How Much Data Do You Really Need for a Trip Abroad?

Most people buy a travel eSIM with no clear idea of how much data they will get through, then either come home with 16 GB of a 20 GB plan unused or run dry on day three. Neither is necessary: data use abroad is predictable once you know which kind of phone user you are.

Start with your daily use, not the trip total

A gigabyte figure on its own means nothing. What matters is GB per day, because that is what you multiply by the length of your trip. Three profiles cover most travellers.

Maps and messaging only — roughly 100 to 300 MB a day. Navigation to find a restaurant, messages and photos home, the odd search, a boarding pass. Maps are lighter than people assume: an hour of turn-by-turn navigation is usually well under 50 MB, and downloading the city map offline beforehand cuts that to almost nothing. A week comes to 1–2 GB.

Normal use with social media — roughly 500 MB to 1 GB a day. The common case: everything above, plus scrolling feeds while you queue, posting stories, a video call home, music on the train. Video moves the needle — autoplaying feeds are the biggest drain on most travellers' allowances. A week lands around 4–7 GB.

Remote work or heavy video — 1.5 to 3 GB a day, often more. Video calls run roughly 0.5–1.5 GB an hour. Add cloud sync, a tethered laptop and evening streaming, and a working week abroad passes 15 GB without anything unusual happening.

Turning that into a plan

Multiply your daily figure by the number of days, then add about 30% of headroom. The margin matters because the days that break the budget are the unplanned ones: a long delay with no Wi-Fi, a hotel network that does not work.

• Long weekend in Rome, maps and messaging: 4 × 250 MB ≈ 1 GB.
• Ten days in Thailand, normal use: 10 × 800 MB ≈ 8 GB, so round up to 10 GB.
• Two weeks in the US with some work: 14 × 2 GB ≈ 28 GB, or an unlimited-by-day plan.

Check the validity period as well as the volume. Unused data expires when the plan does, so 10 GB valid for 7 days is a different product from 10 GB valid for 30.

What it costs

Our catalogue currently holds around 2,000 active plans, with local plans in 165 countries. The prices below are indicative and change over time — the current price is always the one shown on the destination's page.

As a reference point, the usual entry plan is 1 GB for 7 days from around €3.99 in most popular destinations, including Spain, France, Italy, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. A few markets sit higher — Morocco from around €5.49, Egypt from around €4.99 — reflecting what local network access costs there rather than any difference in the product. The lowest entry point in the catalogue is a 500 MB, 7-day Japan plan from around €1.99.

Larger bundles bring the cost per gigabyte down, which is why price per GB is a more useful comparison than the headline price: a 1 GB plan and a 10 GB plan for the same country are rarely ten times apart.

Capped data or unlimited by day?

Both types exist in the catalogue and suit different trips. Capped plans give you a fixed pot of data for a fixed window; they are the better choice when you can estimate your use, because you only pay for what you need. Unlimited-by-day plans charge per day and remove the arithmetic, so they win on trips you cannot predict — long stays, work trips, a tethered laptop. Read the fair-use terms: "unlimited" in practice usually means full speed up to a daily threshold, then reduced speed for the rest of that day.

Making the data go further

Download offline maps and translation packs over Wi-Fi before you leave. Turn off autoplaying video in your social apps — the biggest single saving available. Set streaming to lower quality on mobile data, and disable background app refresh and automatic photo backup. Then check your usage in your phone's settings after two days: tracking below your estimate means you have room to spare.

Browse eSIM data plans by destination

Frequently Asked Questions

How much data do I need for a week abroad?

For maps and messaging only, 1 to 2 GB covers a week. For normal use with social media, plan for 5 to 7 GB. If you are working remotely or making daily video calls, budget 10 to 20 GB or take an unlimited-by-day plan. Multiply your daily figure by the days and add about 30%.

Is 1 GB enough for a short trip?

For a long weekend of maps, messaging and the occasional search, yes — 1 GB over four days is about 250 MB a day, realistic if you download offline maps first and use Wi-Fi at your hotel. It is not enough if you scroll video feeds or make video calls, which can consume 1 GB in a day.

What happens if I run out of data mid-trip?

The connection simply stops. You can buy a second plan from the same account and install it in minutes, so running out is an inconvenience rather than an emergency — which is why buying a very large plan "just in case" is rarely worth it.

Does unused data roll over to my next trip?

No. Data expires at the end of the validity period, which typically starts when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination rather than when you buy it. Check how the countdown is defined before installing.

Can I share the data with a laptop or another phone?

On plans that permit tethering, yes, and it is often the cheapest way to cover a couple travelling together. Tethering is not allowed on every plan, so check the terms first, and remember a tethered laptop uses data far faster than a phone.

Before you buy

Work out your profile, multiply by your days, add a margin, then compare plans on four points: validity period, price per GB, capped versus unlimited-by-day, and whether tethering is allowed. Then look up your destination for the plans and current prices there — with local plans in 165 countries, there is usually a size that matches the trip rather than overshooting it.