International travel
US travelers abroad have three plan strategies: (1) carriers that include international roaming (Google Fi, T-Mobile postpaid premium tiers), (2) Wi-Fi calling from hotel/cafe Wi-Fi over your existing US carrier, (3) destination eSIMs (Airalo, Nomad, Saily) for budget travelers. Below is everything we have on the topic.
Start here
- Guide: International travel cell plan — eSIM-first strategy guide; what works in 200 countries, where the budget options shine, and the destination-eSIM alternative to a carrier with built-in roaming.
- Guide: Wi-Fi calling — Make calls and texts back to US numbers as if you’re domestic, from any hotel or cafe Wi-Fi abroad. Free.
Carriers with strong international stories
Glossary
- International roaming — How your phone uses a foreign carrier’s towers and what it costs.
- Wi-Fi calling — VoWiFi standard. Calls back to US numbers from abroad treated as domestic on most carriers.
- Dual SIM — Run a US line and a destination eSIM simultaneously on a modern phone.
- eSIM — How destination eSIMs (Airalo, Nomad) provision in 5 minutes from the airport.
- SMS 2FA — The "abroad and 2FA breaks" problem. Some banks block SMS to numbers that look international.
If you mostly travel between US and home country
- Best cell phone plans (overall) — For domestic-first users; pair with a destination eSIM for trips.
- Data usage calculator — Estimate cellular consumption to size the right destination eSIM.