Hello,
I was wondering how much data you need for a month in Europe. I was thinking about getting a 3GB data package for emergencies, email, banking, and maps. From your experience, would this be enough? I already have everything mapped out so I should rarely need it.
Thank you all
If you don’t stream or surf, that should be ok. WiFi is available in many public areas as well as most hotels so if you use it, you won’t be eating into your data package.
How long will you be gone? 3GB would be fine for such use for a normal length trip in my experience. If you are going for 3 months then no, one week certainly!
For a 2 week trip I usually get a 1 GB plan. I use WiFi whenever possible and have maps offline. I don’t do video or anything extensive on 3G. I wait for WiFi, which is easy to find. The data use is mainly for getting directions or phone numbers in a pinch, and for occasionally looking up information like restaurant reviews or sight hours when away from WiFi.
Last year, I bought a Dutch Vodafone SIM for my 17 day trip to Slovenia, Italy, and France. In 17 days, I used 2GB of data (I had 3GB for a month), but by the end I knew I wouldn't use it all so wasn't trying to save anymore. I could probably have survived with 1.5GB.
Last month, I used the same SIM in Portugal - used about 800MB of data in eight days or so.
I use my phone constantly for mapping when I travel (walking and public transit directions aren't available in Google Maps "offline"). I used the phone as a hotspot for my laptop routinely on the trains. So I did use the data a lot. The one thing I didn't do was stream video, which will eat up data quickly.
Nowadays it costs 20 euros to get 6GB on the Vodafone SIM. If it were me, I'd spring for that for a month and not worry about running out. But it sounds like I'd only use barely 4GB in a month. 3GB I could probably live with if I had WiFi most places.
Why not rent a MiFi?
It might be cheaper than worrying about data expenses and also less taxing as you won't have to worry about tallying up how much data you are using.
Why not rent a MiFi?
Because they are so expensive compared to buying a SIM card?
It might be cheaper than worrying about data expenses and also less taxing as you won't have to worry about tallying up how much data you are using.
Could be if you are Canadian with a locked phone (they tend to have awful international roaming plans), but anyone with an unlocked phone can just buy a SIM card for far less than a MIFi unit. I fired up my Vodafone SIM card last month for my trip to Portugal and got 2GB of data for eight days - for 10 euros. That's what, one day of rental for a MiFi?
Americans with Verizon or AT&T can use their phones for $10/day which is about the same cost as these MiFi units (and you can use your phone's hotspot to share data with others) - plus one less thing to lug around, charge, worry about losing, etc.
How much data do you use in a month at home? Of course your data usage may differ while traveling, but everyone is different, and this will give you a starting point.
Extrapolating from my usual 2 week plus long trips, I would use abut 2GB.
You may be fine with 3GB, but what’s your plan if you run out of data? Use free WiFi exclusively? Assuming a local SIM card, will you be able to top up if you’re no longer in the same country where the provider is based? Next higher bucket of data is often about the equivalent of $10or $15 more. I just opt for the larger bucket.
Because they are so expensive compared to buying a SIM card?
For a month's travel with someone using maps, data can be eaten up ravenously. The OP has to compare options to find what is the least expensive and easiest. The prices for Mifi rentals span the spectrum.
The OP might want to bring up this discussion on the Technology Tips forum.
As I said, I use Google Maps constantly when I travel. It doesn't use data as fast as you would think; 3GB was more than I needed for 17 days of using maps every day. (I use them for walking/public transit directions; for driving, Google Maps "offline" works without using any data.) Even so, any SIM card you buy will be much, much cheaper than a MiFi.
The thing with a SIM card is that it gives you a new number. So you can’t receive calls or texts at your normal number, and for many people that’s a deal breaker. I need for my relatives, friends, work, and kids school to be able to call or text me. I think that’s fairly common, making a SIM card not useful for people who need to be in touch with home while traveling.
Mira:
The thing with a SIM card is that it gives you a new number. So you can’t receive calls or texts at your normal number, and for many people that’s a deal breaker. I need for my relatives, friends, work, and kids school to be able to call or text me. I think that’s fairly common, making a SIM card not useful for people who need to be in touch with home while traveling.
But a MiFi doesn't solve that problem, either, right? You wouldn't need a MiFi if you had a decent international roaming plan (and so could also use your phone for calls).
In any case, there are ways around not having your main US phone number available while you are traveling. One is to get a Google Voice number and use Google Hangouts to make/receive calls (even to/from landlines), free to call US phone numbers. This is how I have done it for years (only a solution for Americans, though). Google Voice gives you a new US phone number, which you would have to give to people who want to call you. If you are savvy enough, you can figure out how to forward incoming calls to your cell number to your new Google Voice number.
I have used my Google Voice number as my regular phone number for years (before I even had a smart phone), so now when I travel I don't have to give people a different number or forward anything - incoming calls ring in the Google Hangouts app and I answer them. No one calling me knows if they are calling my landline, cell phone, or whatever or even where I am.
The hours and hours of time I save using Google Maps on my phone to navigate buses and trains and get walking directions, without having to dig up bus schedules and bury my head in paper maps like I used to, is well worth the tiny cost of a SIM card when I travel. "WiFi everywhere" doesn't help me with walking/public transit navigation on the go - need data for that.
On my trip last month I bought the $60 one time international plan my carrier has that provides 1 GB of data. For a week and a half, I used about 80% of my available data. I used google maps for walking directions a LOT, and often used data to find public transportation routes, check train schedules, email and social media. No videos or anything like that, and I would turn off the data when I wasn’t going to be using it to keep from using data for updates. For what you are saying you would use it for, I would think 3GB would be plenty. I have to say I loved being able to use my data as I wanted on this trip, so it was well worth it to me to pay to get it. Also, google walking directions was incredibly helpful many times.
Also consider that in my experience staying in RS hotels while on their tours, WiFi is unusable about 15% of the time. For $25 to $30 I can get high speed data even if the hotel WiFi is down.
Thank you all so much for your replies, I really appreciate it. After reading the comments, my first choice would be to buy a sim over there, but since my phone is locked with my overlord (at&t), I cant. I think 3GB for 30 odd days should be enough.
Timothy, you might look into buying an unlock code for your phone on eBay. The price depends on the make/model of your phone, but I have done it a few times in the last years, and all of the codes I've bought have worked.
My data allowance is 12GB a month and I typically use about 2GB of that. This includes a significant amount of Spotify streaming over a 4G network. Even travelling within Europe I don't use much more than this plus there's the extensive wi-fi options available practically everywhere which you can take advantage of. I think 3GB will be plenty.
What we usually do is my wife gets an international plan through our provider and I get a sim upon arrival. That means we use her phone as contact with home and my phone for most other things we do. She has the new temporary international number if she needs to contact me.
Timothy, another option is to buy a cheap phone on Amazon for example, and use that in Europe.
If you use wifi when you can, 3g will be plenty. I usually use about 2g over 19 or 20 days. I always end up ignoring wifi the last few days because I haven't used much at all. I use GPS without data turned on but will use data for searches, RATP, finding my bearings, etc.
I used 6GB over 3 weeks last month in UK, France and Germany. But I used it for maps, transportation schedules, and social media as well.
