Rejoice, travelers with Verizon cell phone service! The days of adding a $10-a-day pass to stay connected while traveling abroad could be over – let alone picking up an eSIM or considering Google Fi service for your international travels
With little fanfare, Verizon has introduced “Unlimited Ultimate” plans that include international talk, text, and data in 210-plus countries worldwide … at roughly the same price as previous plans! With that plan, there's no need to separately add Verizon's $10 daily Travel Pass – and forget about the provider's steep, $100 International Monthly Plan, too.
The international coverage you get through the Unlimited Ultimate plan is solid. It gets you up to 10GB a month of high-speed data (and 2G speeds after that) while traveling abroad in addition to free calls and texting. And while we couldn't pin down a list of the 210 countries eligible for coverage, it's probably safe to assume that all the popular (and even many not-so-popular) destinations are included. Typically, cell phone providers only exclude countries like Cuba, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria.
As always, the monthly cost depends on how many cell phone lines you have. In my case, changing to an Unlimited Ultimate plan costs exactly what I was previously paying – $55 a line for a total of four lines – for a plan that didn't include international coverage.
This robust plan with international coverage built in might not be new, exactly … but it likely escaped many Verizon customers' notice (including yours truly) who have been on the same plan for years. After some quick searching, it appears Verizon quietly rolled out this new option late last year.
In fact, I only discovered it while trying to figure out my options to upgrade to one of the new iPhones late last week.
While trying to trade in my current iPhone for a new iPhone 16 Pro, Verizon required me to upgrade from my years-old plan – a 5G Play More, which is no longer available to new customers – in order to complete the device upgrade. Lo and behold, Verizon is now offering these Unlimited Ultimate plans with international coverage included … for the exact same price I was paying beforehand!
That's a big win for me, as I'm sure it will be for many other travelers. Any frequent international traveler knows staying connected abroad is critical. And while it's gotten much easier over the years (remember buying and installing a SIM card at the airport?!), it can still be fairly expensive.
I've tried everything, racking up plenty of $10 daily charges from Verizon's Travel Pass. For years, I was an avid user of Google Fi. But as an iPhone user, I had to carry a separate phone that I could use as a hotspot, which wasn't ideal.
More recently, we've seen the emergence of eSIM apps like Airalo, which allow you to download an app, buy an eSIM card for the destination you are headed to, and then activate it once you are on the ground. It's been a significant advancement for staying connected abroad, but it still requires paying more – not to mention, additional setup.
I know what you're thinking, T-Mobile customers: International coverage like this is nothing new. Indeed, free international coverage has been a hallmark of T-Mobile for years. But for others, it's been a major (and expensive) pain point.
Sorry, AT&T customers: No such luck for you. To date, AT&T has not rolled out a similar plan that includes international travel. In fact, they've taken the opposite approach: The company recently increased the price of its global connectivity day pass from $10 to $12.
Bottom Line
Check your phone plans, Verizon customers. A new set of coverage plans offers the option to stay covered virtually anywhere abroad at roughly the same price.
Verizon quietly rolled out this new “Unlimited Ultimate” plan somewhat recently. Whether you're looking to upgrade to a new iPhone 16 like me or simply trying to figure out the best way to stay connected for your next international trip, it's a no-brainer for Verizon customers to make the change.
This is “good” but misleading. It’s very easy to approach 2 GB/day overseas, so this would only last me 5-7 days. The kicker is – with Travel Pass, you can buy an extra 2GB if you go over on a particular day. With Unlimited Ultimate, once you hit 10 GB, you CANNOT BUY MORE DATA. You’re stuck at 2G speeds (completely worthless) for the rest of your trip.
In this internet age on which we rely more to do our every day transactions and searches, the 2G data download speeds totally sucks on Verizon and is equivalent to no data connection. I experienced it first hand during my visits. Moreover, with the change from godfathered plans, you will loose all free benefits they come with (e.g. Apple Music, Disney Plus+/Hulu/ESPN subscriptions, Cloud Storage, etc.) and have to pay extra $10+ for each of them to keep.
If I’m understanding this correctly, this plan includes free international talk.
Tmobile plans charge.25 cents a minute for international plans so this is a good deal.
this is good news in the right direction but from my understanding, the unlimited international call, data and text are only from calls place from Mobile to Mobile. So if youre placing a call from Mobile to a landline, there is an additional cost/plan.
Did you lose anything from your old plan aside from streaming or bundle mentioned earlier? They want me to upgrade to replace my old phone, but I’m always nervous about what I’m giving up and the rep isn’t too clear.
Only the streaming bundle, which I was fine letting go. I also doubled my wifi hotspot capacity which is nice. I have been on the new plan for about a week and am not aware of anything else. Thanks for reading!
Google Fi has officially supported iPhones since 2018… Not sure why you needed to hotspot anything while traveling
We just called Verizon and this does not serve us as well. We have 3 lines on our plan at $40 a line. When we first asked about the Ultimate upgrade, they said it was $75 a line. Then we told them we read in your column that it is $55. They said in our case it would be $65. Even if we only switched one phone over to the Ultimate Travel plan, it would cost us $120 extra a year. We only go out of the country 2 or maybe 3 times a year so the rep suggested we just switch one phone over to the plan when we leave and switch back when we get back. That’s $10 each time. Think we’ll do that, tho less convenient.
T-Mobile has been doing all of this for years. It’s great for international coverage.
Tmobile plans charge.25 cents a minute for international talk though.
This is great news, however, the data piece is so hard to decipher. Is that data high speed enough to tether phone to computer and make video calls? Any additional thoughts for best way to work remotely abroad? Do I need a device?
I upgraded too also but note you lose your streaming bundle/ some stuff that came with your old plan. So in effect you replaced one benefit with another. It is about time Verizon stepped up with a roaming plan like this though.
That is a good callout. I wasn’t really using any of those platforms so I was fine parting with them in exchange for a solid international plan.
Right exactly this…they would never just give you something for the same price. There is always a catch and in this case it’s losing those services. I’m on AT&T however and wish they’d do away with the stupid internation day plan nonsense.
55 a month for only 10/GB a month for international data? And you still have to pay for separate watch lines as well? Yeah, I’ll just stick to Google Fi and have my full high speed data allowance as international data too.
Until Fi cuts your data off for not being in the US and will not reinstate it until you’ve been back for three months. We used 0.01GB, have one family member permanently in the US, still cut off
I have AT&T unlimited plan that includes free coverage in Latin American countries