Staying connected overseas can be confusing as heck, especially when those weird ‘roaming data’ messages start popping up on your screen once your plane touches down on international soil. What’s the best way to stay connected in another country? eSIM or carrier roaming data? eSIM vs carrier roaming data

Is an eSIM cheaper than carrier roaming data, or is it just easier to waltz up to the counter at our mobile kiosk and let them sort it out for us? First, let’s explore how each type of data is charged.

How are prepaid eSIM packages charged?

With an eSIM data package, you’ll pay upfront for a specific amount of data to use over a certain number of days (usually seven days or 30 days). If you don’t use any data one day, your remaining data doesn’t budge.

You’ve pre-paid for a certain amount of data, and it’s yours to use as you please. The fact that it’s a prepaid data package means there are never any surprises or unexpected fees! You will NOT pay roaming charges, even though ‘Data Roaming’ will be switched on for your eSIM to keep you connected on international networks.

How are carrier roaming data plans charged?

Carrier data packages are usually charged on a per-day basis. The daily rate is usually pretty high, though, because they know their customer might spend the entire day moving around, connecting to different networks.

Whether you use your data for two seconds or two hours on a given day, you’ll still pay that same daily rate. And you’re not purchasing data — you’re paying for the ability to use your regular monthly data plan. So if you have a small plan to begin with at home, that’s what you’ll be using on your trip … and if you go over, it’ll cost you a bundle in roaming charges.

How much does eSIM data cost? eSIM vs carrier roaming data

An eSIM data package can cost as little as €4 for a week’s worth of data. The cost of eSIM data depends on how expensive data is in a particular country or region, as certain parts of the world have much higher rates of staying connected.

For a one-week trip to France, for example, you’d pay $5 for 1 GB of eSIM data.

If you need more data, you could easily top up your eSIM. But if you decided 1 GB was plenty, your total cost would be four euros for the full week. No surprises, no additional charges.

How much does carrier roaming data cost?

Imagine you’re planning a trip from Canada to Paris, France. You know you’ll need data on your phone to stay connected and navigate the city. You reach out to your mobile carrier to inquire about roaming data plans.

Carriers love it when customers ask about upcoming trips because they see it as an opportunity to sell you something you don’t currently pay for (A) and to lower the risk of you being upset when you see a high mobile bill after your vacation (B).

Your carrier offers to set you up with a carrier roaming data plan. They assure you that the pricing breakdown is straightforward.

The verdict? You’re told that roaming with data from your regular plan would cost €15 per day, totaling €105 for a seven-day trip.

Considering you already pay a monthly bill of around €50 for your phone package, this additional cost seems excessive. After all, that €50 is automatically deducted from your bank account each month, regardless of whether you use your phone or not.

If you were to spend just one week in another country using your carrier’s €15/day travel data plan, you’d end up paying an additional €105 on your next mobile bill. That’s a staggering €105 for just ONE WEEK of travel data!

The sneaky secret behind carrier roaming data

Just when you thought €105 was bad enough, you read the fine print.

You would be paying €15/day to use your existing carrier roaming plan. However, if you exceed your plan’s data limit, you will be charged the pay-per-use rate for any additional data.

With your carrier, that would be €5 for every MB of extra data you use, above and beyond your regular data plan. Now, a megabyte is tiny! There are 1,024 MB (megabytes) in a single GB (gigabyte). €5 x 1,024 megabytes = €5,120, but most carriers will cap data roaming fees at €100 per billing cycle.

So, if you opt for a carrier roaming data plan, you could potentially pay €205 to use your phone internationally for a single week.

What about phone calls and texts? eSIM vs carrier roaming data

Now that we have the pricing for two different methods of getting mobile data (eSIM vs. carrier roaming data travel plans), let’s explore what that means for calling and texting.

Even if you decline a carrier travel data package for France (€105 for the week), your carrier will still give you the option to call and text using your regular phone number. However, they will charge extra for this service as you use it since it is long-distance.

This is a useful feature, as it means you will still be reachable overseas in an emergency since your friends and family know your phone number. And since you will only be charged for phone calls you make or accept, you won’t mind paying €2 per minute if you really need to answer something important. If not, you can just send a (free) iMessage to the person to see what’s up.

Cost breakdown: prepaid eSIM vs. carrier roaming data

So on your fictional one-week trip to Paris, here’s a quick breakdown of your two options for having data on your smartphone:

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