Give credit where credit is due, T-Mobiles international service for there premium plans is a must have for the re:Traveled lifestyle.

*As of January 2025 for single line with no discount.

The fine print

Prices are as of January 2025. If you qualify there are discounted plans for military and first responders that make these plans much more attractive.

The plans all require USA residence and are not meant for use while “living” abroad. So far I have not had any account issues since I touch down in the US every 3 months.

Service review

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a long time when they started their uncarrier branding back in the early 2000’s. They were radically cheaper than Verizon and AT&T and didn’t insist on contracts and other nonsense. With that said they are much bigger now having absorbed Sprint and act more like a big carrier than when they had to care more when more desperate for customers. T-Mobile has a bad reputation for coverage, however now days I never notice any issues especially with Sprint adding to their coverage profile. In metropolitan areas they are as good as the other companies or at least good enough.

Data speeds are fast with full 5G UC support in most areas. Phone support is also very good with full support for iPhones and Android handsets. Including support for the RCS protocol in the latest iMessages release.

International support

The big selling feature for re:Traveled is the international data/text/voice support. 215 countries are supported with unlimited text, 5GB of data and .25 per minute voice. That is very usable for most people especially if you are careful about how you configure your phone to use data and have WiFi in you’re apartment.

T-Mobile international data is a very big deal and a significant savings and convenience factor while traveling abroad.

The 5GB data is monthly and in most cases will reduce to 256KB after the 5GB is used. As previously stated this is not meant to be a service one uses permanently. For example you can’t get a USA phone number for use in Europe. But since tourist visas currently last 3 months at a time it works for that period of time without being flagged, at least so far and with the caveat that every 3 months the phone connects to the US network. Longer than that and it is possible the account could be flagged for violation of the contract.

My sister has Verizon and what is free for me was going to cost her $10 a day in the Netherlands.

How it works

It just does, when you switch your phone on after your flight lands you get a text message welcoming you to your destination and explaining your costs.

T-Mobile: Welcome to Taiwan! Your plan gives you 5GB of high-speed data, unlimited texts, and calls at 0.25/min. Visit t-mo.co/intl-pass3 to get unlimited calls for $5 a day. Enjoy your stay!

Some locations very a little with the costs so be careful to read your arrival message. One item to note, on occasion a restart of the phone is needed to get connected and get the welcome message.

With that you are connected and can text and use data with out needing to get a sim. Just use your phone like you normally would, except not exactly as you normally would.

Configuring your phone

While 5GB is plenty some precautions should be taken with how apps use cellular data. On both iPhone and Android devices you can control what apps are able to use cellular date, please refer to the many youtube videos on how to switch this off.

Tethering or Personal Hotspot is another item to make sure is turned off.

Download offline maps. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps support downloaded maps so it is possible to use maps without draining your fast data.

Summary

Basically the service is automatic and just works as you travel from country to country. No need for a second sim card unless you need lots of data. You must sign up for service in the US and the terms and conditions state that this service is not supposed to be a full time solution so if you live abroad this is not the solution for you. My travel has me touching down in the USA every three months, which has so far not been a problem.