Connecting at Home and Abroad – Is Google Fi Worth It?
While I absolutely adore being able to travel around the world, I absolutely do not adore being without access to the internet. There are a large number of services that promise to keep you connected, no matter where you are. But as it turns out, each of them has its upsides and its downsides. However, for the last 5 years or so, my personal choice for worldwide connectivity has been the US-based cell provider, Google Fi.
What is Google Fi?
Google Fi is an MVNO operated by Google and is based out of the USA. As such, Google Fi is a service that is technically only available to residents of the USA. However, two of Google Fi’s plans also allow for connecting to the internet while traveling overseas, and these plans have been absolutely amazing for keeping our family connected during our travels.
So, would I recommend Google Fi for connecting to the internet while traveling? In the past I would have said it’s complicated. But in 2024, I can resoundingly say, yes. I would recommend it. But that recommendation does still come with some caveats.
Keep reading to find out more.
Why should you choose Google Fi?
Let’s start off by discussing the reasons why Google Fi feels like a good fit for families wanting to travel.
Google Fi offers easy internet access in America and all over the world
When we first got started with Fi, the main selling point was the ability to switch between T-Mobile and Sprint on the fly, always keeping you connected to the fastest possible network. But since Sprint merged with T-Mobile, that’s become a bit of a moot point. At this point, Google Fi operates almost exclusively on T-Mobile while in the States, which, honestly, has been fine. We had some speed struggles way back in 2019, but I haven’t had any complaints in recent years.
But that network switching magic is still there, for customers who decide to heads overseas! Within minutes of touching down in a new country I get a notification telling me that I’m covered and after another minute or so I have an internet connection ready so I can do things like check the exchange rate before using the ATM or get an Uber to my hotel.
I particularly love it during long layovers and in countries where we aren’t staying for more than a week, because those are the places where I don’t really want to go through the effort of buying a local SIM card for cheaper data.
Google Fi offers simple, but flexible, pricing
Google Fi started off with two main plans: “Unlimited Plus” and “Flexible.” However, since then they’ve added a less expensive plan called “Simply Unlimited” that only works in the US, Mexico and Canada and caps your hotspot data at 5GB. I feel like we can safely ignore that one, but if you want to read more about it, check out my article, Is Google Fi’s Simply Unlimited Plan Useful for Digital Nomads.
The first main plan is the “Flexible” plan. It costs $20 for the line, including unlimited text and calling, and costs $10/GB for data, up to 6GB. After that, Google Fi’s “Bill Protection” kicks in and your data is free. The other is the “Unlimited” plan for $65 a month. You can use as much data as you like on either plan, but the Flexible plan will cost more than the Unlimited plan during months where you use more than 5GB, and less in months where you don’t.
It’s also worth noting that the Flexible plan starts throttling your speed after 15GB while the Unlimited Plus plan gives you 50GB before it starts slowing you down.
One of the coolest parts of their plans is that you can switch between them on your account page, so you’re never locked in to one or the other. Personally, I use the Unlimited Plus Plan while I’m Stateside and relying on them for all my mobile internet and switch to Flexible when I’m overseas and mostly using my plan as an emergency back up internet option.
Having the option to fall back on Google Fi when my prepaid internet runs out of data has been an absolute lifesaver a number of times, and, combined with having a phone number for 2FA texts, is easily worth the $20/month that it costs to keep my line active.
Other Benefits
Google Fi also has an option to order data-only SIM cards which can be used in secondary devices. This allows you to have more internet-connected devices on a single plan, which is amazing! I like to put them in my kids’ phones so they can have their own internet connection without needing me to hotspot!
And if you’re on the Unlimited Plus plan you get even more benefits, like 100GB of Google one Storage, and 6 months of YouTube Premium for free! (when I wrote this, 4/10/2024).
So, why shouldn’t I get Google Fi?
Sound good so far? Great!
Unfortunately, there are some limitations you should be aware of.
Google Fi will cut you off if you use too much data outside the USA
While the international data is easily the biggest selling point for Google Fi among travelers, you can’t really depend on it being your sole source of internet. That’s because if you use too much international data on your Fi plan, you’ll get an email telling you that you’re doing it wrong and asking you to return Stateside before you can have more. The email comes with a 30-day grace period, so you shouldn’t be taken completely by surprise, but it’s still a bit annoying.
If you do get cut off, you’ll have to head back Stateside before your internet gets turned back on, but you’ll still be able to use your Google Fi number for calls and texts as normal.
Why does this happen? My theory is that it costs significantly more for Google to provide you internet using their international partners than it does in the States. So, if you use more internet outside the US than in the US, you start cutting into their profits. As long as you use more data in the US than outside the US in a 6-month period, you probably won’t be cut off.
But the thing is, if you’re spending longer than about a week in a single country, you shouldn’t be using Google Fi for your internet anyways!
Google Fi is more expensive than local plans in other countries
That’s because it’s almost always cheaper to buy a local tourist SIM on arrival than it is to pay $10/GB for Google’s offerings.
We use Google Fi internet solely for Facebook browsing during our airport layovers and as a back up option for when we (invariably) run out of internet during an important work meeting. That, combined with having a functioning US phone number, is worth it to us.
And those are really the only downsides, from my perspective.
I used to have problems with Google Fi’s speed while Stateside, but T-Mobile has done a great job of strengthening its network, so I don’t have that problem anymore. I’ve heard some people complain about Fi’s customer service, but I’ve personally had good experiences with them on multiple occasions.
I really, truly like Google Fi, and I’ll be sticking with them unless something major changes.
Convinced?
Sign up using my referral link and we’ll both get a $20 credit if you stick around for a month!
Not convinced?
Google Fi offers a 7-day Free Trial! Click the button above and look for the 7-day free trial on their homepage!
