AT&T International Day Pass, Verizon TravelPass or a travel eSIM: what your trip really costs

Day pass or travel eSIM: the short answer

Both options give you mobile data abroad. They differ in how you pay and what you need to set up:

The rest of this guide explains where the line between the two lies for your trip, and how to set up your phone so that a travel eSIM does not end up costing you a day pass as well.

How US carrier day passes work

The big US carriers all sell some form of international add-on. The names and prices differ, but the idea behind the daily passes is the same: for a fixed fee per day, you use your normal plan abroad as if you were at home.

• AT&T calls it International Day Pass. Your talk, text and data come from your domestic plan, and you pay a daily fee for each day you use your phone in a covered country.
• Verizon calls its version TravelPass and works the same way: your domestic plan abroad for a daily fee.
• T-Mobile takes a different route. Many of its plans include basic data and texting in a long list of countries at no extra cost, usually at low speed. Faster data abroad is sold as a pass, and some premium plans include a high-speed allowance.

A few points apply to daily passes in general, and they decide what a trip really costs:

• A day is a usage day. The fee is typically charged for a 24-hour period that starts when you first use your phone abroad. Days without any use are not charged.
• Use starts it, not a button. Once a pass is on your line, using data, and with some carriers making a call or sending a text, can start a paid day. A background app update is enough to trigger data use.
• Every line pays. The fee applies per line. Two parents and two teenagers on one family plan pay four times.
• Caps and inclusions vary. Some carriers limit the number of charged days per billing cycle, and many plans already include Canada and Mexico. Check your own plan before you add anything.

Doing the math for your trip

The comparison is simple arithmetic. A day pass costs the daily fee times the number of days you use your phone abroad, times the number of lines. A travel eSIM costs its price once per phone, whatever you do on any given day.

Put your carrier's current fee into the middle columns and compare the result with the eSIM prices below. If your carrier caps the number of charged days per billing cycle, long trips cost less than the simple multiplication suggests, so take the cap into account.

Here are the cheapest current plans of at least seven days for Mexico, one of the most common trips from the US:

And for a trip through several European countries, where a regional plan covers the whole route:

Not sure how much data you need? Our guide How much data do you need for travel helps you pick a size. All plans for a destination are on its page, for example Mexico, Canada or Europe.

When a day pass is the better choice

A travel eSIM is not always worth the effort. A day pass, or simply your plan as it is, makes sense in these situations:

• Your plan already covers the country. Many US plans include Canada and Mexico, and some T-Mobile plans include basic data in many more countries. If slow data is enough for messages and maps, you may not need anything extra.
• A very short stay. For a day trip across a border or a single day in port on a cruise, one or two days of fees can be less hassle than setting up an eSIM.
• You make many normal phone calls. Travel eSIMs are mostly data only. If you need to call landlines or businesses with your US number all day, a day pass keeps that simple.
• Your phone cannot take an eSIM. Older phones without eSIM support, and phones still locked to your carrier, cannot use another provider's eSIM.
• Someone else pays. If your employer covers roaming on a company phone, convenience wins.

One more point in favour of the day pass: it uses your home plan's data, so if you have a generous plan, you can use a lot of data without counting. Check whether your carrier slows down data abroad after a certain amount, as some plans do.

When a travel eSIM is the better choice

For most leisure and business trips outside the countries your plan includes, a travel eSIM is the cheaper option:

• Trips of several days. The daily fee adds up with every day, while an eSIM plan costs the same for a week or two.
• Families and groups. Every line pays the day pass. With eSIMs, each phone needs its own plan too, but these usually cost far less per person. One phone with a larger plan can also share its data by hotspot, if the plan allows it; see Can you use an eSIM as a hotspot?
• Multi-country trips. Regional plans cover Europe, Asia or Latin America with one eSIM, so you do not have to check which countries your carrier's pass includes.
• A fixed travel budget. You pay before you leave, and nothing is added to your phone bill afterwards.

Be realistic about unlimited eSIM plans: most of them give you a daily amount at full speed, often 1 to 3 GB, and slow down after that until the next day. Read the speed rule next to each plan. If you stream a lot, a large fixed plan can be the better choice.

Several providers in our comparison also offer discount codes for first purchases. You will find them on our promo codes page.

Keeping your US number without paying for a day pass

The best of both is a dual setup: the travel eSIM handles mobile data, and your US line stays on for calls and texts. Most phones sold in recent years support two lines at once, and our guide Dual SIM with a travel eSIM explains how it works. The important part is to make sure your US line does not start a day pass by accident:

1. Find out what starts a paid day. Ask your carrier or read its international terms: is it only data, or do outgoing calls and texts count too? With some carriers you can also remove the day pass feature from your line before the trip.
2. Turn off data roaming on your US line. On an iPhone: Settings → Cellular → your US line → Data Roaming off. Then choose the travel eSIM under Cellular Data and leave Allow Cellular Data Switching off, so the phone never falls back to your US line for data.
3. Use data-based messaging and calls. iMessage, FaceTime and WhatsApp run over the eSIM's data and keep working with your usual number or account.
4. Use Wi-Fi calling where it works. Many US carriers support calls to US numbers over Wi-Fi from abroad. Check whether your carrier charges for them.
5. If in doubt, switch the line off. If even a call or text would start a paid day, turn your US line off and switch it on only when you need it, for example to receive a bank code.

Our guide Data roaming with an eSIM: on or off? covers these settings in more detail, including Android.

Before you fly: a five-minute checklist

1. Check your plan. Does it already include your destination, as many plans do for Canada and Mexico? If so, check the speed and allowance abroad.
2. Check that your phone is unlocked. Phones bought through a US carrier, especially on installments, are often locked for a while. On an iPhone, Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock should say No SIM restrictions.
3. Check eSIM support. Our guide How to check if your phone supports eSIM shows how.
4. Compare plans for your destination and pick a data amount that covers the whole trip, with a few days to spare.
5. Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi and switch it on when you land. Our guide When to activate your travel eSIM explains the timing.

If you would rather keep it simple and only travel for a day or two, a day pass is a reasonable choice. For anything longer, the few minutes of setup usually pay for themselves on the first bill.