June 27, 2023
Smartphones have made traveling internationally easier than ever, but how do you make sure your smartphone itself works when you’re abroad?
After all, those handy travel apps won’t work without an internet connection. You probably want to stay in touch with friends and family too, especially if they’re joining you on your trip. Here’s what to know about using your phone outside the United States, as well as a couple of different ways to get international cellular service.
As recently as a decade ago, compatibility with foreign cell networks was a major issue. U.S. carriers used a different frequency than most of the rest of the world, so U.S. phones typically didn’t work elsewhere. The move to modern quad-band GSM phones (those made around the middle of the 2010s and newer) in the U.S. has eliminated this issue. In all but the rarest cases, American-bought smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Google, and other brands will work all over the world.
If you want to be absolutely certain your device works on a foreign network, check which bands are used in the country you’re visiting, and then check with your phone manufacturer to see if your model supports it.
When you leave the U.S., you’re also leaving your U.S. carrier’s home network. To ensure you can still get voice, text, and data while traveling internationally, American carriers have agreements with carriers in other countries to serve their customers. You’re said to be “roaming” when you’re on one of these networks. If your phone has roaming enabled, it will automatically join one of these foreign networks.
Since this phone is roaming internationally in Germany, Vodafone is displayed as the active cell network.
The simplest indication you’re roaming is that your phone will display a different (and maybe unfamiliar) carrier name next to the signal indicator. For example, visitors to Canada might discover they’re now on the Rogers or Bell networks, while visitors to Germany may see Vodafone or O2 listed.
Yes, and carriers consider voice, text, and data roaming separately. Data roaming allows you to download and stream from the internet via the cell network while roaming, just like at home. It’s typically the most-used element of roaming since voice and text functions can often be performed via the internet as well.
If you don’t have an international data plan in place (discussed below), it’s best to turn off data roaming in your phone’s settings. Otherwise, you may be charged a high per-megabyte rate for data usage. In these cases, you might rely more on voice and text roaming service to stay connected, or you might turn them off as well and rely entirely on Wi-Fi.
If you have a U.S. cellular plan, you’re roaming when you travel north or south of the border. However, some carriers don’t charge for roaming in Mexico and Canada on their unlimited plans. It’s always best to know how your plan works before leaving to avoid surprise charges.
The simplest way to use your phone abroad is to use it just like at home: Turn on data roaming and use your cell service like normal. This lets you use your regular phone number abroad and offers the most connectivity in the most places.
Before doing so, however, you’ll want to make sure you have an international data plan in place. Without an international data plan, your carrier may charge $2 or more per megabyte, which gets expensive very quickly.
Different carriers have different plans. T-Mobile is the most generous, as they include up to 5GB of high-speed data in more than 215 countries and destinations on the Go5G Plus and Max plans, or 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries on the Go5G and Magenta Plans. If you use up all your high-speed data, you still get unlimited basic data at speeds up to 256Kbps.
If you have a different T-Mobile plan or need more high-speed data, the carrier also offers 1-day, 10-day, and 30-day International Passes for $5, $35, and $50 respectively.
Verizon and AT&T both offer daily passes for $5 to $10 per day that can be added to your account before you travel. Once they’re added, all you have to do is enable data roaming at your destination. Your device connects to an international network, the data pass gets activated and your carrier takes care of the rest.
AAA TIPS: It bears repeating: Don’t forget to add your international data pass to your account before you begin roaming.
Daily international passes typically charge you for each day you have data roaming enabled, no matter how little data you use. If your plan is one of these and there are days you don't need data roaming, consider turning it off to minimize your bill.
A mobile Wi-Fi hotspot can provide roaming data for multiple people at once—a convenient option if you're traveling with a group.
Another method that can be more cost effective is to bring a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. These devices connect to the cell network at your destination and then share cellular data with your devices via Wi-Fi. Since a single Wi-Fi hotspot can provide data to multiple devices, this is a great option if you’re traveling with family or in a group.
The mobile element of the hotspot lets you continuously use your phone on the go anywhere it has cell signal. And unlike relying on public Wi-Fi, you don’t have to worry about connecting to an unfamiliar, potentially insecure network—or that there may be no networks at all nearby.
The mobile Wi-Fi hotspot can be a separate device that you buy or rent. Alternatively, if you have a smartphone with roaming data (as discussed above), you may be able to share that data by enabling your phone’s mobile hotspot functionality.
AAA TIPS: If you stick exclusively to the Wi-Fi hotspot route, make sure to turn off data roaming on all your devices to avoid potential cellular roaming charges. Many carriers allow you to disable voice and text roaming as well to avoid accidental roaming.
Traveling with a lot of people? Make sure you have enough hotspot data for everyone!
Another popular option for overseas cell service is to get a temporary SIM card or eSIM from a local carrier and install it in your device (A SIM card is a physical device, while eSIMs are virtual). This provides local service that often costs less than roaming with your home carrier. However, those lower costs aren’t without drawbacks:
Given the drawbacks, buying a local SIM card is generally a better option if you’re planning to live abroad for a longer period and will save a substantial amount of money.
Travel destinations frequently offer free public Wi-Fi. If you don’t have another way to get online, it’s tempting to use it. But the identity theft experts at Experian warn that public Wi-Fi is easy to hack. Even networks with passwords can be vulnerable.
If you plan to connect to public Wi-Fi networks, consider using a virtual private network (VPN). These services encrypt your web traffic so the data is much harder for hackers to read, even if it’s passed through an unsafe Wi-Fi connection. In addition, Experian recommends not sending or receiving personal information over public Wi-Fi.
AAA members get up to $200 when they switch to T-Mobile
Members receive $50 for each voice line brought over from a qualifying competitor on a new T-Mobile account, up to 4 lines per account. Switch to take advantage of T-Mobile's international roaming included on select plans, as well as International Passes on all plans.
T-Mobile, the T logo, Magenta, and the magenta color are registered trademarks of Deutsche Telekom AG.
