Travel guide
In short
A traveler who uses maps, messaging and social media in moderation uses roughly 0.5 to 1 GB per day, while usage rises to 2 GB or more per day when you watch videos and make video calls. Multiply your daily usage by the number of days in your trip, then add a 20% safety margin.
Choosing a plan smaller than you need means losing your connection halfway through the trip, and choosing one much bigger means paying for data you won’t use. This guide helps you estimate your real usage based on how you use your phone, with practical examples and tips to save data.
The figures below are estimates and vary with video quality and each app’s settings, but they give you a realistic idea of what your phone uses on a typical travel day:
| Activity | Approximate usage |
|---|---|
| Maps and navigation | 5 to 20 MB per hour |
| WhatsApp text messages | Very low |
| WhatsApp voice call | About 0.5 to 1 MB per minute |
| Video call | About 5 to 10 MB per minute |
| Scrolling Instagram and TikTok (video) | 500 MB to 1 GB per hour |
| Watching video in standard quality | About 0.5 to 1 GB per hour |
| Watching video in HD | 1.5 to 3 GB per hour |
| Uploading a photo to social media | About 1 to 3 MB per photo |
300–500 MB per day
Maps, messaging, light browsing and bookings: about 300 to 500 MB per day.
1 GB per day
All of the above plus social media, voice calls and some short videos: about 1 GB per day.
2–3 GB+ per day
Video, video calls, constant story sharing or remote work: about 2 to 3 GB per day or more. This is where an unlimited plan is the best choice.
The formula is simple: daily usage × number of trip days + 20% buffer. Example: a 7-day trip to Istanbul for a moderate user needs 1 GB × 7 days = 7 GB, and with the buffer that becomes about 8 to 10 GB. A 5-day business trip with daily video calls, however, may go beyond 10 GB, so an unlimited plan is the better choice.
There’s no need to buy a huge plan from the start if you’re not sure how much you’ll use. With 22SIM Connect you can top up your plan from the app without changing your eSIM, and with 22SIM Web you can buy a new eSIM straight from your browser in minutes.
Usually yes, for a light or moderate user who uses maps, messaging and social media without watching much video.
Voice calls use very little, but video calls use much more, so set aside extra data if you make them every day.
If you watch a lot of video, work remotely, or would rather not think about your usage during the trip.
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