Google Fi or something else in 2026

I am not sure you should necessarily look at this as a 2026 kind of thing. Trends and changes
are not always so linear. But...

If you move to Google Fi, you're changing carriers, mainly for a 2 month trip. Especially since
you are budget-conscious, I would make sure there's a rate plan that meets your needs in general
before switching. But, you might be able to get a free phone with one of Fi's introductory offers.

If you end up wanting to use an eSim, a) make sure your phone supports it b) do some comparison
shopping and research. You should be able to get a single eSim that supports all the countries
you are planning to visit (even though it may cost a bit more).

You also could purchase a physical sim card, but again, make sure your phone has a slot for a second
card and you know how to activate/deactivate it.

If there is any type of international roaming service with your current plan and you use sim/eSim,
know how to avoid activating the service, so that you don't get charged each day simply for
turning your phone on.

I might consider waiting until the evening to back up your photos when you can do it over wi-fi.

Fi's cheaper plans charge for data by the GB and could end up not being that cheap, or you
would need to spring for the unlimited plan, and I think that throttling occurs when you have
used a certain amount of data.

Fi is pretty seamless and less hassle, but may cost you more. A sim/eSim may cost less but
require a bit more learning and management.

I had set up Fi to use overseas and it worked the three times I used it. I had the plan that you pay a base rate and then a fee for data use. I only activated Fi when I traveled and turned it back off when I got home.

But they've recently tightened up their enforcement of overseas use and my approach won't work for me going forward. Here is the caveat on the website:

Important: The Google Fi Terms of Service require you to activate and
use Google Fi service mainly in the United States (not including
territories) for at least one day before using Google Fi abroad. If
the majority of your usage occurs outside of the United States over a
consecutive 90-day period, we will suspend your international data.

So if you only want to use Fi while you're traveling and not at home, you may run afoul of their rules as your 58 day trip would be the majority of the use (unless you start it now). It's for this reason I decided to bag Fi altogether and am researching new phone plans for my home and international travel needs. I will likely supplement whatever I get with an esim just for data use.

The GoogleFi international policy was or is the unwritten TMobile policy. I returned to the US 4 years ago and they shut down my service. I went to a store, they made a call and turned it back on. Then I went to the US last year and nothing happened. So I have no idea.

Its been flawless over here and I have a US IP address which from time to time is very helpful. So I am not going to mess with what works: TMobile and a flip phone.

Thanks for the helpful thoughts so far.

So Mr. E., you are using a "flip phone" with T-mobile as you go back and forth between Europe and the U.S.? Even if "flip phone" is just a figure of speech meaning an older phone, that would be useful information.

For sure my current phone would not support a dual-sim situation, and I don't think it will support an e-sim either although I have to research that point. Thanks for the information that there are esims that will work in all of those countries; I was envisioning having to fiddle with two or three.

Weighing the cost of upgrading the phone itself, when I'm doing perfectly fine with this phone, will be another consideration.

On Monday I may go visit the local T-mobile store near my home, but in the meantime, if there are other comments, I would like to hear them. Thanks for the help.

nancycantravel. Its a 4 year old Samsung flip phone. Doesn't matter much. Prior to that I carried what ever was the fairly current Samsung mid-line model phone in Europe with TMobile. Been doing it fot about 15 years. TMobile has been flawless from Albania to Moscow to Paris. Not the cheapest though. Costs me about $50 a month. But I like keeping my US number and a US IP address. Worth the money fot me. But I dont fly Business Class.

The reason many people are switching to eSIMs is that a modern phone can hold from 5 to 10 profiles. That means they can have 1 physical SIM and up to 9 eSIMs, one for each country if you don't want a SIM that covers a group of countries. It is as easy as pressing on the screen to change from one to the other. If you have a carrier plan at home that allows WiFi Calling while overseas, you can keep your own number and make & receive calls & messages just like you can do at home as a newish phone such as an iPhone allows you to have 2 SIMs working at the same time. The advantage of a different SIM profile for each country is that you can choose the carrier and reduce cost or have extra data for less.

Yarramar, that's interesting. I dont understand a lot of this stuff. I guess tourists dont have access to what we have here? Maybe not all the phone plans, but the ones that I am familiar with, are EU plans. No additional charges anywhere within the EU. I actually thought that was some sort of EU legislation?

Thanks for answering my question about your phone, Mr. E. It sounds as though I could keep my current phone, which is slightly newer than yours, if I am content to use my existing physical SIM.

On the other hand, if I want the data advantages of an esim, it would be a good time to upgrade my phone. I appreciate the information about the possibility of several profiles using different esims; I hadn't even thought of such a thing.

Without this forum, I surely would not be making an intelligent decision about this. I'll update this thread after I talk with T-Mobile. (I didn't think I could get an account for as little as $50 a month, Mr. E., but we'll see.)

Regarding new phone/old phone, the newer ones all have esim (and newer iPhones only esim) which is great. They also have 5g cell radios which is an advantage in some areas. And they will have better cameras (sometimes much better cameras). So newer really IS better here. But if the new phone comes free from a carrier, it will probably be locked to that carrier, and those cheap data esims won't work.

Oh, and another thing. A high-end cellphone or an International model of a phone, will have hardware to receive a lot of frequency bands. The bands used in Europe (or other regions) are not all the same as used in the U.S. So a very old, or very cheap U.S. celllphone will have less coverage (more dead spots) in other countries. I have a very cheap tablet and sometimes it did not get a cell signal in a few areas of Ireland, when my Samsung S24 received just fine.

Regarding T-Mobile, I switched to them because of the very good international coverage. But it all depends on what plan you have. My plan is an older one (Magenta 55+, no longer available). It costs $70/month for both my wife and I, and we get very cheap calls and free texting worldwide, and unlimited slow data worldwide. The slow data is 256 kbps, which is too slow for most people. But last month we were in Ireland and did not pay extra for the fast data. As mentioned, do your web surfing and photo uploading in the hotel on wifi. Also, our RS tour bus had wifi on it, some don't.

But for you, there will be other options. There is a $5/line discount for autopay, and $5/line senior discount. And a discount for multiple lines. And the new plans now have high-speed data in all countries, not just 11. So you may find a very good plan for your needs. But you gotta read the fine print and all the details.

Regarding Mr. E's comment on Roaming. True, the EU has a rule that every EU account has free roaming. A German sim or esim will work in all other EU countries. But if you have a non-EU sim, then you don't get free roaming unless your Tmobile/AT&T/Verizon plan pays all those EU networks for coverage. There are many esims that have multi-country coverage though. Bcengi and Roamless are Pay-as-you-go plans which work in some 200+ countries, they just switch automatically. I use them because PayGo plans have no monthly fee. You just pay as you use data. And a lot of non-Paygo plans have regional plans which might cover what you need.

When you go to Tmobile, ask a lot of questions, but note that the sales person there may not know much about international roaming. A Tmobile website will have all the details, but sometimes it takes a lot of looking.

travelerguy, I have the same old plan that you do. I think, just for me I pay $50. I rarely run out of the free data because of WiFi. Hard to find a place without WiFi. And the WiFi calling means free phone calls and texts on my regular phone number to and from the states, so thats a good deal. In maybe 15 years I have used it from Moscow to South Africa, in a war zone during war and the only issue I have had is for some reason about 8 years ago I couldnt get a signal in Montenegro while my daughter standing next to me, also with TMobile could. Lasted about a day. Then there is the issue of having your phone shut off when you get home if you have been gone too long. But last trip home after a year of "travel" it contiuned to work. I keep the flip phone on Airplane mode with the wifi on in hopes TMobile cant sense where I am that way.

The other thing I like about the TMobile over a temporary sim is because I am gone so long and I need everyone to know how to reach me. I didnt want to not be on my regular US phone number. Down side is everyday I get telemarketers in the US selling something. Upside is if the Bank wants to send me a text to verify something, like when I change a password, I have the phone. I can also log into a few accounts that are blocked to other than US IP addresses. Sometimes that is convenient. My local phone service is Telekom and its "okay" and its free all over the EU. To get the service I had to show proof of residency.

My local phone service is Telekom and its "okay" and its free all over the EU. To get the service I had to show proof of residency. emphasized text

That's important info, Mr. E. As of July 2017, "sim card activation takes place after sucessful personal identification". That's what Rossman in Germany said then. They mentioned proving identity at a post office. Probably true all over the EU by now.

So just grabbing a sim card pack from a convenience store may not be so easy now. If you buy a sim card at an airport, be sure they can install it for you. They used to take a photo of my passport back then.

I wouldn't generalize that its the requirement across the EU. I have no idea. To go pee here you need proof of residency and your mother's maidan name.

Americans might be interested to know that some European countries require you register where you are living and require you to carry a national ID card. Then there is a tax ID card a medical card and the address card. All mandated.

nancycantravel just want to second the point made earlier about upgrading your phone to a more current model. I also had a job wedded to a phone so I totally understand your reluctance. However, many things travel related rely on a smart phone, like showing QR codes for boarding passes/event tickets. I had travel drama on one trip and used my phone to completely rebook plane/train/hotels in the span of a couple hours. That would have been nearly impossible with a flip phone. I also no longer carry a camera, phone takes better pictures (and fixes them up for me).

FWIW, a TMobile 55+ plan is the one I am considering. Unlike the older Magenta plans the current version has better data offerings but it does slow down after a certain usage. I have my own already paid for phone so I don't have to worry about unlocking it for a data eSim. The other thing you could consider is purchasing a decent newer phone outright and then switching carriers. There are some decent deals on models that are not the very newest but will still be quite acceptable for many years.

Regarding buying used phones, I've been buying a 2 year-old, second-from-newest model of Samsung phone. Done that about every 2 or 3 years. The new one is definitely better than the old one, in each case. Another improvement is the newer ones have wireless charging, which is very convenient.

Last one I bought was a Galaxy S24 for $225 on Ebay. There were lots to choose from, but be very sure what you buy is unlocked.

With a phone with dual SIMs, it is not a matter of either/or but, Yes.

I have had Google Fi for 5 years now, has worked great, land, turn on my phone I have service. People can call and text me, no cost for either of us. I have data as well for my normal rate. (I have the plan where I pay a low monthly rate and $10/GB for data)

However, when I travel, I use a lot of data. So I have moved to buying a second eSIM for data only. Much cheaper for the month or so I travel. In my phone, (A Pixel 8) I am able to set Voice and text to my normal Google Fi SIM, and Data to the local SIM I buy. For the Europe SIM, I use Airalo.

Likely, if on this forum you are seeing lots of people talk about SIMs, it is because they have a phone under contract with ATT or Verizon, and an international plan would run them either $10 a day of use, or about $100 for the month, so they revert to a SIM for Voice, Text and Data, but then they have a European Number. I have no contract and international service, so many fewer wories.

Thanks again for more good discussion. I hope this helps people besides me understand the options.

I lean toward buying a new phone outright, agreeing with the notion just above of buying a new phone of the next-to-last generation. Then I can add Google Fi or T-Mobile as I figure out which will be best, and buy an eSIM for Europe and another for Turkey. I will say more later after I investigate further and/or decide.

Nancy, if you get TMobile or GoogleFi are you certain that you will be using enough data to warrant messing with a seperate European SIM? I used to take 23 day holidays routinely and by doing my photo backups on WiFi the standard data got me there. If I did come up short it was $5 to $30 to add more which might be a little more than the ESIM but for the convenience of not having to mess with it ... a bargain.

There are a number of websites that detail the data usage for various activities. Do the math.

I do think a "new" (4 year old) phone is a good idea. Some day i have to replace my flip phone with a newer one. But for now the service in Europe is near flawless.

I live internationally and Google Fi has worked great for me. I use it to make calls to the US when I'm in living overseas (currently Peru) and also when I'm back in the US. I turn the data off when I'm in Peru, and use my Peruvian sim for data. Now more often than not, I'll use an esim when I'm traveling to a third country, simply because I tend to use a lot of data when I travel and it's cheaper. Google Fi is great, but esims are also easy and work well.

Yes. I put my US phone on airplane mode but wifi on. TMobile has free wifi calling where people can call in and you can call out on your US phone number but over WiFi and not the network. So, its sort of my house phone.

OP, just to be sure you are aware, Google Fi offers several phones at a discount, or free.

The higher end phones are free over a 24 month period, you get a credit on your bill
every month. Some of the lower end phones are substantially discounted out the
door, we're talking under $100. All phones you purchase from Google are unlocked
when you get them, meaning you can change carriers on a whim; well at least your
phone is not the constraint.

New phones purchased without a carrier plan are probably going to be expensive, since
the carrier subsidizes the initial cost. Travelerguy's comments about buying a slightly
used phone are worth considering if a new phone is the path you decide to go down.
It will still most likely be a substantial upgrade from your current phone.

But if (wild assumption here) you are not well-versed in smartphones, give yourself a
little time to figure out how everything works before you take it on a trip.

Here's my conclusion. I purchased a "new" phone from Best Buy yesterday, a Motorola family 2024 version. It isn't that much newer than my current phone, which is about 3.5 years old, but it has three features important for the upcoming trip: dual SIM, NFC capability, and ability to postpone photo download till wifi is available. My current phone can't do any of these--yes, I investigated thoroughly. It is unlocked and compatible with Google Fi, which is the provider I'm choosing. I will set up this new phone about the end of this month so there is plenty of time to load apps and become familiar with all of its features and quirks. For data I will buy a Europe eSIM from Airolo and an eSIM for Turkey from Holafly. Yes, I calculated likely usage on Saily's calculator, and I do need esim level of data.

Thanks again for your tutoring. On to the next topic.

We had Tracfone but switched to Google Fi several years ago because we wanted a phone that worked internationally as well as domestically. It has worked everywhere for us. Just make sure that your phone will be compatible with the Google Fi service. Google Fi has a list of recommended phones.

Switching from Straight Talk, our family of three has had Google Fi on Samsung smartphones since 2022 when my son did a summer semester (90 days) in France. Since then Google Fi has been a slam dunk for our foreign and domestic needs including trips to France, Spain, Germany, London, Greece, Italy, and Turkey. We are focused more on data (Google photos, maps, translate, email, texts) than talk. We are pretty careful to use WhatsApp for calls or to switch to airplane mode and use WiFi for "conventional" calls to avoid any additional charges. We upgrade to the upper tier of service to cover the foreign trips, and switch back when we're home.