Depending on your smartphone’s service plan, the expense of data while you’re roaming abroad can be one of the ugliest surprises in a travel budget. Forgetting to use the correct setting for even a few minutes while an e-mail or a video loads in an expensive location can cost a vacationer hundreds of dollars in accidentally accrued, high-priced data charges.
Over the years, Frommer’s has found this to be one of the most difficult aspects of travel to supply tips for. Everyone is traveling with a their own phone, of various ages, under their own carrier plans, with their unique use habits, and the ground rules of un locked devices, SIM cards, and the mobile phone industry’s technical capabilities are ever-shifting. In the face of such complications, the best that most travel experts can do is warn you make sure you know what your carrier will charge you in the countries you visit and to keep tabs on your data usage.
A business called Holafly, which (and we’re simplifying here) sells travelers the ability to temporarily re-program their phone’s built-in SIM card to be able to use data at cheaper local rates as they travel, recently decided to illustrate the value of their product (which we have no connection to and haven’t tried) by putting the big travel apps to the test. The goal was to see how much data your favorite travel app munches in a few minutes—so travelers can can grasp how expensive it would be to use them at high roaming data prices.
Holafly’s testers selected the most popular travel apps based on industry rankings, turned off the Wi-Fi, closed all other apps, and used each target travel app, one by one, for 5 minutes sharp. By monitoring how much data each app used in that 5-minute period, they built a list of the most data-hungry apps in the traveler’s smartphone toolbox. Sure, it’s a a rough test, but it’s enough to give you a rough idea of the potential for financial pain.
Just to put the following numbers in chilling perspective, in some countries, international phone users can be charged $2 per MB while they’re roaming. In international waters on cruises, the charges can be worse. For example, AT&T will charge you $2.05/ MB (which is in the standard industry range) on a cruise ship if you don’t purchase a data package.
In the table below, we added the amount you’d theoretically be charged by your carrier for 5 minutes of usage of each app based on $2/ MB; your charges may vary.
Holafly’s Top 20 Popular Apps That Consume the Most Mobile Data (5 minutes’ Use)
1. YouTube: 193 MB ($386)
2. Disney+: 150 MB ($300)
3. Uber: 102 MB ($204)
4. Snapchat: 101 MB ($202)
5. Prime Video: 97 MB ($194)
6. Google Maps: 87 MB ($174)
7. Pinterest: 85 MB ($170)
8. TikTok: 79 MB ($158)
9. Telegram: 70 MB ($140)
10. Instagram: 69 MB ($138)
11. DuoLingo: 69 MB ($138)
12. Amazon Shopping: 68 MB ($136)
13. Facebook: 65 MB ($130)
14. Netflix: 53 MB ($106)
15. X/ Twitter: 50 MB ($100)
16. Gmail: 42 MB ($84)
17. Linkedin: 23 MB ($46)
18. Audible: 10 MB ($20)
19. WhatsApp: 9 MB ($18)
20. Spotify: 7 MB ($14)
It should be no surprise that the apps that stream video tend to chew through the most data. But Uber? How can Uber, an app that’s ostensibly designed for travel, use 102 MB, which is more data than watching a movie on Amazon Prime?
Holafly also broke out lists by category, ranking the major browsers like Safari (56 MB) and Google Chrome (24 MB); social engagement apps including Pinterest (85 MB) and Reddit (45 MB); and the major travel-specific apps, like the hiker’s tool AllTrails (an astonishing 155 MB in 5 minutes, although you might be able to curb that by downloading data ahead of time), driving directions app Waze (110 MB), Airbnb (29 MB), and the indispensable traveler’s wayfinder CityMapper (11 MB)
We’ve shown you the highlights here, but you can see the full list of the apps Holafly tested here.
If you’d like to test your own apps based on your own habits, you can. Holafly used My Data Manager, which is available for both iOS and Google, or you can use your own phone’s built-in data usage tracker, if you know where to find it.
If these numbers don’t have your finger itching to switch on Airplane Mode, can we can borrow some money from you?