Updated (Feb 2024)
Plans that include international data:
Looks like only one plan as of May 2024 Ultimate Unlimited includes international data, a measly 2GB. All other plans including pre-paid don’t get any data. I did find some legacy plans that got data in the past.
Past Plans with International Data
| Plan Name | Includes International Data? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Beyond Unlimited | Yes | Included 0.5GB/day of high-speed international data. |
| Above Unlimited | Yes | Included 5 TravelPass days per month. |
| Go Unlimited | No | Did not include international data options. |
| Prepaid Unlimited | No | Did not include international data options by default. |
| The Verizon Plan Unlimited | No | Did not include international data options. |
Add international data to you plan
So if you don’t have an Ultimate Unlimited plan you will need to add a data pass to your account. You have three options for adding international data, texting and phone calls:
- Travel Pass – you pay $10/day get unlimited data*, calling and text. *After the first 2GB of daily data ` enjoy unlimited 3G data. You can purchase additional high speed data for the remainder of your session.
- $100 International Monthly Plan: you pay $100 for 20Gb of data for a month. Unlimited data, *250 minutes calls and Unlimited texts *After your first 20GB of high speed data enjoy unlimited 3G data.
- Pay and you go $2.05c /MB. The cost of 1 GB would be $2,099.20 vs 10GB of data for $24 on eSIM!
You need a qualify plan
You will need to be on following plans: 5G Get More Unlimited, 5G Play More Unlimited, 5G Do More Unlimited, 5G Start Unlimited and Welcome Unlimited.
Achtung / Gotchas and the fine print
Hotspot Not! What!
So it seems that the ability to tether your laptop to your cellph0ne and use the internet when using Travel Pass is not allowed – this is a massive downside and a huge incentive to stop reading the rest of this article and jump over to our compare providers page and get an eSIM!
Data roaming and the $13,740 cellphone bill
If you simply take your existing phone out of the US and don’t get an add on pass /plan when you use it, make a call or browse the internet, you will be roaming. Your phone may happily connect to a network that is not Verizon and start racking up huge costs.
What is data roaming? Below is an article from Verizon on the topic but it simply boils down to nose bleed charges when you are not authorized to use Verizon’s network or network partners overseas – try $2 per Megabyte, yes Megabyte not Gigabyte, thats a whopping $2000 per Gig!
Link to Roaming article on Verizon
Link to Verizon’s International Travel Page
Link to Version’s Monthly Travel Page
Calls
With TravelPass, you can call within the country you’re visiting and you can call back to the US. When using TravelPass feature at $10.00 per day it will cover calls back to the U.S and calls to local numbers in the country you are in. BUT if calling from Switzerland to Italy long distance rates will apply which are $1.49 per minute to Landlines and $1.69 per minute to Mobiles.
Our recommendation is NOT to use your cellphone to make any phone calls when travelling – eSIMplanet suggest using a VOIP program like Skype or Google Voice. It’ll cost you 1c a minute vs the $1.50 or more your carrier wants to charge you. Of course it’s better to call using apps like WhatsApp or FaceTime directly.
Top Tip #1: If you have a business and need access to your phone number then you’ve probably have got no choice and will have to go with the Travel Pass or Monthly Plan but remember you can retrieve voicemails by dialing a US phone number with Skype or Google voice for just 1c a min.
3eSIM Planet 2022
Top Tip #2: Say you have a day or two during your hols when you need to use your actual phone number – just sign up for a Travel Pass of 1 day. You can buy the pass just for a days use.
Wi-Fi calling is verboten / limited!
Wi-Fi Calling when abroad: Wi-Fi calling can be used to call the US at no additional charge. Wi-Fi calling to a country other than the US will be charged International Long Distance rates, regardless of your International Travel plan. Yikes $2/min for a wifi call – that’s naughty!
Texting
Appears to be free.
The fine print
Also there are stories of huge bills for data used – the Pay as You Go rate for international data use is $2.05 per MB so that’s a whopping $2000/Gb to $16,000/Gb depending upon the country. eSIMS are typically $3/Gb!
Summary – get an eSIM!
Wow it’s so bloody complicated – but the answer is really simple: We recommend an eSIM! The days pass will add up to $300 a month and having to worry about call cost it not worth the hassle. Go to our compare providers page and see the best deals on eSIMs and sign up for the eSIM that best suits your needs.
Maya Mobile has 10Gb of data for $24 for 30 days for all of Europe and if you’re just going to one country: how about 10gb / 30 days for $16 for the UK.