices the Mexico week. Rates checked June 2026.
How carrier roaming charges work
When your phone connects to a foreign network, your home carrier pays that network a wholesale access fee. Industry estimates put the wholesale cost at $0.01-0.05 per megabyte. Your carrier then marks that up 40x to 200x and bills you at retail rates. The daily pass model smooths this into a flat $12/day fee at AT&T and Verizon, but the economics underneath are the same: you are paying a premium for the convenience of not switching providers.
Three billing models exist. The daily pass (AT&T International Day Pass, Verizon TravelPass) charges a flat fee for any day you use data abroad. The included allowance (T-Mobile Experience More and Experience Beyond) gives 5GB or 15GB of high-speed data, then up to 256Kbps. The pay-per-use model charges per megabyte with no cap, which is how $2,000+ bills happen.
Want to avoid charges entirely? Learn how to turn off data roaming before your next trip, or read what data roaming actually means and when it applies.
7-day trip cost comparison: carrier vs eSIM
Here is the total cost for a 7-day international trip on each carrier, compared to a travel eSIM. The eSIM price is based on a 5 GB plan at Airalo's average rate of $4.50/GB.
| Option | 7-Day Cost | 14-Day Cost | Savings vs eSIM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T International Day Pass | $84 | $120 (10-fee cap) | eSIM saves $71-80 |
| Verizon TravelPass | $84 | $168 | eSIM saves $71-80 |
| T-Mobile International Passes | $50 | $75 (30-day pass) | eSIM saves $37-46 |
| Xfinity International Pass | $70 | $140 | eSIM saves $57-66 |
| Google Fi (3 GB used) | $30 | $60 | eSIM saves $17-26 |
| Mint Minternational | $35 | $70 | eSIM saves $22-31 |
| Travel eSIM (5 GB) | $4-13 | $8-22 | Baseline |
eSIM prices vary by destination. The range runs from $3.00/GB at Nomad to $4.50/GB at Airalo. All carrier rates verified June 2026.
How a travel eSIM compares to all three
A travel eSIM connects directly to a local carrier in your destination country, bypassing your home carrier entirely. You get the same LTE or 5G towers, the same signal quality, at a fraction of the price. The eSIM installs via QR code in under two minutes, and your home number stays active on your physical SIM for calls and texts.
The math is straightforward: seven days of AT&T roaming costs $84. Seven days of Airalo eSIM data costs $4.50. Same towers, same speed, 95% savings. The gap only widens on longer trips.
See the top eSIM providers ranked or check the EU roaming guide if you are traveling in Europe.
How eSIM pricing compares
A travel eSIM bypasses carrier roaming entirely. You install a local data plan on your phone and connect directly to networks in your destination country. Prices start from $3 to $5 per gigabyte, and a 7-day plan runs $4 to $15 depending on the destination and data size.
Compare that to $84 per week on AT&T or Verizon. The savings range from 82% to 95% across most destinations. See the top eSIM providers ranked.
What happens if you roam without a plan
Without a daily pass or international plan, AT&T and Verizon charge per megabyte. The rate is $2.05/MB on both carriers, which works out to $2,099 per gigabyte. A single background app update (50 MB) costs $102.50. Loading Instagram for 10 minutes uses about 100 MB and costs $205. A WhatsApp video call lasting 30 minutes consumes 750 MB and costs $1,537.
These charges often surprise travelers. Your phone connects to a foreign network automatically when you land, and background apps start syncing. Unless you turn off data roaming before you leave the plane, charges begin immediately. AT&T and Verizon both send a text notification when you first connect abroad, but by the time you read that text, your phone may have already used 5 to 20 MB in background activity ($10 to $41 in charges).
How to avoid surprise charges on each carrier
- AT&T: Turn off data roaming in Settings > Cellular > Data Roaming. Remove International Day Pass via myAT&T app if you don't want the $12/day auto-charge. Install a travel eSIM for data instead
- Verizon: Disable TravelPass in My Verizon app > Account > Manage Plan > International travel. Turn off data roaming on your phone. Switch to a travel eSIM for data
- T-Mobile: On Experience plans, the included 5GB or 15GB of high-speed data, then up to 256Kbps, runs automatically with no extra charge. To avoid the $10/day International Pass charge, do not buy the pass. Keep roaming on if you want free slow data, or turn it off and use an eSIM for full speed
- Xfinity Mobile: Disable the $10/day International Pass in the Xfinity Mobile app. Turn off data roaming. Note that Xfinity's 200 MB/day cap means even with the pass, heavy users get throttled
- Vodafone UK: Roaming Passport costs £2.00/day inside the EU and £6.85/day worldwide. Disable it in the My Vodafone app under Roaming settings
- EE UK: £2.72 a day in the Europe Zone and £6 for a 24-hour Zone 1 Pass (EE roaming checker, October 2026). The EU charge is added automatically on Pay Monthly plans that started after 7 July 2021, and earlier plans pay nothing extra. Zone 1 (USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand) has no data without a pass. To avoid the EU charge, turn off data roaming
Frequently asked questions
- Which US carrier has the cheapest international roaming?
- T-Mobile offers international data on its base plans, but it runs at a reduced speed, too slow for maps or web browsing. For usable speeds, T-Mobile charges $10/day on the International Pass while AT&T and Verizon charge $12/day. A travel eSIM undercuts all three at $4-9 per week.
- Do I need a roaming plan to use my phone abroad?
- Without a plan, AT&T and Verizon charge $2.05 per megabyte, which adds up to $2,099 per gigabyte. You either need a daily pass, an eSIM, or to turn off data roaming entirely.
- Is Verizon TravelPass worth it?
- Only for overnight layovers or single-day trips. At $12/day, a 7-day trip costs $84 on TravelPass. A 7-day eSIM with the same LTE speeds costs $4.50-8.99 depending on the destination.
- Does T-Mobile international data work at usable speeds?
- Up to an allowance. T-Mobile's Experience plans include 5GB or 15GB of high-speed data abroad, then up to 256Kbps, and Essentials includes no data. For more high-speed data you need an International Pass: the 1 Day pass costs $10 and the 10-day pass $50. AT&T and Verizon charge $12 per 24 hours. A HelloRoam eSIM, refundable for 180 days while unactivated, covers the same trip without a pass.
Explore by destination
Roaming costs vary by country. See carrier rates and eSIM prices side by side for your specific destination:
Is eSIM cheaper than international roaming?
Yes, a travel eSIM is 70-90% cheaper than carrier roaming for international trips. AT&T and Verizon charge $12/day for international data, totaling $84-168 for a 7-14 day trip. A travel eSIM on the same local network costs $5-25 for the same period. Both connect to the same cell towers in the destination country. The eSIM removes the carrier markup. Rates verified June 2026.
How do I avoid roaming charges abroad?
Five steps to avoid roaming charges: 1) Install a travel eSIM before departure (costs $5-25 for a week). 2) Turn off data roaming for your carrier SIM in phone settings. 3) Set your eSIM as the primary data line. 4) Keep your carrier SIM active for incoming calls via dual-SIM. 5) Download offline maps and translation packs before the flight. This setup saves 70-90% vs carrier roaming on the same network.
Do eSIMs use the same network as carrier roaming?
Yes, travel eSIMs connect to the same local carrier towers that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile use for roaming. When AT&T says you are roaming on NTT Docomo in Japan or Vodafone in the UK, a travel eSIM connects to the exact same towers. The difference is price: AT&T charges $12/day for that connection. An eSIM charges $5-15 for a full week on the same infrastructure.
See the roaming cost for your destination.
Pick your destination and see how much an eSIM saves vs your carrier.
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