Staying connected
Phone data abroad is mostly a cost question.
In most of the places US travelers go, coverage is not the problem. The problem is that your carrier will happily charge you about 12 dollars a day for something an eSIM does for a fraction of it, and that in a handful of countries the choice genuinely matters for reasons that have nothing to do with price. Here is how to tell which situation you are in, then the detail for your destination.
Sometimes the answer is that you need to do nothing, and we would rather tell you that than sell you something. Canada is the clearest case: T-Mobile includes it on most plans, and Verizon and AT&T sell a Canada and Mexico pass for a few dollars a day. Look at your own plan before you buy anything.
Across western Europe, Japan, the UK and Australia, coverage is strong and this is purely a cost decision. The US carrier day passes run about 12 dollars a day, which on a two-week trip is real money, and an eSIM bought before you fly is typically a small fraction of that for the same networks.
In a few countries the cheapest eSIM is the wrong one, because reach varies enormously by carrier. In Indonesia you want something Telkomsel-backed once you leave South Bali, and in Costa Rica a Kolbi-backed plan is what actually works in the cloud forests and on remote coasts. Price second, network first.
China is its own category. On a Chinese network the Great Firewall blocks Google, Maps, Gmail, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and VPNs have become unreliable. The fix is not a cheaper local SIM, it is a roaming eSIM set up before you fly that routes your traffic outside the country.
What we earn, and where we do not
We earn a commission on eSIM links, so it is worth being plain about the incentive.
An eSIM is genuinely the right answer for most trips, and it is also the thing on this page we get paid for. Those two facts sit uncomfortably together, so the rule we hold ourselves to is simple: where your existing plan already covers you, we say so and earn nothing. Canada is the obvious example, and it is written up that way.
We also flag the places where coverage is honestly thin no matter what you buy, such as the remote Australian Outback, rather than implying a data plan solves geography. And where the local network matters more than the price, we name the network to look for instead of pointing you at the cheapest option.
Country by country
Where a country has a connectivity wrinkle worth walking through, we have written it up. Each one lives in that country's guide.
AustraliaStaying connected in Australia.Two things to sort here. The cost question, which an eSIM usually answers, and the distance question, because Australia is enormous and the coverage map has real holes in it once you leave the settled edge.
CanadaStaying connected in Canada.Canada is the trip where your US plan has almost certainly already got you covered at no extra cost, so start there and expect to buy nothing. If it does not, or you want real data, an eSIM is cheaper than a day pass. The thing to plan for is the dead zones on rural highways and in the parks.
ChinaStaying connected in ChinaShort answer: sort this before you land, because it affects how you pay too. Here is why a VPN is the wrong plan in 2026, and why a roaming eSIM is the right one.
Costa RicaStaying connected in Costa RicaThe catch in Costa Rica is that the coverage gaps sit exactly where you came to go: the parks, the cloud forests and the wild coasts. Which network your eSIM uses is what decides whether you have signal in Corcovado or Monteverde, so it is worth getting right before you fly.
FranceStaying connected in France.France is well covered where you will be, from Paris to the villages, so the real decision is how you pay for data. For most US travelers an eSIM is far cheaper than the carrier day pass. Here is the math, and the few places signal drops.
GermanyStaying connected in Germany.German mobile coverage is strong, including in small towns and much of the countryside, so the real decision is how you pay for data rather than whether you will have any. The one place it reliably disappoints is the long-distance train.
IndonesiaStaying connected in IndonesiaCoverage in Indonesia is not one thing, it is a carrier question. If your trip stays in South Bali almost any plan is fine, but the moment you head to Nusa Penida, the Gili Islands or a remote dive site, the network behind your eSIM decides whether you have signal.
ItalyStaying connected in Italy.In Italy the coverage is strong where the visitors are, the cities, the coast, the hill towns, so the real decision is how you pay for data. For most US travelers an eSIM is far cheaper than the carrier day pass. Here is the math, and the few places signal drops.
JapanStaying connected in Japan.Japan is the rare country where you can stop thinking about coverage entirely, because it is excellent almost everywhere including at 200 miles an hour on a bullet train. That leaves one question, and it is purely about money.
MexicoStaying connected in Mexico.This is the page where the honest answer costs us money, so we will lead with it: if you are on a current unlimited plan from a big US carrier, Mexico is almost certainly already included and you should buy nothing at all.
SpainStaying connected in Spain.Spain is well covered where you will be, the cities, the coast, the islands, so the real decision is how you pay for data. For most US travelers an eSIM is far cheaper than the carrier day pass. Here is the math, and the few places signal drops.
United KingdomStaying connected in the UK.The UK is easy: coverage is excellent almost everywhere, including on the Underground now. The only real decision is how you pay for data, and for most US travelers an eSIM is far cheaper than the carrier day pass. Here is the math.Carrier pricing and eSIM plans change faster than almost anything else we cover, so treat the day-pass figures as current ranges and check your own plan before you travel. For what your card does to every other purchase abroad, see cash or card by country, and for getting around, taxis and ride-hailing. More on how we work, and how we handle commission, is on our methodology page.
Compare a whole region
Weighing up where to go? See how the countries in a region stack up on cost, cash, tipping and getting around, with a clear pick for each.