Saily’s new Ultra Plan is the best choice for mobile data across multiple countries – (Saily vs. Google Fi)

For better or worse, internet access has become a near necessity for traveling the world. Whether you’re trying to translate signs in the airport, checking your bank balance, or asking ChatGPT for the best noodle shop near you, our phones are one of the most useful travel tools we have. And, trust me, there’s very little in life as panic-inducing as that moment when you need to check your phone for an important travel detail only to find that you don’t have access to the internet! (Ask me how I know.)

Buying a local SIM card is definitely the most cost-effective internet solution if you’re planning on being in one place for longer than a week or 2, but what about when you’re in transit? Or on a multi-country backpacking trip through Southeast Asia?

Fortunately, in an ever more connected world, there are several ways to make sure that you’ll have the internet access you need, when you need it, almost anywhere you find yourself!

What are the benefits of having a Global Mobile Data Plan?

Yes, getting a local data plan is still the least expensive way to get high quality data when travelling. However, there are definitely some not-so-uncommon edge cases where having a Global Plan can be a better deal!

Mobile Data on Multi-Country Trips

The most obvious benefit of a Global plan is that having one means you won’t have to switch internet providers (and get a new SIM card) just because you switched countries. Getting a new plan on arrival in a new country may only cost $5-$10 for a week’s worth of data, but it also costs 20-30 minutes of your time. And if you’re traveling to several different countries in a short span, those minutes and dollars can definitely add up.

Mobile Data on Layovers

Another big benefit is having mobile data on layovers. I remember having a 6-hour layover in Panama and running into a 1-hour limit on their airport’s free Wi-Fi. I probably could have used a different account to log in to their wi-fi system every hour or looked for a coffee shop, but instead a just used my mobile data as normal.

That goes double for longer layovers where you may want to leave the airport and explore. For instance, we had an overnight layover in the Philippines where we booked a hotel near the airport instead of hanging out at our gate for an entire day. Having mobile data was the difference between being able to use our apps to get around and communicate without needing to buy a separate SIM for a day’s worth of use.

Mobile Data as a Safety Backup while Traveling

This one is a bit less obvious, but I super love having a long-term global mobile data plan as a back up for when (not if) I accidentally burn through my entire local data plan watching cat videos on YouTube. I may or may not have done this exact thing at a small cafe in Egypt that didn’t have wi-fi. I switched to my global eSIM and instantly had the internet I needed to call an Uber back to the hotel. (Getting stranded because I watched too many cat videos would have been real embarrassing.)

While I admit that these are edge cases for most people, the fact that I’ve run into each of these exact situations in my own travels definitely attests to their being times when a Global eSIM plan beats (or at least complements) getting a local SIM card!

What options are there for Global Mobile Data Plans?

There are actually a ton of different options out there, if you’re willing to look, but I’ve found that the best options around are Saily’s Ultra Plan , Google Fi’s Unlimited Premium Plan, and, in a handful of cases, Airalo’s Global SIM. My focus in this article is on Saily and Google Fi, but I’ll spend a bit of time on Airalo as well, or you can read more in my article, Saily vs Airalo.

What does Saily’s Ultra Plan Offer?

Right off the bat, I’ll be looking at the plan I personally feel like is the best value, Saily’s Ultra Plan.

The Ultra Plan is a fairly new offering from Saily, which has only been offering its international eSIM plans since 2024. Even so, the plan itself offers up a lot of great value, including a decent amount of monthly data, mobile tethering for sharing your internet connection with other devices, and service in over 100 different locations around the globe.

But where they really start to set themselves apart from other providers is in their “extras.”

Saily is a sister company to Nord VPN, my favorite VPN provider, and it puts that close relationship to good use for its customers! Subscribers to the Saily Ultra Plan get access to:

• NordVPN – My favorite VPN service, which I use literally every day.
• NordPass – Nord’s password manager. I use a different password manager, but this one looks good!
• NordLocker – Their encrypted storage service. Everyone gets 3GB for free, so I’m assuming the bonus gives you more.
• and Incogni – A service intended to remove your personal information from the web anywhere it has been exposed. I haven’t used this service either, but it seems like a solid product.

Based off the monthly subscription prices listed for those services, you are getting almost $30 worth of value just from them, which is huge! But Saily also has some other bonuses listed as coming soon that aren’t quite live yet, including:

• Airport Lounge Access and
• Skip-the-Line airport security fast-track services

Needless to say, these are going to be HUGELY valuable bonuses for frequent traveler when they go live, and I’m super curious as to what those bonuses will look like once they’re here.

So, why wouldn’t I want to use Saily’s Ultra Plan Offer?

I really don’t have a lot of complaints here, but it’s worth noting that Saily’s offerings are for data-only plans, which means that you won’t have access to a phone number for texting or calling. You will be able to use apps that depend on a data connection to communicate though, so WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. will work just fine.

And, since most modern phones will let you use more than one SIM card at a time, you should still be able to get SMS messages from your regular phone number over your internet connection. Just be very, very sure that you’ve turned off mobile data from your home SIM card so you don’t get slapped with international roaming charges. Those charges can be in the hundreds of dollars, so it’s super important to turn off the data connection!

You can see a more detailed breakdown of the Ultra Plan below:

What does Google Fi’s Unlimited Premium Plan offer?

Right off the bat there are some major differences between typical eSIM services for travelers and Google Fi. While they are all MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) Google Fi markets itself as a traditional phone service provider rather than a service for travelers. It is only available to residents of the United States, and if you use too much data outside the States in a single year, they will completely cut off your data access.

That said, there are several advantages to using Google Fi that can still make it a good choice!

Google Fi got its start as Project Fi back in 2015, and I’ve been using them as my own primary phone service provider since about 2019. 2018? Either way, I’ve been using them for awhile and I’ve mostly been really happy with my service!

The Unlimited Premium Plan is the top-tier plan from Google Fi’s offerings, and includes a staggering 100GB of full-speed data each month, which is more than 3X what’s offered on Saily’s Ultra Plan! For most people, that tends to be way more than necessary, but if you happen to be traveling with kids, Google Fi has a way to put it to good use.

Google Fi offers up to 4 data-only SIM cards that can use that same pool of data for other devices in your household. That means that you can pop one of those into a phone for your kid to give them an internet connection of their own! I’ve found this to be perfect for things like playing Pokémon Go with my kids, since I don’t have to hotspot my phone and risk it overheating while we’re out walking.

And, of course, because Google Fi is a full phone service provider, their plans also include a US phone number that can be used for phone calls, SMS messages, etc., which comes in handy for all the identity verification texts that come in.

So, why wouldn’t I want to use Google’s Unlimited Premium Plan?

First and foremost, if you’re not spending a chunk of time in the USA every year, Google Fi just won’t work as a solution for global mobile data. After a certain nebulous amount of data used outside the States, they’ll cut you off, and that will be that. And, in fact, I personally have been cut off by Google Fi on two different occasions.

If that happens, you’ll need to make do with other methods for getting mobile data, like buying a local plan or switching to a different global service provider (like Saily’s plan above).

It’s also worth noting that while Google Fi does provide its users with Google VPN Access, their VPN doesn’t allow for virtually changing your geo-location for things like watching the American version of your streaming services while not in America. For that, you’d still need another VPN. (I use NordVPN.)

You can see a more detailed breakdown of the
Unlimited Premium plan below:

What about Airalo’s Global Mobile Data Plan?

While I personally feel like Saily’s mix of data and premium bonuses provides a better value than Airalo’s global plans, I’d be remiss not to mention them here. And, for certain travelers, there are times when Airalo could be be the better choice.

Airalo works best for people who don’t use much data, or as a safety fallback plan. For instance, if you’re traveling the globe for a gap year, you can buy a plan valid for 365 days for $89, and only use it when you aren’t able to connect with a local SIM. Spread out over a year of travel, that’s less than $8/month to have fall back data in case you run out, which isn’t a bad deal! (Note: Saily also offers pre-paid Global Plans like this!)

However, if you try to use it as your main data connection and you use it often, Airalo can become expensive very quickly! Their largest data plans only have 20GB of data available compared with 30GB/month on Saily’s Ultra Plan! To get that same amount of data, you would have to pay around twice as much with Airalo!

That said, if you don’t mind relying on local SIMs and Wi-Fi for your internet needs, and you want an easy fallback option, Airalo could be a decent choice.

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