Why You Should Use an ESIM Card the Next Time You Travel
When traveling to a new country, many of us buy a SIM card as soon as we land, but this often turns into a disappointment. You must find a kiosk, provide the necessary documents, pay, and then wait for activation. What if you could forego all this charade and get instant local connectivity and reasonable rates instead? Get in, travel eSIM.
What is a travel eSIM?
The “e” in eSIM stands for “embedded”. Many of the latest flagship smartphones come with a built-in e-SIM. Every iPhone from the iPhone XR and every Pixel from the Pixel 2 support this, as do many Samsung phones. (You can check this list of eSIM-enabled devices to see if your smartphone supports this feature.)
And because it’s an embedded SIM, no physical SIM is required to access the carrier’s network. All this can be organized using the built-in software (provided that the telecom operator supports eSIM). This means you can connect to a new network and use it as your data connection while still receiving calls to your primary number.
How to get an eSIM for international travel
There is no physical SIM card, so all you need is the app and you need to follow the instructions to add an eSIM connection to your phone (the app of your choice will guide you through this process, and since this process can be a little tricky, we suggest you follow the instructions carefully).
Several apps and services support this feature, including Holafly , Airalo , OneSimCard , and Surfroam . Fees and support network will depend on which service you are using and which country you are traveling to.
Airalo, for example, operates in over 190 countries and has decent data charges. For example, you can get a 1 GB data pack for Turkey for $5 and a 10 GB data pack for $18, both valid for one month.
Here’s how it works on Airalo: you sign up for an account, choose a country and data pack, and then buy a data pack first (it’s a prepaid card, making it easy to keep track of data usage, and no sticker shock at the end). ). You will then see instructions on how to add the country-specific Airalo eSIM to your phone, depending on whether you have an iPhone or Android.
Once enabled, you can rename the eSIM connection to make it easier to discover. You can also use both connections at the same time (although this will drain your battery faster). You can also track your app’s data usage. eSIM can be disabled manually in your phone settings.
Now that the setup is complete, make sure you turn off the data connection on your primary SIM while traveling. If you run out of data, you can return to the app to purchase an additional data pack.
[ Jeremy Burge ]