AT&T Roaming Rates & Information
AT&T is one of the four major carriers in the U.S., along with Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. AT&T offers the benefits of a solid network and excellent features. Some of AT&T’s plans come with international perks, such as roaming in Canada and Mexico and unlimited texting to more than 120 countries worldwide.
If your plan doesn’t come with international benefits, don’t fret—you can still use your phone while traveling abroad. Before doing so, you will want to learn more about the pay-per-use rates for talk, text, and data, as well as what international travel add-on options are available
AT&T Roaming Add-Ons
Some AT&T smartphone plans include international perks, such as unlimited global texting and Mexico and Canada privileges. If you want more international benefits, AT&T offers many different travel add-ons, such as:
- AT&T International Day Pass ($10/day)
- $60 Passport
- $120 Passport
- $50 Cruise Package
- $100 Cruise Package
AT&T’s Roaming Rates
Without an international travel add-on or plan inclusion, you will charged AT&T’s standard pay-per-use talk, text, and data rates, which differ depending on where you travel. It may be smart to add a travel add-on or a talk or text add-on.
| Location | Talk | Text | Data |
| Mexico & Canada | $1.00/minute | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text | $2.05/MB |
| Europe | $2.00/minute | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text | $2.05/MB |
| Rest of the world | $3.00/minute | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text | $2.05/MB |
| Cruise ships | $3.00/minute | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text | $6.14/MB |
| Airlines | $3.00/minute | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text | $10.24/MB |
How AT&T’s Roaming Rates Compare
AT&T’s pay-per-use rates are not cheap—they can quickly add up throughout your trip. For example, you only need to use 5MB (or .005GB) per day to make the AT&T International Day Pass worth it (it costs $10/day and there is no limit to how much data you can use). To understand just how much data different apps and web activities use, consider the following:
- Netflix uses about 250MB per hour
- Instagram uses approximately 120MB per hour
- Web browsing uses about 60MB per hour
- Spotify (at normal sound quality) uses about 40MB per hour
- YouTube (at SD-quality) uses about 500MB per hour
If you’re planning a trip abroad, AT&T’s international add-ons are likely your most affordable option for staying connected. Roaming rates are okay for a traveler who is planning to disconnect for the majority of their trip.
Check out the tables below to see how AT&T’s roaming rates compare to the other major carriers, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
| Carrier | Location | Calling Cost |
| AT&T | Mexico & Canada | $1.00/minute |
| AT&T | Europe | $2.00/minute |
| AT&T | Rest of the world | $3.00/minute |
| Verizon | Mexico, Canada, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands | $.99/minute |
| Verizon | 130+ countries | $1.79/minute |
| Verizon | 80+ countries | $2.99/minute |
| T-Mobile | Mexico & Canada | $1.00/minute |
| T-Mobile | Most other countries | $3.00/minute |
| Sprint | Mexico | $.20/minute |
| Sprint | Canada | $.49/minute |
| Sprint | Rest of the world | Varies |
| Carrier | Location | Messaging Cost |
| AT&T | Mexico & Canada | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text |
| AT&T | Europe | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text |
| AT&T | Rest of the world | $.50/text $1.30/picture & video text |
| Verizon | 210+ countries | $.50/sent text $.05/received text $.25/multimedia message |
| T-Mobile | 210+ countries | $.50/sent text |
| Sprint | 200+ countries | Unlimited texts included with all Sprint plans |
| Carrier | Location | Data Price |
| AT&T | Mexico & Canada | $2.05/MB |
| AT&T | Europe | $2.05/MB |
| AT&T | Rest of the world | $2.05/MB |
| Verizon | 210+ countries | $2.05/MB |
| T-Mobile | 210+ countries | $15.00/MB |
| Sprint | 200+ countries | Unlimited 2G data included in all Sprint plans |
Best Way to Travel Abroad with AT&T
AT&T’s unlimited plans—Unlimited &More and Unlimited &More Premium—include roaming in Mexico and Canada (a.k.a. Roam North America). In addition, you get unlimited texting to 120+ international destinations.
Unlimited &More and Unlimited &More International Perks:
- Unlimited talk, text and data (may be at 2G speeds) in Canada and Mexico
- Unlimited text to 120+ international destinations
If you travel a great deal over either border, these unlimited plan make a lot of sense. However, they don’t cover you in other parts of the world—which is where AT&T’s International Day Pass comes in.
AT&T International Day Pass costs $10/day, no matter how much data, talk, or text you use, and you’re only charged on the days that you use your phone. This option is the best international add-on for someone who is on an AT&T unlimited plan, because you’ll be able to use your unlimited talk, text, and data in more than 100 countries.
Additionally, AT&T Passport choices are available in 30-day packages and monthly recurring packages. The monthly recurring option requires a 2-month minimum commitment, making it a more suitable option for someone on an extended trip or living abroad for several months (although we’d suggest buying a local cell phone plan at this point). When your package expires, your plan returns to pay-per-use rates, unless you renew the plan.
Pay-per-use rates are good for people who:
- Only need their phone for emergencies
- Don’t want to pay for an add-on they may not use
- Will have consistent access to WiFi while traveling
AT&T travel add-ons are good for people who:
- Want to stay connected throughout their trip, regardless of WiFi access
- Are going on an extended trip
- Plan to live abroad for several months