I'm doing a one-week trip. How many GB should I buy?

For typical usage (maps, social, messaging, some photo uploads): 5 GB covers it with margin. Light users can stretch 3 GB. Heavy users (video calls, streaming over cellular, content creators) should buy 10-15 GB. Unlimited plans make sense only for the streaming-heavy end of the spectrum.

What about a two-week trip?

Scale the one-week number up. Typical user: 10 GB. Light: 5-7 GB. Heavy: 20-30 GB or an unlimited plan. Two-week plans often have better per-GB pricing than week plans, so the cost difference between 10 GB / 14 days and 5 GB / 7 days is smaller than you'd expect.

Does Google Maps really use that little data?

Active navigation uses 5-10 MB per hour. Not 5-10 MB per day — per hour of actual turn-by-turn use. A full day of driving with navigation on for 4 hours uses around 40 MB. Search and panning the map while not navigating uses slightly more. The exception is Street View — loading those 360 images over cellular can use 50-100 MB in a 10-minute session.

Why does video streaming use so much data?

Video quality is the dominant factor. Standard Netflix runs around 1 GB/hour at 480p, 3 GB/hour at HD, 7+ GB/hour at 4K. Netflix caps data usage on cellular by default — check the app settings. YouTube at 480p uses about 300 MB/hour, at 1080p about 1.5 GB/hour. Drop the quality setting before streaming on cellular to save significantly.

Can the whole family share one plan?

Only via hotspot tethering — one phone runs the eSIM plan and shares data to other devices over Wi-Fi. Works but drains the sharing phone's battery fast and halves the effective speed. For family trips, individual plans per phone (or a pocket Wi-Fi router with a shared data plan) usually works better than hotspotting.

Can I buy more data if I run out mid-trip?

Yes on most travel eSIM providers. Top-ups typically take 5-15 minutes to provision. Some providers let you pre-buy a larger plan at a discount before running out. Either works. Plan for enough to not need a top-up — even small interruptions break the trip's flow.

ConnectivityUpdated April 24, 2026

How much data do I need for travel?

Data usage by app (Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, streaming), rule-of-thumb tables, and a light/moderate/heavy framework to pick the right travel eSIM plan size.

Derek AlvarezConnectivity & Gear Editor

April 24, 20266 min read

What you'll learn

Google Maps uses 5-10 MB per hour of active navigation. Negligible over a whole trip unless you're driving constantly.
WhatsApp text/voice: 1-3 MB per hour of chat, ~1 MB per minute of voice call, ~10 MB per minute of video call.
Instagram and TikTok: 100-300 MB per hour of active scrolling. Instagram Reels is the heaviest social app.
Netflix, YouTube, streaming video: 1-3 GB per hour depending on quality setting.
Video calls (Zoom, FaceTime, Google Meet): 500 MB to 1.5 GB per hour of HD video.
Typical week-long trip with moderate use: 5-7 GB. Worth buying 10 GB to leave margin.
Top-ups mid-trip work but take time. Budget 1-2 GB buffer rather than running dry.

1-3 GB/hr
Streaming video
Depends on quality
5-10 MB/hr
Google Maps active
Almost nothing
200 MB/hr
Instagram scroll
Reels-heavy use
5-10 GB
Typical week trip
Moderate usage

The "how much data do I need" question is the one travelers get wrong most often in both directions — buying too little and running out on day three, or buying unlimited when 5 GB would cover the trip with room to spare. Here's how to size a plan accurately.

Data usage by app, per hour

These are real-world averages for default quality settings. Some apps let you drop quality or disable cellular data entirely.

App / activity	Data per hour	Notes
Google Maps (active navigation)	5-10 MB	Minimal. Offline maps save this too.
WhatsApp / iMessage text	1-3 MB	Negligible.
WhatsApp voice call	~50 MB	Per hour.
WhatsApp video call	~500 MB	Per hour, per side.
FaceTime audio	~50 MB	Per hour.
FaceTime video	600-900 MB	Per hour, HD.
Zoom / Google Meet (HD)	~900 MB	Per hour. Drops to 400 MB on SD.
Instagram scrolling (mixed)	100-300 MB	Higher if Reels-heavy.
TikTok scrolling	250-500 MB	Reels-format eats data.
Twitter/X scrolling	50-100 MB	Text-heavy, less data.
YouTube (480p)	~300 MB	Per hour.
YouTube (1080p HD)	1.5 GB	Per hour.
Netflix mobile (default)	1 GB	Per hour, capped by the app.
Netflix mobile (HD)	3 GB	Per hour.
Spotify streaming (normal)	40 MB	Per hour at 128 kbps.
Spotify (high quality)	150 MB	Per hour at 320 kbps.
Photo upload (1 photo)	2-5 MB	iCloud / Google Photos backup.
Photo album upload (50 photos)	100-250 MB	Phone auto-backup triggers frequently.

What a day of travel actually uses

A typical travel day — moderate user, no streaming on cellular:

2 hours of Google Maps for getting around: ~20 MB
30 minutes of Instagram scrolling over coffee: ~150 MB
4 hours of WhatsApp chat with the family group: ~10 MB
Two 30-minute WhatsApp voice calls home: ~50 MB
40 photos auto-uploaded to iCloud: ~150 MB
Email, Twitter, browsing: ~100 MB
App auto-updates (one small app): ~50 MB

Total: ~530 MB / day for a normal traveler not actively streaming.

Over a 7-day trip: ~3.7 GB.

This is why 5 GB covers most travelers for a week with margin, and why 1 GB runs out fast.

The three usage tiers

Light (2-3 GB for a week):

Mostly Wi-Fi at the hotel or Airbnb
Occasional maps and messaging on cellular
No social scrolling or video streaming on the road
Photos sync once back at Wi-Fi

This is the traveler who treats the phone as a map and a translator, nothing more.

Moderate (5-10 GB for a week):

Google Maps for navigation as needed
Social scrolling on transit, at cafes
WhatsApp video calls home every other day
Photos auto-uploading over cellular
Occasional rideshare apps
A few hours of YouTube/podcasts over cellular

This is most travelers. The reasonable middle.

Heavy (15-30 GB for a week):

Content creator uploading daily video to Instagram/TikTok
Frequent video calls (work meetings, daily family calls)
Netflix/YouTube streaming on cellular
Hotspot to laptop for work
Constant rideshare, food delivery, map use

This tier genuinely benefits from unlimited plans if the trip is over 5 days.

How to reduce usage without noticing

A few quick wins that let a smaller plan cover a trip comfortably:

Download offline maps. Google Maps → search destination → three-dot menu → Download offline map. Saves most of the 5-10 MB/hour of active navigation data.

Download Spotify/Netflix/Apple Music offline. Do this on hotel Wi-Fi, listen on cellular without burning data.

Turn off auto-backup on cellular. iOS: Settings → Photos → Cellular Data → off. Android: Google Photos → Settings → Back up & sync → Cellular data backup → off.

Turn off app auto-updates on cellular. iOS: Settings → App Store → Cellular Data → App Downloads → off. Android: Play Store → Settings → Network Preferences → App download preference → over Wi-Fi only.

Drop video quality. Netflix, YouTube, Instagram all let you cap quality on cellular. Set to "data saver" or "low."

Hotspot lightly. If you're hotspotting a laptop, the laptop's background sync can burn through data fast. Turn off Dropbox/OneDrive/iCloud Drive sync on the laptop before tethering.

How to pick the plan size

Start with the moderate usage pattern. If your trip is:

Weekend (2-3 days): 2-3 GB
One week: 5 GB (moderate) to 10 GB (heavier)
Two weeks: 10-15 GB
Three weeks: 15-25 GB
Month: 20-30 GB or unlimited

Add 20-30% margin for first-time travelers or for trips in data-heavy destinations (any city where you'll constantly map/rideshare, any trip involving frequent video calls).

Buy slightly more than you expect. Top-ups work but interrupt the trip; running out and needing to buy more while already on a poor signal or traveling between towns is mildly annoying. Leaving 2-3 GB unused on arrival home costs a few euros; having to scramble costs a meal.

For multi-country trips

Regional plans spread data across multiple countries on one plan. Your 10 GB Europe plan covers Paris + Rome + Barcelona on the same balance. Usage isn't per-country; it's total.

For Europe regional trips, 10-15 GB covers most two-week itineraries. For Southeast Asia with frequent Grab and map usage, budget 15-20 GB for two weeks. For Latin America cross-country, 10-20 GB depending on trip length.

When unlimited is worth it

Three cases:

Content creator or remote worker. Daily Instagram/TikTok uploads, Zoom meetings, video editing over cloud storage — usage above 30-40 GB on a week-long trip is normal. Unlimited pays off.
Long trip (3+ weeks) where top-ups become expensive. Unlimited for a month in Thailand costs roughly the same as three 10 GB refills plus the friction.
Unknown usage pattern on first international trip. If you can't predict your usage, unlimited removes the cap anxiety. Most travelers who try unlimited once don't go back.

For everyone else, sized plans are better. 99esim offers both shapes; the country and regional pages list per-GB pricing for each tier.

For typical usage (maps, social, messaging, some photo uploads): 5 GB covers it with margin. Light users can stretch 3 GB. Heavy users (video calls, streaming over cellular, content creators) should buy 10-15 GB. Unlimited plans make sense only for the streaming-heavy end of the spectrum.

Common mistakes

Buying 1 GB for a week 'to be cheap': 1 GB runs out in 2-3 days of normal use — one hour of Instagram scrolling plus Google Maps for a day trip plus a few WhatsApp video calls will do it. The €2-3 savings over a 5 GB plan isn't worth the mid-trip top-up friction. Buy for the trip you'll actually take, not the trip where you theoretically don't use your phone.
Assuming Netflix on Wi-Fi at the hotel counts against the data plan: It doesn't. Data plans only measure cellular data. Wi-Fi usage at hotels, cafes, airports is free and unlimited regardless of plan size. The way to stretch a small plan is to download Netflix and Spotify content over hotel Wi-Fi for offline use during the day, not to avoid streaming entirely.
Forgetting background data — auto-updates, photo backup, cloud sync: Phones sync constantly even when you're not actively using them. Automatic iCloud photo backup of a day's worth of phone photos can use 1-2 GB. App Store auto-updates do the same. Before traveling: turn off auto-backup over cellular (Settings → Photos → Cellular Data → off; same for Google Photos) and auto-update over cellular.
Buying unlimited for a trip that doesn't need it: Unlimited travel eSIM plans cost $20-50 for a week. A moderate user (5-10 GB) pays $10-20 for the same week on a data-allowance plan. Unlimited wins only for streaming-heavy travelers, content creators uploading video daily, or digital nomads who rely on video calls for work. For a typical vacation, unlimited is over-buying.

with 99esim

Pick the right size for your trip

99esim sells plans from 1 GB starter to unlimited for trips of all sizes. Each country and regional page lists typical plan sizes and per-GB pricing — pick based on your realistic usage, not the cheapest entry price.

Get 99esim Already traveling and running out? Top-up options

Connectivity & Gear Editor

Derek Alvarez

Miami, FL

Miami-based technology writer covering mobile connectivity, travel gear, and the infrastructure that keeps travelers online. Spent twelve years as an enterprise IT consultant before realizing he preferred writing about the equipment to maintaining it. Tests every eSIM, hotspot, and charging brick he reviews — usually in places with questionable coverage. Cuban-American, fluent in Spanish, collects old film cameras he rarely uses.

View all articles by Derek

Was this helpful?

Data usage by app, per hour

What a day of travel actually uses

The three usage tiers

How to reduce usage without noticing

How to pick the plan size

For multi-country trips

When unlimited is worth it

I'm doing a one-week trip. How many GB should I buy?−

What about a two-week trip?+

Does Google Maps really use that little data?+

Why does video streaming use so much data?+

Can the whole family share one plan?+

Can I buy more data if I run out mid-trip?+