data_usage Choosing a plan
How much data do I actually need?
Most people buy more data than they use. Here's how usage actually adds up, how much each activity "burns" per day, and a simple formula to land you on the right tier.
Most people buy more data than they use. Here's how usage actually adds up, how much each activity "burns" per day, and a simple formula to land you on the right tier.
At home we're used to "unlimited", so a trip feels like it needs mountains of data. But abroad most of the heavy use - streaming, backups, app updates - happens on the hotel Wi-Fi anyway. What's left for the cellular plan is mainly navigation, messaging and light browsing on the go, and that uses far less than it seems.
Data is measured in megabytes (MB) per minute or per action: a text message is nothing, a minute in Waze is a little, and a minute of HD video is a lot. So the real difference isn't "how many days" but what you do on those days.
A rough estimate for a typical day out and about.
Surprisingly light - about 30-70MB a day even with heavy use. Tip: downloading an offline map of the city before the flight brings that to nearly zero.
Messaging, browsing, email, some maps - about 150-300MB a day. This is most travelers' profile, and 3-5GB covers a full week.
Instagram/TikTok/Facebook with lots of video scrolling - about 500MB-1GB a day. If you scroll a lot, aim for a higher tier or save the heavy scrolling for Wi-Fi.
YouTube/Netflix are the big eater - about 1-3GB per hour in HD. If you plan to watch on the go, this is the main factor in your tier (or just download in advance over Wi-Fi).
Take the number of days and multiply by your daily estimate from the cards above. A "WhatsApp + browsing" user ≈ 0.25GB/day; "social media" ≈ 0.7GB; "streaming" - add per viewing hours.
Plans come as 3 / 5 / 10 / 20GB. Pick the tier just above your result - a small buffer beats being stuck with no internet on the last day.
When you're torn between two tiers, it's almost always better to start with the smaller one - it takes seconds to add another plan if it runs out, and that's cheaper than buying big "just in case".
Pick a destination and see the tiers and prices - 3, 5, 10 and 20GB, each with the full price up front.
Choose a planData simply stops - no surprise charge and no expensive roaming. You can buy another plan from your phone in seconds and carry on, without installing a new eSIM.
A lot. If you keep the heavy stuff - streaming, photo backup, app updates and map downloads - for the hours you're on hotel Wi-Fi, your cellular plan will stretch across many more days than you calculated.
More than a voice call, less than streaming - about 300-500MB per hour. A plain WhatsApp voice call is negligible (~30MB/hour); only sustained video adds up, so for long video calls prefer Wi-Fi.
Most of the data disappears into things the phone does on its own. Six settings close most of them, each in seconds - they come first here, and the explanation sits underneath.
Read east compare_arrowsThree ways to stay connected abroad, each with its own price, convenience and trade-off. Here's the head-to-head - so you know exactly what you're choosing and why.
Read east sellThe short answer: from 39₪. On most destinations 3GB costs 39₪, 5GB is 49₪ and 10GB is 79₪ - all for 30 days, final price in shekels. The full price list is below, along with why some destinations cost more.
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