Guides · 5 min read
How much data you need for a week abroad
Most travellers use between 2 and 4 GB in a week abroad. That number comes from measuring what each thing you do on the phone actually costs in data, and it is lower than the plan sizes most people buy. The reason is not that people are bad at estimating. It is that the sellers' pricing pushes you toward bigger plans, and the bigger plan looks like better value per gigabyte even when most of it goes unused.
So this guide has two halves. First, what a week really uses. Second, what each plan size really costs, measured across all 236,811 plans we track, so you can put a price on buying the right amount.
What a week of travel uses
These figures are for a phone, over mobile data, doing the things a tourist does. Laptop tethering is a separate matter and multiplies everything.
| Activity | Data | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maps, navigating a route | 5 MB per hour | Once the route is loaded. Browsing a new city with satellite view is ten times that. |
| WhatsApp, iMessage, text and photos | 30 to 60 MB per day | Voice notes and photos are the bulk. Text alone is nearly nothing. |
| Email and web browsing | 60 to 100 MB per day | News sites with video autoplay push this up fast. |
| Social feeds, no video | 80 to 120 MB per hour | Feeds preload the next few posts, including video, unless you stop them. |
| Short video (reels, TikTok, shorts) | 500 to 900 MB per hour | The single biggest consumer for most travellers. |
| Music streaming | 60 to 150 MB per hour | Download playlists on WiFi and this drops to zero. |
| Video call | 300 to 700 MB per hour | Depends on the app and whether both cameras are on. |
| Netflix or YouTube, standard quality | 700 MB to 1 GB per hour | HD is 2 to 3 GB per hour. Do it on WiFi. |
| Photo backup, automatic | 3 to 5 MB per photo, 100 MB plus per minute of video | The silent budget killer. Set it to WiFi only. |
Three real weeks
The careful traveller: about 1.2 GB
Maps to get around, messaging, checking email twice a day, looking things up, hotel WiFi every evening for everything else. Roughly 170 MB a day. This is genuinely a 1 GB week if backups and app updates are on WiFi only.
The normal traveller: about 3 GB
All of the above, plus social feeds for half an hour a day, some short video in queues and on trains, a couple of video calls home, music on the go. About 430 MB a day. This is most people, and it is why 3 to 5 GB plans are the right size for most one week trips.
The heavy user: 8 GB and up
Video every evening on the phone instead of hotel WiFi, feeds all day, backups running, maybe some laptop tethering for work. Past this point a daily unlimited plan with a 2 GB or 3 GB cap usually works out cheaper than a pool, which we cover in a separate guide on daily caps versus total pools.
What each size costs, across every plan we track
We track live prices from 61 sellers. Here is the average price and average price per GB by plan size, across all single country and regional plans with a fixed allowance, in US dollars, as we read them in September 2026.
| Plan size | Plans tracked | Average price | Average per GB | Cheapest per GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 6,112 | $4.48 | $5.49 | $0.68 |
| 2 to 3 GB | 8,778 | $11.99 | $4.22 | $0.65 |
| 4 to 5 GB | 6,174 | $19.76 | $3.95 | $0.50 |
| 6 to 10 GB | 6,020 | $33.51 | $3.36 | $0.40 |
| 11 to 20 GB | 4,654 | $48.94 | $2.48 | $0.35 |
| 21 to 50 GB | 3,834 | $55.39 | $1.30 | $0.22 |
Two things jump out. The per GB price falls steadily as plans grow, which is the number sellers put in front of you. But the total price rises just as steadily, which is the number you actually pay. A 21 to 50 GB plan averages $55. A 4 to 5 GB plan averages under $20. If you use 3 GB, the big plan cost you $18 per gigabyte used and the small one cost you about $6.
The gap between average and cheapest is the other story. The cheapest 5 GB plan for a given country is often a third of the average, which is the whole point of comparing before you buy.
The right size, by trip
- Weekend city break, hotel WiFi: 1 to 2 GB. Buy 2 if there is no top up.
- One week, normal use: 3 to 5 GB. This is the sweet spot on price too.
- One week, no WiFi at the accommodation: 5 to 10 GB.
- Two weeks, normal use: 8 to 10 GB, or a 1 GB per day unlimited plan if you use a steady amount.
- Working from the laptop: 20 GB and up, and check the plan allows tethering before you pay.
Two weeks, and longer
Double the week figures and then take a little off, because the second week of any trip is quieter on the phone than the first. Two weeks of normal use lands around 5 to 7 GB, which is where the 6 to 10 GB tier's average of $3.36 per GB starts to look sensible. Past three weeks, a daily unlimited plan with a 2 GB cap or a 20 GB pool is usually cheaper than stacking two smaller plans, and our daily cap guide works through both.
Cut your usage in half before you fly
- Photo backup to WiFi only. iPhone: Settings, Photos, Cellular Data, off. Android: the Google Photos app, backup settings, WiFi only.
- App updates to WiFi only, in the App Store or Play Store settings.
- Download offline maps for each city in Google Maps or Apple Maps. Navigation then uses almost nothing.
- Download playlists and a couple of films on the hotel WiFi.
- Turn on Low Data Mode (iPhone) or Data Saver (Android) for the travel line. It stops feeds preloading video.
- Turn off WiFi Assist (iPhone) or Adaptive WiFi (Android), which quietly switch to mobile data when the hotel WiFi is weak.
Short version: estimate 400 MB a day for normal use, buy the plan one size up if you cannot top up, and set backups to WiFi only. For a one week trip that is a 3 to 5 GB plan, which averages under $20 across every seller we track and is well under $10 from the cheapest.
See the actual plans
Every country page on this site lists every plan we track for that destination, filterable by size and length, ranked by real price per GB. Pick the size from this guide, filter to it, and the cheapest genuine option for your trip is the top row.
Questions people ask
Is 1 GB enough for a week abroad?
For a careful user on hotel WiFi every evening, yes. Maps, messaging and email for seven days sit around 700 MB. Add one hour of video or an automatic photo backup and 1 GB is gone in a day. We would call 1 GB the floor, not the target.
Is 5 GB enough for a week?
For most people, comfortably. It covers maps all day, messaging, social feeds, music, a couple of video calls and some short video. Only heavy streamers, tetherers and people who never touch WiFi go past it.
How much data does Google Maps use per hour?
Roughly 5 MB an hour for turn by turn navigation on a route the phone has already loaded, and up to 50 MB an hour if you keep scrolling around a new city with satellite view. Downloading the offline map for a city at home makes it nearly zero.
Does a bigger plan always mean better value?
Per gigabyte, yes: in our September 2026 read the average fell from $5.49 per GB at 1 GB to $1.30 per GB at 21 to 50 GB. In total money, no. A 20 GB plan you use 4 GB of costs you $12 per used GB, which is worse than buying 5 GB in the first place.
What uses the most data without me noticing?
Automatic photo and video backup to iCloud or Google Photos, app updates, and social apps preloading video in the feed. Turn all three to WiFi only before you fly and your usage roughly halves.
Should I buy a bit more than I think I need?
Buy the size above your estimate if the seller does not offer top ups, and the size at your estimate if they do. Running out on a top up plan costs a few dollars. Running out on a no top up plan means buying a whole new one.
Compare plans for popular destinations
236,811 plans from 61 sellers, ranked by real price per GB, with prices checked against the shops themselves.
