Roaming on US carriers: what AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and 13 more charge abroad, side by side
In short
On postpaid plans, AT&T’s International Day Pass and Verizon’s TravelPass both cost $12 a day; Verizon charges $6 in Mexico and Canada (checked on October 29, 2026). T-Mobile’s International Pass starts at $10 for 2GB for up to 24 hours, and several international roaming plans already include data abroad.
Information verified on October 29, 2026 at the official sources listed below. Carriers change prices and terms; your own plan decides what you pay.
On this page
This site is not affiliated with any carrier named on this page; we sell eSIMs. How we compare
You may not need an eSIM. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and most other US carriers already include Mexico and Canada on their unlimited plans. Some plans also carry data abroad: 15GB on T-Mobile Experience Beyond, 20GB on AT&T Elite 2.0, 50 GB on Google Fi Unlimited Premium.
Bill traps come first. On AT&T and Verizon, a call made or answered, or a text sent, starts a $12 pass day even with data roaming off. Without a pass, both bill pay-per-use rates of $2.05 per MB (AT&T rates, Verizon rates).
T-Mobile starts an International Pass at once if you set no start date. We compare public packages; check your own plan.
What do US carriers charge abroad?
Here the international roaming plans of 16 US carriers sit side by side: pass price, data abroad, and Mexico and Canada. Every row carries its check date and the carrier’s own page; the table lists public packages as printed and ranks none of them.
| Carrier | Pass or pay-per-use price | Data abroad on the plan (outside Mexico and Canada) | Mexico and Canada | Checked on, source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | International Day Pass: $12 a day, $6 for each extra line used the same day (postpaid unlimited plans) | Elite 2.0: 20GB a month in 210+ destinations | Included on eligible AT&T unlimited plans; “Roaming may be at 2G speeds” | October 29, 2026, att.com |
| Verizon | TravelPass (postpaid): $12 a day, 5 GB at high speed per session, then 3G | Unlimited Ultimate: 15 GB a month in 210+ destinations | Included on Unlimited plans and Simplicity; TravelPass $6 a day on other plans | October 29, 2026, verizon.com |
| T-Mobile | International Pass (postpaid): $10 for 2GB for up to 24 hours | Experience Beyond 15GB, More 5GB, then up to 256Kbps, in 215+ countries and destinations | Beyond 30GB, More 15GB, then up to 256kbps; Essentials up to 128kbps | October 29, 2026, t-mobile.com |
| Mint Mobile | Minternational Pass: $5 for 1 day with 1GB, $10 for 3 days with 3GB, $20 for 10 days with 10GB | None | Canada: 3GB a month on every plan; Mexico: check with Mint | October 29, 2026, mintmobile.com |
| Xfinity Mobile | Global Travel Pass: $10 a day per line, 5 GB, then 3G (By the Gig, Unlimited) | Plus, Select, Premium Unlimited: 10 GB a billing cycle in 215+ destinations | Unlimited bought and activated after March 22, 2024: 5 GB a month; Plus and Select count it in their 10 GB | October 29, 2026, xfinity.com |
| Spectrum Mobile | Global Day Pass: $10 for 24 hours with 1 GB | Unlimited Plus 10 GB a month, Plus Premium 20 GB, in 215+ countries | Included on those two plans; Day Pass $5 in Canada and Mexico | October 29, 2026, spectrum.com |
| Visible | Global Pass: $10 a day on base Visible, with 2GB | Visible+: 1 Global Pass day a month; Visible+ Pro: 2 | Included on Visible+ and Pro; base Visible $5 a day | October 29, 2026, visible.com |
| Cricket | Passport: $10 a day, or $25 for 5GB over 5 days | None | Included on unlimited plans | October 29, 2026, cricketwireless.com |
| Google Fi | Flexible: $10 per GB, up to $60 for data for one person (Bill Protection, checked on October 30, 2026) | Unlimited Premium: 50 GB in 200+ destinations, then 256 kbps | Included on Standard and Premium; Flexible bills them like home, $10 per GB | October 29, 2026, fi.google.com, Fi plans |
| US Mobile | Add-ons from $15 for 1 GB (Light Speed, Dark Star) | Unlimited Premium: 20 GB, 200 minutes, 250 texts | Unlimited Premium: the same 20 GB | October 29, 2026, usmobile.com |
| Total Wireless | None: “No daily passes” | MAX 5G, MAX 5G BYO, ALL ACCESS: 10 GB and 300 minutes a month in 140+ countries | On the 140+ list | October 29, 2026, totalwireless.com |
| Straight Talk | 7-Day International Roaming perk: $20 for 5 GB and 300 minutes, 140+ destinations | Check with Straight Talk | Gold and Platinum: check with Straight Talk | October 29, 2026, straighttalk.com |
| Metro by T-Mobile | Check with Metro by T-Mobile | Check with Metro by T-Mobile | Add-on: $5 a month for up to 5 GB, $10 for up to 10 GB | October 29, 2026, metrobyt-mobile.com |
| Boost Mobile | Global Roaming: $10/month “introductory price”, 1GB, 90+ countries | None | North America Connect: $10 a month, 5GB in Mexico and Canada | October 29, 2026, boostmobile.com |
| Consumer Cellular | Set up by phone before the trip | Check with Consumer Cellular | Check with Consumer Cellular | October 29, 2026, consumercellular.com |
| Tello | Charged to your prepaid balance in 200+ destinations | Charged to the balance; check Tello’s current terms | On the 200+ list, charged to the balance | October 29, 2026, tello.com |
Our dated carrier dataset is on the press page.
Day Pass, TravelPass, International Pass: what do the names mean?
Nine product names run on different clocks (checked on October 29, 2026). AT&T and Verizon bill 24 hours from first use, T-Mobile starts on a date you pick, and three passes renew daily until stopped.
| Name | Carrier | What it is | When it starts and stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Day Pass | AT&T | Daily pass on postpaid unlimited plans, using the plan’s own data | 24 hours from the first data use, text sent, or call made or accepted in a listed destination |
| TravelPass | Verizon | Daily pass, $6 in Mexico and Canada | 24 hours from a call made or answered, a text sent or data use; background data counts |
| International Pass | T-Mobile | Fixed-term pass: 24 hours, 10 days or 30 days | From the start date you pick; with no date, at once |
| Simple Global | T-Mobile | Not a pass: the name for the 215+ countries and destinations where plan data works | No setup on qualifying plans |
| Minternational Pass | Mint Mobile | Pass for 1, 3 or 10 days of data | Runs once activated; does not work in Canada |
| Global Pass | Visible | Daily pass on base Visible; pass days on Visible+ and Pro | Every day you are away, once enabled |
| Global Travel Pass | Xfinity Mobile | Daily pass for By the Gig and Unlimited lines | Per day; not for cruises or flights |
| Global Day Pass | Spectrum Mobile | 24-hour pass with 1 GB | Renews daily while it is on |
| Passport | Cricket | Daily option or a 5-day, 5GB pass | The daily option renews for every 24 hours of use until you cancel it |
Per-day pass vs monthly plan is the other split. Boost and Metro sell monthly add-ons, and Total Wireless prints “No daily passes”. Verizon also sells a $100 International Monthly Plan that it calls “Perfect for trips of 9 days or more” (Verizon International Monthly Plan).
Which plans already include Mexico, Canada or data abroad?
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and most other US carriers include Mexico and Canada on their unlimited plans, each with its own limit. Plans with data abroad included run from 5GB on T-Mobile Experience More to 50 GB on Google Fi Unlimited Premium (checked on October 29, 2026).
Mexico and Canada have their own pages for AT&T in Mexico and Canada, Verizon in Mexico and Canada and T-Mobile in Mexico and Canada. So does T-Mobile in Japan.
Puerto Rico is billed as home on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon postpaid; Verizon Prepaid charges $6 a day there. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are international roaming on all three. Check your plan on AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile.
Cruises are their own case (phone on a cruise). Our eSIM works in port, not at sea: ship networks are separate.
When does a travel eSIM win, and when does it not?
A week of AT&T Day Passes is $84 on one line (our arithmetic, checked on October 29, 2026). Our 5 GB, 30-day Europe plan is $11.99, data only, while a plan that already covers the trip needs no eSIM at all.
The products differ too: the Day Pass keeps calls, texts and plan data on your own number. Your US number stays on your main line, and most of our plans are data only; check the plan’s calls/SMS fields.
An eSIM can win when a trip needs more data than the plan includes, or the plan has nothing abroad, like T-Mobile Essentials. It does not win when the trip fits inside what the plan already includes, such as Verizon Unlimited Ultimate’s 15 GB.
Check two things before you buy: Is my phone unlocked? and Does my phone support eSIM? Each carrier’s unlock rule is in our unlock guide.
The worked case uses our Europe eSIM. For any trip by country and days, see roaming or eSIM.
Roaming calculator: your trip in dollars
With the eSIM you pay $74.01 less.
Carrier prices checked on October 29, 2026, before taxes and fees: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, Visible, Google Fi, Cricket, Boost Mobile. If the trip is longer than a pass, we add passes of the same kind; AT&T’s cruise page says it charges its Day Pass for no more than 10 days in a bill cycle. “Included” means some of the carrier’s plans already cover the destination: check yours. Roaming keeps calls and texts on your US number; the eSIM plans compared here are data only. The eSIM is paid by card, exactly the price shown. This site is not affiliated with these carriers; we sell eSIMs.
The calculator below sets the passes of nine carriers, checked on October 29, 2026, next to our data-only plans for your destination, days and data. Its totals are our arithmetic, not your carrier’s bill.
Mint Mobile and the seven carriers below are not in it.
Smaller carriers without their own page
Seven carriers get one block each instead of a page. Each block holds only what the carrier’s pages printed on October 29, 2026; where a page would not load, we say so.
US Mobile
20 GB, 200 minutes and 250 texts abroad come with US Mobile Unlimited Premium, Mexico and Canada included. Reach depends on the network: 180+ destinations on Light Speed, 125+ on Warp, 110+ on Dark Star.
Of the carriers on this page, only US Mobile sells a standalone international data eSIM of its own (checked on October 29, 2026, US Mobile).
Total Wireless
10 GB of roaming data and 300 minutes a month come with Total Wireless MAX 5G, MAX 5G BYO and ALL ACCESS, in 140+ countries. Total prints “No daily passes”, and Mexico and Canada are on its list (checked on October 29, 2026, Total Wireless).
For unlock terms, see Straight Talk, Tracfone and Total Wireless unlocking.
Straight Talk
$20 buys Straight Talk’s 7-Day International Roaming perk, the price on its perk page. It gives 5 GB of data and 300 minutes for 7 consecutive days in 140+ destinations, on an active 30-day plan.
For Mexico and Canada on Gold and Platinum, check with Straight Talk (checked on October 29, 2026, Straight Talk perk).
Metro by T-Mobile
$5 a month buys Metro’s Mexico and Canada add-on with up to 5 GB of data. The $10 version has up to 10 GB of high-speed data. Both include talk and text there.
Metro’s $10 Global Voice covers calls from the US, not roaming. Its roaming-countries page would not load for us: ask Metro by T-Mobile about other countries (checked on October 29, 2026, Metro by T-Mobile).
Boost Mobile
$10/month at an “introductory price” buys Global Roaming in 90+ countries, with 1GB. Extra data is $10/GB, up to an additional 9GB (Boost Global Roaming).
North America Connect is $10 a month for 5GB of data in Mexico and Canada, plus talk and text (checked on October 29, 2026, Boost add-ons).
Boost unlocks prepaid phones a year after first activation, postpaid ones once paid off (Boost unlock rules, checked on October 29, 2026).
Consumer Cellular
Two weeks before the trip is when Consumer Cellular asks you to call and set up roaming. Its rates by country did not load for us, so check them with Consumer Cellular.
Consumer Cellular also points customers to travel eSIMs; they need an unlocked phone and don’t move your number (checked on October 29, 2026, Consumer Cellular).
Tello
In 200+ destinations, Mexico and Canada among them, Tello bills roaming to your prepaid balance. That balance runs $20 to $50, with at least $5 needed (checked on October 29, 2026, Tello roaming).
Frequently asked questions
How do I avoid roaming charges abroad?
Check your plan before you leave, then turn off cellular data and data roaming on any line with no pass or allowance there. On AT&T and Verizon, a call or a text can still start a paid day. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warns that roaming charges may not reach your bill until a billing cycle after you return.
Which US carriers include Mexico and Canada?
Most do, each with its own limit. Eligible AT&T plans, Verizon Unlimited and Simplicity, T-Mobile postpaid, Visible+ and Visible+ Pro, Cricket unlimited plans and Google Fi Standard and Premium include both. Mint includes Canada, but its international roaming and Canada pages don’t mention Mexico; Boost and Metro sell monthly add-ons (checked on October 29, 2026).
Can I keep my US number and use a travel eSIM for data?
Yes, on an unlocked phone that takes a second line: keep your carrier line for calls and texts, and the eSIM for data. Our plans are prepaid eSIMs, most of them data only (check the plan’s calls/SMS fields), and your US number stays on your main line. Making or answering a call, or sending a text, on that line can still start AT&T’s or Verizon’s $12 day (keep your US number).
Is a day pass or a travel eSIM cheaper for 7 days?
It depends on your plan. A plan with data abroad included costs nothing extra for a trip inside its allowance. A plan with nothing abroad pays a pass for each day you use it, and the calculator on this page puts both sides in dollars.
Sources checked: AT&T: International Day Pass · AT&T: pay-per-use rates · Verizon: TravelPass FAQs · Verizon: international services and pricing · Verizon: International Monthly Plan · T-Mobile: international roaming · Mint Mobile: international roaming · Xfinity: traveling internationally · Spectrum Mobile: international · Visible: Global Pass · Cricket: international roaming · Google Fi: international rates · Google Fi: plans and Bill Protection · FCC: international roaming guide.
Sources are linked in the text. Carrier terms change: for the terms of your own plan, check with your carrier.
All guides in this topic
- AT&T Cruise Package: $20 a Day at Sea, Verizon and T-Mobile — AT&T cruise package: $20 a day with 500MB at sea; Verizon’s Cruise Daily Pass is $20 a day.
- AT&T International Day Pass: $12 a Day, 210+ Destinations — AT&T International Day Pass: $12 a day, $6 per extra line used the same day.
- Cricket International Plan: $10 a Day Passport — Cricket international plan: Passport is $10/day or $25 for 5GB/5 days.
- Does AT&T Work in Mexico and Canada? Plan by Plan — Does AT&T work in Mexico? Eligible AT&T plans include it, though roaming may be at 2G speeds.
- Does T-Mobile Work in Japan? Data by Plan and Pass — Does T-Mobile work in Japan? Yes: Beyond 15GB, More 5GB, then 256Kbps; Essentials needs a Pass from $10.
- Does T-Mobile Work in Mexico and Canada? Data by Plan — Does T-Mobile work in Mexico? Yes: Beyond 30GB, More 15GB, then 256kbps; Essentials 128kbps.
- Does Verizon Work in Mexico and Canada? Plan by Plan — Does Verizon work in Mexico? Eligible Verizon plans and Prepaid $45, $60, $70 include Mexico and Canada; others pay $6 a day.
- Google Fi International: Premium 50 GB, Flexible $10/GB — Google Fi international: Premium has 50 GB in 200+ destinations; Flexible is $10/GB; Standard covers only Canada and Mexico.
- Mint Mobile Roaming: Minternational Pass Prices — Mint Mobile international roaming: $5 for 1GB/1 day, $10 for 3GB/3 days, $20 for 10GB/10 days.
- Spectrum International Plans: 10 GB Abroad, $10 Global Day Pass — Spectrum international plans: 10 GB or 20 GB abroad on eligible plans; other lines pay $10 per 24 hours, $5 in Canada and Mexico.
- T-Mobile International Pass: 215+ Destinations, Plan by Plan — T-Mobile International Pass: $10 for 2GB for 24 hours, $50 for 15GB for 10 days.
- Verizon TravelPass: $12/Day, 210+ Destinations, Plan by Plan — Verizon international plans: TravelPass is $12/day ($6 in Mexico and Canada), the monthly plan $100.
- Visible Global Pass: $10 a Day, 2GB, 140 Countries — Visible Global Pass: $10 a day for talk, text and 2GB in 140 countries; Visible+ adds pass days and Mexico/Canada.
- Xfinity Mobile International: 10 GB Abroad, $10 Pass — Xfinity Mobile international plan: 10 GB abroad on Plus and Select; Global Travel Pass $10 a day.
Unfamiliar term? See the eSIM glossary.
Not sure how much data to take? Work it out from your trip length and how you use your phone.