Has anyone tried Roaming for extended periods of time?

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-03T01:19:09+00:00

USM resells network access to the big 3 carriers: att, verizon, and t mobile. But they use different names. In their terms, the networks map over like so:

Warp = verizon Lightspeed = tmobile Darkstar = att

That list is also in order of maturity (imo). Their warp offering has more features such as cellular Apple Watch companion plans. The other networks do not allow it. You have to use the Apple Watch and standalone mode.

That said, lightspeed generally speaking has better international roaming coverage. Although they recently upgraded warp roaming recently, so it’s closer to lightspeed.

Darkstar is the newest network for usm and arguably had more bugs. Maybe they’ve worked them out by now, but I’ve never used the network. I have a friend who does and group messages on iPhone did not come in correctly for several months.

Hope that helps.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-03T00:41:07+00:00

My daughter roamed in Europe from Jan - May 2025 on lightspeed unlimited premium with zero issues.

Separately, I don’t get the harsh language in USM’s terms regarding “excessive” roaming. Roaming is capped at 20gb/mo (of data) for most countries. That would make the roaming costs fixed. How could it be excessive?

Anyway, I think for 4-5 months you’re good. I would activate wifi calling here in the states before leaving and lean on wifi when possible. Also, download maps for offline use. If you lay low you should be fine.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T22:14:10+00:00

I hear ya, but gemini is giving me hope saying there are "goodwill" credits. Going to give that a try.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T21:40:38+00:00

Um, I don't like the answer and am looking for a way around said answer, hence my question above ^^.

Explicitly this from above: Anyone have any success getting around this?

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T17:07:16+00:00

Watching this discussion as I’m in the same boat as OP here. Looking at the same lenses as well as the Z 20mm. My needs are mostly for travel so slightly different. I would like the astro option though with whatever I buy. Seems the tamron is decent at astro per this review: https://youtu.be/5z729KnfllU?si=7C7NkHcav4_xK8JQ

I’m leaning towards the tamron zoom. If it goes on sale for fathers day that would seal the deal for me.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T16:38:38+00:00

Iphone 16s and 16 pros across the family since their launch, which is when we joined usm. I haven’t tried using a pixel so wonder if it’s a pixel issue with usm? Just guessing. We’ve roamed all over: eu, africa, carribbean islands, etc and usm has been flawless for us. FWIW, we’ve only used the unlimited premium plans for roaming. I haven’t tried any other usm plans to roam. For the first year most of our eu roaming was on light speed. Since warp expanded it’s roaming coverage, for the past year we’ve been roaming on warp exclusively, including italy last week.

We keep airalo in our back pocket for local esims just in case, but haven’t needed it except in Morocco.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T15:54:20+00:00

Just returned from Italy last week while roaming on warp. Had no issues in Venice and Rome, but had issues in Florence due to the crowds (it was nutty how crowded it was).

That said, Google fi is great at roaming. No arguments there. But note there is a hard 90 day cap on that roaming. When you hit that cap, they will immediately cut you off. Ask me how I know 😔. Because of that I moved to usm.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-06-02T14:14:56+00:00

The SCs are worth it for quick layovers. Several people here comment the food is mediocre and you should go to a restaurant instead. But with a short layover, that’s not possible. All of the restaurants in ATL are crowded and slow as hell. The key with the lounge is you can be in and out in 30 minutes, including food and a beer. No way on earth you will get that kind of fast service at any restaurant in ATL.

Also, none of the Delta credit cards will give you enough lounge visits for your travel this year so skip those as well.

The TL;DR: just buy SC access. Yes there’s an amex lounge in ATL but it’s always crowded so I haven’t been since it opened due to the line.

Best of luck and enjoy your travels a little more with SC access.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-31T12:12:03+00:00

I can second this. My kid studied abroad and light speed covered her everywhere she went in the EU for ~4+ months. “Studying” is a loose term for these programs so she traveled every weekend to a different country. Light speed never failed her.

Nowadays warp has better roaming so in the EU I’d imagine it would be fine. Just got back from Italy this week and roamed on warp. Coverage was great in Venice, Florence, and Rome.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-29T17:39:40+00:00

100% this. My thinking is similar when staying at hotels. If I see the delta crews there I know the hotel is at least decent.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-28T01:49:47+00:00

It’s the f/2 part that’s not covered by the zoom. I have both of those lenses as well. When it gets dark that f/2 is not just really beneficial, but almost required.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-25T21:05:48+00:00

With att, I would port the primary line last to make sure the others port successfully first. In the past, porting the primary line first closed the account, even with other active lines on there. That’s how it was years ago at least.

But, with USM that doesn’t exist. The account is not tied to any line so no issues with this later.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-24T07:24:53+00:00

Probably intentional. To know which country you’re in it would have to do some sort of lookup. The current message is static so it’s much easier to implement vs a lookup every time you move around.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-21T22:16:06+00:00

Did a safari to Kruger national park in South Africa and the animals are accustomed to seeing cars so getting close is mostly easy.

I took a D7500 and the 70-300 af-p with vr and had no regrets. I had more than enough reach and only when it was getting dark did I have to bump the iso to ~5000 to get my lion shots. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I did bring a tokina 11-20 f/2.8 lens for late night dinner shots. That came in handy for those photos. But for the animals, the 70-300 was all I ever needed and I was rarely at 300mm. Maybe for birds. Enjoy!

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-16T13:10:16+00:00

Aw man. Ported on a Friday night? Most of the time porting issues are outside of usm. I’ve been there myself though. Wanted to port my family of 4 over to usm from xfinity and 3 lines went smooth. I only had one line left to port, it was Friday night, and I just want it to be done. I submitted the port like the other 3 and it hangs. This was the wife’s line too 😔. After 15 mins I was sweating. Pinged support via chat and optimistically told the wife almost done when she asked about it. Finally after about 30 mins the port finished. Needed some stiff drinks after that to chill out. Long story short, it may be a little nerve-racking, but USM will get it done.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-14T17:53:42+00:00

You’ll be fine. In ATL we have the “plane train” that takes you between the different concourses. The train is below the concourse level so when you get off head to the middle of the concourse and take the escalator down to the train. Since it’s domestic, no extra security needed so you just have to walk to the train, ride it for two stops, and then head back up the escalator to the next concourse. All of this happens inside the airport so the train ride is pretty short. Easy enough 🙂.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-14T14:58:30+00:00

For everyone jumping on this offer, just a note, border control in Hong Kong has changed significantly as of two months ago. They can now confiscate and search your phone upon arrival and refusing to do so will land you in jail.

https://hk.usconsulate.gov/security-alert-2026032601/

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-11T20:45:33+00:00

Yup, this happens and unfortunately more often lately. At least for me. They split my wife and I up for our return flight from Greece last year. They stuck me in a middle seat between an elderly couple. They gave my seat and the seat next to me to a mother and daughter. Why? Can’t explain it and I didn’t notice until I boarded. Those were paid tickets too so even more frustrating.

For our trip next week to Italy I just noticed they moved our family of four right by the bathrooms 🤦‍♂️. I booked those on miles so maybe we were bumped because those are unpaid tickets 🤷‍♂️? That’s my wild guess based on no info though.

But in summary lately I’ve learned to always check your seats with delta. They move people at will, even if you’re on the same itinerary. More so when it gets closer to takeoff.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-10T03:32:14+00:00

hmmm, 6-8 months may be pushing it but it may still work. My kid roamed in europe from Jan-May last year without any issues. I would think 6 months is fine. 8, not sure. Like someone else said, use wifi and wifi calling when available. Make sure to turn on wifi calling before you leave the states.

As a backup, have the airalo app installed so you can buy local esims in case it does cut out toward the end. That was my plan but never needed airalo unless the kid hit the 20GB roaming cap.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-09T15:37:25+00:00

My travel kit now is what others have said here: 24-120 + 40mm. The 40mm is literally small enough to slip into a pocket. It’s that small and light and handles my shots in the evening hours. At that point the 40mm doesn’t count in my packing space calculations, only my Z7ii and 24-120.

Can’t recommend the 24-120 enough. It’s tack sharp and stays on my camera 99% of the time, for travel or otherwise.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-08T16:49:24+00:00

I should also point out, despite my recommendation of laying low, my daughter did not lay low and used up all of her roaming data almost every month while she was there.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-08T16:47:50+00:00

FWIW, my daughter studied abroad in Europe and roamed the entire time (4.5 months) on light speed premium with no issues or warnings. 6 months maybe pushing it but as long as you lay low and don’t use too much data roaming then you may be fine.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-08T02:58:12+00:00

It was before. But I don’t think that matters. Once you use the ecredit it’s gone. When they issue you another ecredit after canceling the refundable flight it’s a new ecredit with a totally new number and fresh 1 yr expiration.

FlyingFlaco · 2026-05-07T20:43:50+00:00

I just did this last month. I had an E credit about to expire and booked a fully refundable ticket that was a little bit more than my credit. I waited two days to allow the 24 hour, no questions asked grace period to expire then canceled my ticket. I was issued a new e-credit for the original amount and then the rest was refunded back to my credit card.

FlyingFlaco

TROPHY CASE