How much data do I need for my trip?
A practical sizing guide for travel data — what maps, messaging, social and hotspotting really use, with honest recommendations from 1GB to 20GB.
The honest answer: less than you fear, more than you think. Most travellers dramatically overestimate what maps and messaging use, and dramatically underestimate what video does. Here's how it actually breaks down.
What things really use
| Activity | Typical usage | Appetite |
|---|---|---|
| Maps & navigation | ~5–10MB per hour | Light |
| WhatsApp / iMessage (text) | Almost nothing | Light |
| Voice notes & photo messages | ~50–100MB per day of heavy chatting | Light–moderate |
| Web browsing, bookings, email | ~50–100MB per hour | Moderate |
| Instagram / TikTok scrolling | ~150–800MB per hour | Heavy |
| Uploading reels & stories | ~100–300MB per active day | Heavy |
| Video calls home | ~300–700MB per hour | Heavy |
| Streaming video | ~1–3GB per hour in HD | Very heavy |
| Hotspot for a laptop | Whatever your laptop wants — often 1GB+ per work session | Very heavy |
The pattern: text and maps are nearly free, photos are cheap, video in any direction is where gigabytes go to die. Auto-playing feeds and cloud photo backup are the two silent budget-killers — set photo backup to "WiFi only" before you fly and you've saved a gigabyte already.
Which size are you?
1GB — the safety net. A short stopover or a "mostly offline" trip: maps, messages, the odd booking. Fine for 2–3 days if you stay off video.
3GB — the light traveller. A week of maps, group chats, browsing and a modest daily scroll. You'll check social; you won't live in it.
5GB — the sweet spot. One to two weeks of normal phone life: navigation everywhere, daily Instagram, photos to the family chat, a couple of video calls home. If you're not sure, this is the answer.
10GB — the sharer. Two weeks-plus, or one week of posting reels from every beach in Bali. Also right for uploading as you go rather than when you're home.
20GB — the remote worker. Hotspotting a laptop, video meetings, a month-long Europe wander, or a working holiday in Thailand or Vietnam. If your trip has a calendar invite in it, start here.
The top-up reassurance
Here's the thing that makes over-thinking this pointless: you're not locked in. Run low, and you can top up from your Onda account in a couple of taps — no new eSIM, no new QR code, no shop. So size for your likely trip, not your worst-case one, and let the top-up be the contingency plan.
One thing we won't do is wave an "unlimited" banner at you. Plans marketed as unlimited are typically throttled to unusable speeds after a gig or two — a real 5GB beats a fake infinity every time.
Before you decide
Check what your last normal week of usage looked like (Settings → Mobile Data on iPhone, Settings → Network on Android) — holiday usage is usually similar, minus WiFi at the hotel. Then pick your destination, whether that's Japan, New Zealand, the USA or anywhere else we cover, match the plan to your persona above, and install it before you fly. Questions? Help lives here.