How much data do I need to travel?
Most of the data you use while travelling comes down to three or four settings, not the apps you use. Netflix shows it with its own figures: the same hour of video costs you 250 MB or more than 3 GB depending on one setting. 12 times as much, and it’s two taps away.
Here’s where every figure comes from, which settings really change the numbers, and a calculator to check — not replace — what your phone already knows.
Before you calculate anything: check your phone
It is the only figure that really counts, because it is yours. Don’t rely on anyone’s published averages, ours included.
- iPhone: Settings → Mobile Data → scroll down to “Current Period”.
- Android: Settings → Connections → Data usage → Mobile data usage.
Look at what you used last month at home and take off what you will do on the hotel Wi-Fi. When you travel the mix changes (more maps, less video on the sofa), but the order of magnitude stays the same.
The calculator below is for checking that number, not replacing it. If what you get here is close to what your phone says, you have your answer. If not, trust your phone.
The four settings that decide how much data you use
This shows you how to use less data, which means buying a cheaper plan from us. We put it here anyway, and near the top: we would rather you get the right plan than sell you more than you need once.
Lower the video quality on your phone
In Netflix: Profile → App Settings → Mobile Data Usage. The same goes for YouTube and the rest.
From “Maximum Data” to “Automatic”, the same hour of video goes from 3 GB or more to about 250 MB.
Download the map of the area before you go
In Google Maps: search for the city → Download → Download. On Wi-Fi, before your trip.
Navigating with the map already downloaded brings map data down to almost zero.
Turn off automatic photo backup over mobile data
In Google Photos: Profile → Settings → Backup → Mobile data usage → turn off. On iPhone: Settings → Photos → Mobile Data.
It’s the one that eats the most without anyone noticing, because it happens with your phone in your pocket. Upload your photos at night, on the hotel Wi-Fi.
And what doesn’t count: Wi-Fi
Whatever you do on the hotel, airport or café Wi-Fi doesn’t use a single megabyte of your eSIM.
That’s why hardly anyone needs as many gigabytes as they think: half a day of video at the hotel doesn’t touch your plan.
The numbers for your trip
Change the video setting and watch the result move: that is what this whole page is about.
- Just enough to get around: Maps to find your way, messaging with your people and the odd search. Video and photos on the hotel Wi-Fi.
- Like at home, but travelling: All of the above, plus a bit of social media each day, music while you walk and photo backup switched on.
- My phone is my life: Social media for much of the day, music always on, video calls to tell everyone how it’s going and everything uploading to the cloud.
If you prefer a table — the same thing, already worked out
| How you use your phone | 3 days | 7 days | 10 days | 15 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just enough to get around | 0.8 – 0.9 GB | 1.8 – 2.2 GB | 2.6 – 3.1 GB | 3.9 – 4.7 GB |
| Like at home, but travelling | 1.6 – 3.9 GB | 3.8 – 9.1 GB | 5.4 – 13 GB | 8.1 – 19.5 GB |
| My phone is my life | 3.6 – 8.7 GB | 8.5 – 20.2 GB | 12.1 – 28.9 GB | 18.2 – 43.4 GB |
With one hour of video a day on “Automatic”. Without video it drops a lot; on “Maximum Data” it shoots up.
What uses how much, and where each figure comes from
Three levels, and we say which is which: what the provider itself publishes, what comes from multiplying one of its figures, and what is our own estimate.
| What | How much it uses | How reliable | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video on “Save Data”Video | 167 MBper hour | Published figureNetflix puts it as “about 6 hours per GB”. | Netflix Help Centre, checked on 18 September 2026 |
| Video on “Automatic”Video | 250 MBper hour | Published figureNetflix puts it as “about 4 hours per GB”. It’s the default setting. | Netflix Help Centre, checked on 18 September 2026 |
| Video on “Maximum Data”Video | 3,000 MB or moreper hour | Published figureNetflix puts it as “1 GB every 20 minutes or more”. Hence the “or more”. | Netflix Help Centre, checked on 18 September 2026 |
| Music at normal quality (96 kbit/s)Music | 43 MBper hour | Derived from an official figure96 kbit/s × 3600 s ÷ 8 = 43 MB/h. Spotify publishes the bitrate; we worked out the MB. | Spotify, audio quality, checked on 18 September 2026 |
| Music at very high quality (320 kbit/s)Music | 144 MBper hour | Derived from an official figure320 kbit/s × 3600 s ÷ 8 = 144 MB/h. Spotify’s other quality settings are 24 and 160 kbit/s: 11 and 72 MB/h. | Spotify, audio quality, checked on 18 September 2026 |
| Maps and navigationGetting around | 5 to 20 MBper hour | Our estimateIt depends a lot on whether you’ve already downloaded the map of the area. With an offline map it drops to almost zero. | No public source: the range is ours |
| Messaging: text, voice notes and the odd photoKeeping in touch | 5 to 30 MBper hour | Our estimateText barely registers; what pushes the figure up is the voice notes and photos people send you. | No public source: the range is ours |
| Looking up places, opening times and ticketsLooking things up | 10 to 50 MBper hour | Our estimateAn image-heavy website uses several times what a text one does. | No public source: the range is ours |
| Social media (videos autoplay)Social media | 100 to 400 MBper hour | Our estimateIt’s video even if it doesn’t look like it: scrolling plays clips you didn’t ask for. | No public source: the range is ours |
| Video callKeeping in touch | 200 to 900 MBper hour | Our estimateThe range is huge on purpose: the app lowers the quality by itself when the network is struggling. | No public source: the range is ours |
| Automatic photo backup to the cloudWithout noticing | 150 to 600 MBper day | Our estimateFor a day of photos and the odd short video. It’s per day, not per hour: it happens with your phone in your pocket, and it’s what eats a whole plan without anyone noticing. | No public source: the range is ours |
The estimates are ours and deliberately wide: for these things there’s no authoritative source, and what’s out there are figures copied from one another without saying how they were measured. If you’ve measured something different, send it to us and we’ll correct it.
Now, your destination
See all destinationsThe truth about “unlimited” data
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