This app lets you avoid big roaming fees and physical SIM cards.
Smartphones help streamline our travels, giving us instant access to everything from rideshare apps to online bank transfers, restaurant reservations to maps, hotel bookings to DIY tours.
But for all that to happen, you need coverage. It used to be your only choices were finding WiFi, high roaming bills, or buying a local prepaid SIM card.
Now there’s a better way: eSIM cards; that is, digital SIM cards that make it both easier and more affordable to stay connected when you travel.
Where can you buy e-SIMs? Airalo, “the world’s first eSIM store that solves the pain of high roaming bills by giving you access to 200+ eSIMs globally at affordable rates.” As well as offering data-only local and regional eSIMs in Asia, North America, Africa, and Europe, the company also sells global eSIMs, which can be used in 84 countries during a certain period of time.
Traveling to more than one country? No problem. You can buy multiple eSIMs and activate them as necessary via the app. And customer support is available in a variety of languages.
A friend from Belgium tried it out on a recent trip to Los Angeles. Here’s how it went.
Before she left on her trip, she downloaded the Airalo app and purchased a data package for $US11, which included 3GB to be used within 15 days of purchase.
Note: Here are Airalo’s current US SIM packages:
USA (Applies to all 50 states + Puerto Rico)
7 Days for 1 GB Data – $4.50
15 Days for 2 GB Data – $8.00
30 Days for 3 GB Data – $11.00
30 Days for 5 GB Data – $16.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – $26.00
30 Days for 20 GB Data – $42.00
Features:
Data Only
AT&T and T-Mobile LTE Network
The app guided her through the step-by-step activation process. She’s fluent in tech, but it still took a good 30 minutes to work it all out. (There was quite a bit of fiddling about with the settings in her phone, creating up a new “Travel” SIM in “Mobile Data” and ensuring the right “lines” are turned on/off, so that her phone knew to use the new eSIM line rather than her “Primary” one. She could still receive i-Message texts to her Belgium phone number, but mobile data and roaming for that number was turned off.
After landing in LA, she turned on the service. It connected immediately to the T-Mobile network and she had no trouble ordering an Uber for pickup from the airport. For the rest of her trip, she really appreciated having internet on her phone (rather than having to chance WiFi), including being able to use Google Maps when she was driving her rental car. She said there were a couple of occasions where she would have liked to make a phone call, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker.
Note: While eSIMs are data-only, you can make phone calls via messaging apps like Signal, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.
She topped up with another 7-day package towards the end of her stay, ending up paying around $US19 for a nine-day trip (whereas if she had turned on roaming, she would have paid €90).
The savings work the other way, too. Here’s a sampling (all prices in $USD):
Canada
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 7.50
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 17.50
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 25.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 36.00
Features:
Data Only
Rogers LTE Network
Italy
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 4.50
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 7.00
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 10.50
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 16.00
Features:
Data Only
Vodafone, Telecom Italia, and Wind Tre LTE Network
Portugal
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 4.50
15 Days for 30 GB Data (MEO 5G)- 15.00
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 7.00
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 10.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 17.00
Features:
Data Only
NOS (Optimus) 4G Network / MEO 5G Network
France
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 5.00
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 10.00
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 15.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 22.50
Features:
Data Only
Orange, Bouygues, and SFR LTE Network
United Kingdom
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 5.00
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 10.00
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 15.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 22.50
Features:
Data Only
O2-UK LTE Network
Spain
7 Days for 1 GB Data – 4.50
30 Days for 3 GB Data – 7.50
30 Days for 5 GB Data – 12.00
30 Days for 10 GB Data – 18.00
Features:
Data Only
Movistar LTE Network
Note: Some devices do not support eSIMs, including older version iPhones. Make sure to check Airalo’s eSIM phone compatibility guide before you buy.
Twist’s Take: eSIM: If you’re going overseas, don’t leave home without it.
