T-Mobile announced some awesome changes yesterday for those of us who like to travel abroad: starting June 21st, Magenta customers will get 5GB of free high-speed data (up to 5G) in 11 European countries and those of us on Magenta Max will now get 5GB of free high-speed data per month (up to 5G speed) in 210 countries and destinations. That’s a great enhancement that will enable me to drop Google Fi and I look forward to taking this for a test drive in Europe in a few weeks. There are also new benefits coming next week like a travel booking portal and a year of free AAA membership for T-Mobile customers.
The Deal
- T-Mobile has announced the following benefits starting on 6/21/22:
- For Magenta Max:
- 5GB of free high-speed data per month in more than 210 countries and destinations around the world for Magenta Max customers
- Free full-flight Wi-Fi including streaming speeds when available on Delta, Alaska, and American Airlines flights (starting with select flights on 6/12; United will be added “soon”)
- 1 year of “AAA on us” coming in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app on 6/21/22
- For Magenta, many business plans, and equivalent Sprint plans:
- 5GB of free high-speed data per month in 11 European countries for other Magenta plans as well as most business plans and equivalent Sprint plans
- Free full-flight Wi-Fi on 4 flights of your choice (and then 1 hour on other flights) on Delta, Alaska, and American Airlines flights (starting with select flights on 6/12; United will be added “soon”)
- 1 year of “AAA on us” coming in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app on 6/21/22
- For Magenta Max:
More Info
Free international roaming
The Magenta Max plan doesn’t make sense for everyone, but for those of us who do need/want Magenta Max features, this is great news. Thanks to all of the various free line promotions T-Mobile has run and this past spring’s Insider Hookup, I’m now paying about $150 per month for 9 lines on Magenta Max, several of them with free phones (and another $50 per month for Home Internet). I actually need the 40GB per line of mobile hotspot, so I used to pay significantly more for only 3 lines in order to cover my hotspot needs, so I was happy with Magenta Max from launch.
For people like me, the addition of free international high-speed data (up to 5GB per month at speeds up to 5G) is a nice win. Despite the fact that T-Mobile has long offered free international roaming, I have long used Google Fi while abroad for access to high speed data. In fact, my phone has dual sim capability, so I currently still have a Google Fi e-sim on my phone that I intended to reactive service on later this month for an upcoming international trip in order to have high-speed data access. I’m thrilled to get 5GB for free as I would ordinarily be paying $10 per gigabyte with Google Fi.
Those who are on other Magenta plans, most business plans, and equivalent Sprint plans also get 5GB of free international high-speed data, but only in the following 11 countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. That’s obviously fairly limited, though still a nice benefit if you’ll be traveling in any of those countries.
Free full-flight in-flight WiFi
T-Mobile also announced that Magenta Max customers will soon get free full-flight Wi-Fi on Delta, Alaska, and American Airlines flights (with the service launching on select flights starting June 21st) and eventually on United as well. Notable here is that they say this will include speeds capable of streaming live TV or from popular apps where available.
Other Magenta plans, Business Unlimited Advanced, and equivalent Sprint plans will get free full-flight WiFi on four flights per year and then 1 free hour on all other flights. You get to choose which flights get full-flight Wi-Fi, so you don’t have to worry about wasting your full-flight access on a short flight if you don’t want to.
“AAA on us” and a T-Mobile travel booking portal
Finally, T-Mobile announced that they will be offering a free year of AAA membership for one household member through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app starting on June 21st. This works similar to other “on us” services T-Mobile has offered such as Paramount+, AppleTV+, MLB.tv and Netflix (though while Netflix has been continuous, the others have been 1 free year and AAA access will also be one free year).
This could be a good add if you haven’t previously had access to discounted hotel rates. I typically find the AAA rate to match the advance purchase rate at many hotels but without the advance purchase requirement. I’ve occasionally found a real steal — I stayed at a property in Zurich a couple of years ago where the AAA rate took about a third off of the price.
Additionally, T-Mobile has launched a travel book portal at tmobiletravel.com. The landing page brands it as being “with Priceline”. Fine print at the bottom notes that the portal is powered by Rocket Travel (which is owned by Priceline). Either way, I wouldn’t expect hotel bookings made through T-Mobile to be eligible for hotel points or elite credit, but perhaps you’ll score a discount. You do need to verify a T-Mobile phone number (with text message verification) to run a search. I glanced at rental car rates and found some prices that appeared decent, though discounts were advertised in the 8-9% range, so don’t expect huge savings. I’ll take a look at some upcoming bookings to see if T-Mobile Travel can save me any money, but my expectations there are low.
Bottom line
These are great improvements coming from T-Mobile. Those on the Magenta Max plan have already made out well with good phone promotions and a solid plan if you need its features and/or took advantage of all of those free line promotions we reported during the pandemic. Getting 5GB of free data overseas is going to make things simple: just land, turn on the phone, and have high-speed data and free texting. That won’t be different than it was with Google Fi — except now I can keep my $10 per GB :-).
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I have always had unlimited Wifi on flights with GoGo with my old T-Mobile One Internationial
I had that, too. I switched to Magenta Max when it came out because it was cheaper than what I was paying with the International add-on (which I think was costing me $25 per month per line — I wasn’t paying for it for the international stuff but rather for unlimited hotspot). Anyway, my Magenta Max bill was less from when they launched it and then my bill dropped even more with the 20% Insider discount this past spring. So I’m glad to get unlimited WiFi back.
And actually, it’s worth noting here that this doesn’t seem limited to flights with GoGo since I don’t think American or Delta use GoGo.
How do you get unlimited hotspot on Magenta Max?
I cannot tell either from TMo’s announcements or from looking at my account online – which plan I am on, nor what to expect. I have a grandfathered plan that appears to be called One Plus (based on looking at my account online.) That says I am supposed to be getting one hour of Gogo inflight on each flight – except that I have been getting unlimited Gogo. Will I be keeping that? Or will I be limited to four flights a year, which would be a downgrade? I don’t think AA uses Gogo, so will that be an addition? It’s hard to figure out!
Don’t forget that T-Mobile is also increasing basic international data roaming from 128 kbps to 256 kbps.
Your post is much clearer and easier to understand than T-Mobiles own website, particularly the benefits of Magenta vs Magenta Max. Much appreciated
I still love my grandfathered plan(bundled with corporate discount) on Tmo – 10 lines with unlimmited internet for $120 per month total. Definitely the cheapest of them all
Too bad T-Mobile is so aggressive about shutting down people who travel out of the country for too long. I just switched away from them because of it.
TM’s terms and conditions say that one must have a majority of use in the United States . . . so, less than 50 percent outside the United States. This is a general residency measure and most carriers impose a similar requirement. A friend who *lives* in France full-time was able to keep her Google Fi voice and texting but her data was shut down. I wonder if TM would do the same.
Are there data points that suggest that 40 percent non-US triggers a shutdown? 30 percent? If there is a lower shutdown threshold, it might be problematic for those who are clearly US residents that travel a lot. Hmmm.
I purchased the 50G international high speed data plan and it worked great in Jordan and Qatar
For people with one line, Circledin has Magenta Max plans for $40 a month + $5 subscription fee. Might be worth it over Google Fi with all the freebies T-Mobile throws in.
Nick, to clarify, what cell service are you using when you are in the US? And, with this T Mobile change, are you discontinuing use of Google Fi when outside the US? Thanks.
Don’t forget . . . both active duty military and veterans get Magenta plans for 50 percent off if they certify their status within 45 days of starting T-Mobile service.
The win here is the airline wifi. GoogleFi has much, much higher data throttle caps and is more seamless on the ground away from the USA. I have T-mobile home internet so I’m not a T-mobile hater but it’s all a trade-off. Personally, I’m sticking with Google Fi for my international phone service right now. It’s just been too good compared to other vendors in this space.
For people who this doesn’t make sense for, Airalo is a good option that I’ve used. It lets you install an e-sim as your second sim card so you can use the e-sim for your data but still keep your regular phone number. They’ve got country specific ones, regional ones (like Europe), and worldwide ones.
I do love my T-Mobile, but they seem to be giving a ton of stuff away. You won’t ever see AT&T or Verizon giving anything anyway for free.
To be clear, I am grateful for these extras that T-Mobile are providing. Thanks.
Did they apply the -$20/mo for TMHI automatically for you?
Did you try and claim a phone for $50 streaming credit per chance? That was my plan with their extremely vague t&c. I mean phones stream video right?
Those 11 countries are T-Mobile countries, hence they can provide free data.