I have been T-Mobile customer for some time, and I’ve made no secret that I am a fan of the free international data roaming.
T-Mobile’s International Offerings
Last month, I traveled to two destinations in Europe: Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
Since I travel quite a bit, I often make use of T-Mobile’s free hour of inflight WiFi and unlimited texting on selected flights.
I had been so busy with work and I had so many things on my mind that I hadn’t been able to devote much time to plan for this trip. Even though I am usually the travel planner in the family, I asked my siblings for their help. Fortunately, my brother is a master of last minute planning.
On my Delta flight, I saw the WIFI was available, and jumped online for some travel ideas. I enjoyed the T-Mobile’s in-flight benefit more than I expected.
International Passes
International 1 Day Pass ($5 Per 24 hours)
In the past, I regularly make use of the $5 International Pass (24 hours pass) when I travel, and this trip was no exception. In fact, I made use of it almost every single day during my trip.
The International Pass allowed me to surf the web at faster speed, up to 512MB per day. I use it primarily for GPS. It’s really not a lot of data usage, but it’s sufficient for what I need. I had no issues with the network once I purchase the pass. No dead zones. Everything went without a hitch.
What’s more…the international pass includes calls during the period as well, which worked out well. I had to make calls to confirm a tour pickup and an airport pickup (this was a nightmare). The billing went smoothly; no extra charges on the bill.
5GB International Pass
I didn’t notice that there was a new (?) 5GB International Pass option that was available. Had I paid closer attention, this would have been a better value for me during this trip. For those who needs more high speed data allotment over a longer period, a $50 option for 15GB over 30 days is also available.
Word of Advice
If you have T-Mobile and you are traveling abroad, you have options.
One word of advice: Make sure you buy your pass if you can when you have Internet access (e.g. hotel WiFi). Why? The purchase process can sometimes be quite painful when the mobile site renders slowly (or times out) due to the throttled free data roaming.
T-Mobile would be smart not not throttle speed if customers are logging into their T-Mobile account. Hint: Your customers may just be trying to login to buy your add-on services!
What’s been your experience? If you are on another phone carrier, what’s worked well for you in terms of Internet options when you travel internationally?
Did you consider switching to the Magenta plan? It comes with free international roaming if you just use it for Maps.
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-3226
Magenta, T-Mobile ONE, and Simple Choice Plans give you unlimited 2G data and texting in more than 210 countries and destinations at no extra charge, while voice calls are $0.25/minute. (View calling and messaging rates.)
Yes, and I’m on it! I have written about it before, since I got a great deal off a family plan (on T-Mobile ONE). I still get these international passes because the throttled 2G is usually too slow when you really need to google for some place or some information.