If you’ve ever wondered about using an eSIM for your travels instead of a physical SIM card, or are looking for a chapter alternative to your international cell phone plan; here are the eSIM pros and cons you NEED to know! Including a review of my FAVORITE eSIM apps!

I’ve traveled to 45+ countries and looking back on it; I’m not sure how I EVER traveled without an eSIM! It has been a complete game changer for me, especially as a solo traveler. In this blog post, I’m going over all of the eSIM pros and cons to help YOU decide if an eSIM is right for you (although imo I do think you absolutely NEED an eSIM for your travels!).

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An eSIM is a digital SIM card that allows you to connect to a mobile network without installing a physical SIM card. Some eSIMS come with a phone number; while others use your existing phone number. Depending on the eSIM plan as well your eSIM could include just data OR includes data + calling. Generally, you select an eSIM for the country or region you are traveling to, and pick a plan such as 2 GB for 7 days, 3GB for 30 days, or similar.

Every phone comes with a physical SIM card keyed into your country’s mobile networks. Traditionally when you traveled abroad, you’d need to purchase a local physical SIM card that you’d swap into your phone in order to access data or calling services. This physical SIM card would have a new number and would allow you to use your phone in a new country by using local mobile networks. 

In comparison, an eSIM can be keyed into one or multiple countries, and it does not generally affect your home phone plan either; you can have an eSIM and your phone’s native physical SIM operating at the same time.

Yes, many do! My favorite eSIM app for short trips, Airalo, and my favorite eSIM for longer trips, HolaFly, do in fact have US plans in addition to their international plans! The main difference between Airalo and HolaFly is is Airalo has cheaper, data-only plans, while HolaFly is more expensive but has unlimited data plans.

If you want to try them out – use code “REBECCA3” for $3 off your first Airalo eSIM or if you want to give HolaFly a try, use code “ROAMFREEREBECCA” for 5% off any plan!

eSIMs, compared to most US cellular international plans, are WILDLY affordable. For example, I might only pay $10 for 2 GB of data for an entire WEEK in a country versus $10 per DAY on my international plan. 

eSIMs are incredibly convenient as well; saving you from having to hunt down and install a physical SIM card, and I love that you can even get it setup so that the SECOND you land in a new country you already have data ready to go which is one of my favorite features of using an eSIM!

They also take up zero physical space and allow you to maintain usage of your phone’s physical SIM card as well – it’s just a matter of swapping data usage between the two (on my iPhone, it is literally just one click to switch!). Additionally, some phones allow you to have up to five eSIM profiles! Since the eSIM is digital as well, there’s no risk of it getting damaged like a physical SIM card that can get lost, bent, scratched, or broken.

For solo travelers like me, eSIMs are instrumental in solo travel safety; being able to stay connected to family and friends for check-ins, being able to quickly look up the answer to a question, get something translated, order a taxi, and check my location on Google maps are all huge benefits. I also do a lot of outdoor travel adventures like hiking too, and being able to use AllTrails makes it so I’m never lost on a trail. I cannot recommend eSIMs enough for solo travelers!

A final pro; some eSIMs like Airalo do in fact support personal hotspots, which can be key for anyone traveling with a laptop, iPad, or e-reader like a Kindle. eSIMs are generally safe & secure as well; but I do recommend always pairing your eSIM with a VPN service like Surfshark for added security.

eSIMs can sometimes be finicky for no apparent reason; although of the 22+ countries I’ve traveled to in the last year using my Airalo eSIMs, I only had trouble in one country. I had to contact support and eventually we got it working, and the customer service team even comped me the price of the eSIM. Depending on your phone as well, there might be limited eSIM compatibility. To get your eSIM activated, you also need a stable internet connection; so I recommend getting it setup at HOME before you leave, as you can’t always depend on a country’s airport Wifi to be available or stable.

If you are visiting a remote or lesser-touristed country, there may NOT be an eSIM available for your country at all. Which is another thing I love about using Airalo – is that they offer eSIM plans in over 200 countries & regions. My favorite hack during a part of my world travel year was purchasing the Europe REGIONAL eSIM with HolaFly instead of individual European countries, making it easy to bounce between countries and not lose a second of connection.

To try either of these eSIM apps out:

• You can use code “REBECCA3” for $3 off your first Airalo eSIM
• Or if you want to give HolaFly a try, use code “ROAMFREEREBECCA” for 5% off any plan!

If you change devices, a big con of eSIMs is that you likely cannot transfer over your eSIM. Similarly, you need to be careful about deleting eSIMs because once you delete them, they are GONE forever and you no longer have access to the data.

You also generally have LIMITED data on an eSIM; which means when you run out you either need to top-off or buy a new plan. In comparison, many major US cellular international plans are expensive per day BUT are usually offer UNLIMITED data during that 24 hour period of usage. So if you are a digital nomad and use your phone as a mobile hotspot for your computer, you might want to consider a monthly international plan with your home cellular provider instead of using an eSIM.

The most important tip for using an eSIM is to make sure your phone is UNLOCKED and able to use an eSIM. For most major cell phone carriers, a recently purchased phone is locked for 60 days from the date of purchase. After this period, the lock is automatically removed unless the device is flagged, and only then will you be able to install an eSIM. You will also need to check your specific phone; older phone models might not be eSIM compatible.

The next important thing to factor in is whether you only need data or whether you’d prefer to have data + cellular (to be able to make phone calls). For me personally, 99% of the time I can get by with just using data. I use FaceTime, WhatsApp, or Google to make phone calls so that calls are made using only data. For emergencies, I keep my native SIM turned on and use that to make phone calls if needed. For MANY countries, I’ve found that businesses, tours, and hotels all use Whatsapp so I’ve been able to just “text” companies I need to get in contact with and rarely need to actually make a phone call.

If I do end up making a phone call, it’s on my home cellular international plan and I’m charged $10/day that I use my native cellular plan; so having this as a backup option for me is ideal and worth the price as I rarely make calls.

With most modern phones and cellular providers, you can turn on or purchase an international plan that will allow your phone to be used abroad with the same number, and would just be priced differently than your home plan. These are often charged as a set per day that is only charged per each 24 hour cycle that you access data or cellular services like phone calls, or as a monthly plan. 

The pros to this option is that once you have your international plan activated, it’s generally good to go in most countries, and you have no other setups to go through. The cons are that this option is usually quite expensive compared to eSIMs.

Your next alternative is to purchase a local, physical SIM at the country you are visiting. The pros of this is that these are easy to transfer between devices and have widespread compatibility. The cons of this is taking up physical space, and the inconvenience of installation and potential of damage.

From EXTENSIVE testing around the world, I would pick Airalo as the best eSIM , which I use on my iPhone and is super affordable & perfect for shorter, 1-2 country trips. If you want to try it out for yourself on your next trip, you can use code “REBECCA3” at checkout to save $3 off your first eSIM with Airalo. 

My favorite features of Airalo are the ease of setup, the ability to have data the SECOND you land in a new country, the customer service support, and that they offer coverage in 200+ countries & regions, which is WAY more than most eSIM apps – which was super important to me as a full-time world traveler!

I’ve used Airalo in over 20+ countries and regions at this point, so I definitely have had ample time to try out their eSIMs and put them to the test. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by just how much service I have in remote areas too.

The downside to Airalo is keeping track of data and worrying about running out and having to top off at a time I don’t have wifi – so I gave HolaFly a try on a more recent trip, and it’s one of those things where once you go HolaFly you won’t want to use any other eSIM app due to its UNLIMITED data plans!

So if you have a longer trip – global, regional, or just don’t want to worry about data usage at all, I’d 100% recommend HolaFly as my new favorite eSIM. To try out HolaFly, use code “ROAMFREEREBECCA” for 5% off any data plan!

To try either of these eSIM apps out:

• You can use code “REBECCA3” for $3 off your first Airalo eSIM
• Or if you want to give HolaFly a try, use code “ROAMFREEREBECCA” for 5% off any plan!

To get your Airalo eSIM setup, download the app, and search for your country (e.g. Italy) or region (e.g. Europe). From there, scroll through the plans available and select what is best for you for both timing & amount of data. Hit “BUY NOW” and enter your card information (and remember, you can use code “REBECCA3” at checkout to save $3 off your first eSIM!). Next is just following the easy instructions in app; which is usually just activating the eSIM and selecting which sim (the eSIM vs your physical phone SIM) will be used for data vs calling (and iMessage if you’re using an iPhone).

From there, you just jump over to your phone settings and under cellular, choose to use the new eSIM to be used for cellular data. At this point, I’d recommend turning your native physical SIM data roaming OFF and turning ON your new eSIM and jumping into the eSIM settings to turn data roaming ON for the eSIM.

Once you’re home, all you have to do is do these steps in reverse! Turn the eSIM OFF and turn your native, physical SIM data roaming ON, then select your physical SIM card as the source of your cellular data.

Tip: for each new eSIM, I’d recommend changing its name to the country you’re using it for, and making sure you NEVER delete or change the name of your physical SIM (usually called “Primary”). This way, when you add a new eSIM, you’ll know exactly which eSIMs need to be deleted versus turned on, and you can keep track of your original, physical SIM so nothing happens to it.

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