The second advantage is that you’ll be immediately connected. With an eSIM, everything is done online and you can get connected instantly wherever you are. With a physical SIM, you need to actually go into a store when you arrive in a destination to buy it, which can be a hassle and takes away precious time from your trip. The first advantage of an eSIM is the convenience. There are definitely many advantages to using an eSIM, which is why I do it most of the time now.īut there are also some disadvantages that you need to consider, because the best eSIM for international travel for one person might not be the best for you. The invention of the eSIM – up there with the inventions of the wheel and fire, in the eyes of this regular traveller – has made my time overseas so incredibly simple. But most of them just offer data at the moment, and they’re the ones I’m going to concentrate on in this article about the best eSIMs for international travel. You can get eSIMS that include phone calls and text, completely replacing the need for any kind of physical SIM. Most modern phones now support eSIMs – and, in fact, there are iPhone models that are eSIM-only!īut it’s still worth checking if your device supports eSIMs and you can do that on this list of supported devices. The first phones to use eSIMs were released in 2018 and they have slowly grown in popularity since then.
Travel thoughts ph code#
Normally you’ll get a QR code or some kind of other link that lets you do it all automatically in just a few seconds.Īll you have to do is go to an online retailer, choose the best eSIM plan for your circumstances (and buy it), then click the link or scan the QR code that you’ll be sent with the receipt – and, bam, it’s all done and you should be connected! If the idea of ‘reprogramming’ sounds complicated, don’t worry, it’s easy. What you’re doing is buying a temporary contract with a service provider, and then quickly reprogramming this chip in your phone to connect to it, as if it was a physical SIM. So, what you’re doing when you ‘buy an eSIM’ is not actually buying any kind of card. That’s why you are able to use it to connect to different phone plans around the world without putting anything physical into your phone.
Unlike physical SIMs, which have certain information hard-coded into them, an eSIM can be reprogrammed with different information. What is an eSIM?Īlthough you may think the ‘e’ stands for ‘electronic’, eSIM is actually short for ’embedded SIM’ because that’s exactly what it is – a chip that is embedded into your phone.
Travel thoughts ph plus#
It’s this experience – plus lots of research into the latest eSIM plans – that I’m going to share, to help you arrange your phone date for your trip. But I have tried a few different providers, to get a sense of what is the best eSIM for international travel. That’s what I did – and I haven’t looked back. You can see its range of plans here.įor most travellers, there are definitely going to be some advantages to getting an eSIM, and I would recommend giving it a try if you haven’t used one before. If you just want the short answer, I think Airalo offers the best eSIM for international travel. But these days, most of the time, I now use an eSIM for international travel.
Well, I used to buy local SIM cards when I arrived in a new destination, and that’s still a decent option (which I’ll discuss shortly). So, what’s the best way to get data on your phone when you travel? Being able to find a bus timetable, get a restaurant recommendation, research a landmark I’m visiting – all of it enriches my days, keeps me safe, and introduces me to things I might otherwise have missed. While I still love the idea of distraction-free travel, having access to the internet on my phone has become such an important part of how I discover new destinations. Now, looking back on it, I don’t know how I survived. I managed to get away with that for about a year before I finally bought an iPhone.
I thought being disconnected from technology during the day would mean a better connection with the people and places I was exploring. Believe it or not, when I first started travelling full-time more than a decade ago, I didn’t even have a phone with me.Īfter feeling like I had been a slave to my BlackBerry (yes, I’m that old!) in my previous job, I wanted to roam the world without a constant digital distraction.
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