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You come home from vacation. You鈥檙e relaxed. You鈥檙e refreshed. Then you check聽your cell phone bill to find聽$800 due, and you wonder whether聽your cab is still outside. You know, so it can run you over.

International roaming聽rates are nothing to mess around with, so it鈥檚 important to know what you鈥檙e on the hook for before you travel abroad. We鈥檝e surveyed the mobile landscape and picked out the carriers and plans that are most friendly to frequent out-of-country travelers.

While there are some good options from U.S.-based carriers right now (much better than in the past), it鈥檚 always worth your time to research carriers in your destination country, especially if you want high-speed data access.

Buying a cheap prepaid phone when you get off the plane can often be much more cost-effective than using your usual plan abroad.聽Or, you can call your carrier and ask whether聽your phone is compatible with international SIM cards. If so,聽you can buy a prepaid SIM in your destination country and simply pop it into your phone for access to the local network.

Best postpaid international roaming plans

, T-Mobile鈥檚 is where it鈥檚 at. Included with every Simple Choice plan is unlimited texting and 2G data in more than 140 countries. Talk is only 20 cents a minute, a relative bargain compared with聽other international voice聽rates. If you can鈥檛 go without high-speed聽data for the trip, T-Mobile offers three tiers of high-speed data packs:

• Single-day pass: $15 for 100MB
• One-week聽pass: $25 for 200MB
• Two-week pass:聽$50 for 500MB

In Mexico and Canada, you get access to your monthly 4G LTE data allotment, plus unlimited talk and text, all included with your plan. No other carrier comes close to beating that.

If you plan on traveling to South America often, Open World international add-on 鈥� which you can sign up for at no charge 鈥� is worth a look. Except for Cuba, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, Sprint allows unlimited talk and text in North and South America, plus gives you 1GB of 3G聽data 鈥� all for free. After you use that data, Sprint charges $30 per GB, a relatively good price for data abroad, especially since you鈥檙e only charged for the data you actually use.

Sprint offers competitive rates : 20 cents per minute to talk, unlimited texting and a $30-per-GB data rate.

• T-Mobile Simple Choice International Roaming
• Price: Included with any Simple Choice plan (starts at $50/month)
• At a glance: Unlimited text and 2G data in over 140 countries, calls are 20 cents/min
• Why we like it: You鈥檒l hardly ever have to worry about international roaming rates

• Sprint Open World
• Price: Available for free to anyone on Sprint (plans start at $40/month)
• At a glance: Unlimited talk and text in most of North and South America, with 1GB of high-speed data; competitive rates elsewhere
• Why we like it: Offers free high-speed data in most of North and South America

Things to Know

• T-Mobile: You have the potential to get 4G LTE in Mexico and Canada, but it鈥檚 not guaranteed everywhere. Wi-Fi calls back to the U.S., Canada and Mexico are free from included countries. Wi-Fi calls between included countries are charged at the same rate as mobile talk, 20 cents per minute.
• Sprint: The actual speed of the promised 1GB 鈥渉igh-speed data鈥� depends on the country and location. Sprint only promises up to 3G speeds, not 4G LTE.

How They Compare

• • : $10 for every day you use your phone outside of the country. (In Mexico and Canada, it鈥檚 just $2 a day per line.) You keep your Verizon talk, text and data allowances with you. This means possible 4G LTE data speeds (depending on the country), but you could be paying $140 if you use your phone every day during a two-week trip. If you don鈥檛 plan on using your phone daily, Verizon could be worthwhile. . (Verizon also offers monthly and pay-as-you-go international roaming prices.)
  • : The basic international plan costs an extra $30 per month for unlimited texting, $1-per-minute talk rates, and 120MB of 2G data (25 cents per MB afterward). .

Best prepaid international roaming plans

Only two prepaid carriers allow international roaming beyond North America: Google鈥檚 Project Fi and Metro PCS.

Until recently, Project Fi was聽invite-only but聽is now open to anyone. If you can live with some of its restrictions (like offering only three kinds of phones), Google鈥檚 unconventional mobile service can actually get you great international roaming rates in over 120 countries, especially on data. While abroad with Project Fi, you get up to 3G data speeds (depending on the country) at a rate of $10 per GB, plus unlimited texts. You鈥檒l be charged only for the data you use, with no overage fees. Voice rates in聽聽are 20 cents per minute and can be even cheaper over Wi-Fi.

Metro PCS鈥櫬� has a聽good bit of South America covered, plus Mexico, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Japan and Thailand. World Calling costs $10 extra per month and gets you 200 minutes of talk, 200 text messages to send (unlimited received) and 200MB of data while you鈥檙e in those countries.

• Project Fi International Roaming
• Price: Included with $20/month base plan
• At a glance: Unlimited texting and relatively cheap voice calls in 120+ countries, 3G data at $10/GB
• Why we like it: No one else offers such a great price on 3G data speeds abroad

• Metro PCS World Calling
• Price: $10/month on top of a required $50 or $60/month base plan
• At a glance: 200 minutes of talk, 200 texts and 200MB of data in select countries
• Why we like it: The only traditional prepaid carrier to offer international roaming outside of North America

Things to Know

• Project Fi: You鈥檒l have only three phone options: the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6. Stateside, Project Fi uses a combination of 厂辫谤颈苍迟鈥檚 network and T-Mobile鈥檚, plus public Wi-Fi when available.
• : It also offers Canada Unlimited service and Mexico Unlimited service, each at $5 per month. You get unlimited texts and calls within either Mexico or聽Canada, plus access to as much data as your Metro PCS plan allows, although you鈥檙e not guaranteed 4G LTE speeds while outside of the U.S.

This article first appeared at .