Travel data calculator

Tell us how long you are away and how many hours a day you use maps, messaging, social media, video, music and video calls. You get the GB to buy, the plan size that covers it, and a bar showing where the data goes.

Inputs

Days you will be using the eSIM, not days away from home.

Downloading offline maps on Wi-Fi first makes this close to nothing.

Text and voice notes; photos and videos cost more.

Video-first apps use far more than text-first ones.

Most travellers leave this for hotel Wi-Fi.

Data to buy

9.3GB

7.7 GB of use over 10 days, plus a 20% margin: a 10 GB plan.

A 10 GB plan covers it with a 20% margin. Download maps and music on Wi-Fi to stretch it further.

Plan size
10 GB
Per day
0.77 GB
Trip total
7.7 GB
Biggest user
Social media
Data over 10 days, by activity

Over 10 days you would use about 7.7 GB (0.77 GB a day): social media 6.0 GB, web and email 0.75 GB, messaging (whatsapp, messenger) 0.50 GB, music streaming 0.43 GB, maps and navigation 0.04 GB. With a 20% margin that is 9.3 GB, so a 10 GB plan. The bar shows each activity's share of the trip total against the plan size.

How it works

Every activity has a published rate in data per hour. The calculator multiplies your hours a day by that rate, adds them up, multiplies by the days you are away and adds a 20% margin:

per day  = Σ hours of each activity × MB per hour of that activity ÷ 1000     (GB)
trip     = per day × days
to buy   = trip × 1.2, then the smallest plan size that covers it
  • Bit rates become data. A streaming bit rate of 1 kbit/s for an hour is 1000 × 3600 ÷ 8 = 450,000 bytes, so each kbit/s is 0.45 MB an hour. Spotify’s Normal quality (96 kbit/s) is 43.2 MB an hour, which matches Airalo’s 43.
  • Video calls are counted in one direction at Zoom’s high-quality rate (600 kbit/s, 270 MB an hour), which sits inside Airalo’s “up to 200–300 MB per hour”. Uploading adds to it.
  • Units are decimal, the way sellers and carriers count: 1 GB is 1000 MB.

Worked example

Ten days, with an hour a day each of maps, messaging, social media (Instagram) and music, and an hour and a half of web and email:

  • Maps 4 MB + messaging 50 + web and email 75 + Instagram 600 + Spotify Normal 43.2 = 772 MB, or 0.77 GB a day.
  • Over ten days: 7.7 GB. With the 20% margin: 9.3 GB, so a 10 GB plan.
  • Instagram is 78% of it. Cut the scrolling to a quarter of an hour a day and the same trip is 3.9 GB with the margin, which fits a 5 GB plan.

Saving data abroad

  • Wi-Fi for the heavy stuff. Netflix’s Save Data setting streams about 6 hours per GB, against 1 hour of HD at about 3 GB.
  • Offline maps. Airalo’s tip is to download your maps in offline mode before you go.
  • Keep video calls short. An hour of Zoom in 1080p is about 1.7 GB in one direction at the rate Zoom publishes.
  • Check what you really use. Your phone’s cellular settings show data by app, which beats any estimate.

FAQ

How much eSIM data do I need for a week?

For an hour a day each of maps, messaging and web and email, about 0.9 GB with our 20% margin covers a week, so a 1 GB plan. Add an hour of Instagram a day and it is about 5.9 GB, so a 10 GB plan. The default trip here, 10 days with an hour of social media a day, comes to about 9.3 GB.

Is 1 GB a day enough?

Airalo's guide puts a typical traveller at 0.5–1 GB a day. The default inputs here use about 0.77 GB a day. Streaming video or long calls can exceed 1 GB in an hour, so move those to Wi-Fi.

What uses the most data?

Video. Netflix's own figures are up to 3 GB an hour in HD and 7 GB in 4K, against about 0.25 GB an hour in its mobile Automatic setting. Video calls use about 0.27 GB an hour at Zoom's high-quality setting and far more in HD.

Why add a 20% margin?

Everyone underestimates. Apps update, photos upload and a map recalculates on a detour. Our 20% is a judgement rather than a published figure, and a bigger plan is usually cheaper than a top-up.

Which plan sizes do you round to?

1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 50 GB, the smallest that covers your total. Airalo names 1, 3 and 5 GB; the bigger sizes are common ones and differ by seller. Above 50 GB an unlimited plan is usually better value, and some sellers apply fair-use limits to them.

Sources

  1. How Much Data Do I Need When I Travel?, Airalo (updated May 2025). Google Maps 3–5 MB an hour, web browsing about 50 MB an hour, messaging about 50, YouTube standard definition 500, Spotify's default 43, video calls up to 200–300, and social apps per hour (X 360, Facebook 480, Instagram 600, Snapchat 720, TikTok 840). Plans of 1, 3 and 5 GB.
  2. Understanding data usage, Netflix Help Center. Data used per hour, per device (Low up to 0.3 GB, Medium 0.7, High 1 GB standard definition, 3 GB HD, 7 GB 4K), and on mobile "about 4 hours per GB" (Automatic) and "about 6 hours per GB" (Save Data).
  3. Audio quality, Spotify Support. Streaming quality as approximate bit rates, Normal 96, High 160 and Very high 320 kbit/s.
  4. Zoom Meetings bandwidth requirements, Zoom Support. 1:1 video needs 600 kbit/s (high quality), 1.2 Mbit/s (720p HD) or 3.8 Mbit/s (1080p).

Formula and sources last checked September 30, 2026. How we test formulas.

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Note: For general information only, not financial advice. Check current rates and fees with the provider before you decide.