How to Use eSIM While Traveling Internationally

How to Use eSIM When Traveling

If you want to connect to a mobile network in the country where you are traveling, you will need either an international plan from your current cell phone provider or a local cell phone plan from the country abroad. One of these lets you text, call, and use data outside of WiFi zones, but you will be limited by the new cell phone plan, not your domestic one. 

Note: Your phone will function normally when it’s on WiFi. You should set up a way to call and text over WiFi, whether it is through the phone’s own services or downloaded apps. If you do not want to incur roaming charges from your domestic phone plan, we recommend keeping it on airplane mode for your stay, which will allow WiFi usage but keep your cellular data shut off. 

Using eSIM while traveling is easy! An eSIM phone plan is a great way to get started, and your phone’s eSIM card is likely able to support multiple accounts on the same device, letting you choose between using your current carrier’s international phone plans or picking up a plan from the travel destination. This section will outline how to use eSIM while traveling, touching on how your current carrier’s international roaming holds up to the purchase of an eSIM phone plan from the country itself. 

The Benefits of Traveling with eSIM

eSIM cell phone plans are great options while traveling abroad. Since eSIMs are downloaded on your device (often through a QR code), obtaining a new cell phone plan at the airport is easy after you land in the new place. While it varies by model, many new eSIM phones can store many eSIMs at once and operate at least two at a time. If you want to create a dual-SIM device, you can have one SIM keyed to your current domestic cell phone plans and the other eSIM for the place you are visiting. With a dual-SIM active device, you can operate both cell phone plans at the same time, using the new one for data when out and about and the old one whenever you are in your hotel on the WiFi network. If you have more than two, you can swap which ones are active through your phone’s settings. In the settings, you can also designate which eSIMs are active when you send messages, call, and use data. 

International Roaming With Your Current Carrier

Your current carrier may have international roaming as a part of your domestic plan as well as other packages that cost extra. International roaming with eSIM works the same as physical SIM roaming, and you can often use your phone’s normal functions abroad a few different ways. 

Almost all devices are compatible with networks in other countries. The downside of international roaming is that it is generally rather expensive. There are three main international plans, which are: 

• Pay-as-you-go add-ons charge you a flat fee for every text, call, and megabyte you use.
• There are international day passes that, for a daily fee, give you access to a set number of texts, minutes, and data on your time abroad. 
• There are monthly international plans that, for a monthly fee, add a lot of data, talk, and text to your international plan

The length of your trip and how much you plan on using your phone on international networks dictates which tier of the international plan is best for you. The above plans are listed, generally, in order of price. Pay-as-you-go plans have the unique possibility of being the cheapest option and the most expensive one. Pay-as-you-go is best for emergencies because the flat fees are pretty steep. The day passes give a lot of flexibility but cost $5 or $10 a day. Last on the list are monthly international plans, which vary from carrier to carrier but are generally quite expensive. These are good options for those who travel a lot each month.  

Last but not least are local plans from your destination, which is almost always rather cheaper than the international options listed above. 

Purchasing an eSIM From a Local Carrier During Your Travels

Purchasing an eSIM from a local carrier is a great way to get service on your travels. In order to add a new plan on your device, however, it needs to be unlocked from your current carrier. A locked phone (usually one that’s just been purchased or one you haven’t yet paid off) cannot add or switch carriers, so you can’t take advantage of another carrier on that phone. You can get a new phone, and there are lots of cheap smartphones on the market that are perfect for a month-long trip. 

If your phone is unlocked, however, you can activate dual SIM on your device and utilize the local carrier’s SIM for your talk, text, and data while on mobile networks while using your home number when on WiFi networks. 

Prepaid Data eSIM From an International Service Provider

Prepaid data plans are available worldwide and offer eSIM plans for travelers at just about every price point. You can peruse the options and purchase a plan that fits your data needs before you travel, and use a data-only eSIM as your secondary line on your trip. While the prepaid data eSIM will function on the country’s mobile network, your primary number will remain functioning for the duration. You can turn off cellular data if you wish or pay the fee for any texts and calls you receive outside of WiFi. 

The Best eSIM Phone Plans for Travelers

We hope that the previous section has clarified any questions you had regarding using eSIM while traveling. This section will cover some of the best eSIM phone plans for travelers, excluding those available locally in your destination. Find a few plans from the countries where you are traveling to and compare them with these options to decide which is best for you. None of the domestic options are so good that we recommend switching phone plans for their international options, but if you are going to switch plans soon regardless, picking from one of these five options keeps international phone plans on the table. 

• Verizon
• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• Google Fi
• Mint Mobile

Verizon International Phone Plans

Verizon offers a variety of international add-ons that give travelers options when going abroad. They offer a travel pass, a monthly travel plan, and some international roaming included in their unlimited plans. Verizon’s travel pass is $10 a day and gives users unlimited talk and text in over 200 countries. When you have the travel pass active, you will only be charged on days when you use it, giving you a great incentive to try your best to limit calling, texting, and data usage to WiFi zones. 

They also have an international plan, which adds $100 a month. This is a pretty serious expense, so we only recommend it for people who are spending the majority of the month out of the country. With this plan, you receive 20 GB of high-speed data, unlimited texts, and 250 minutes abroad each month. This is pretty expensive compared to the other companies on this list. 

Verizon’s pay-as-you-go rates are a great example of how roaming costs can get expensive, even more expensive than their $100 international plan. Their talk goes between $1 and $3 a minute depending on the country, sent texts are $.50 a text, and data is $2 per MB. These options are nice if you are already a Verizon customer, but we believe some of the other international plans offer better value than what’s offered here. 

AT&T International Phone Plans

AT&T also has an international day pass that comes in at $10 a day. Their pass is pretty nice. While $10 is pricey, it gives you unlimited high-speed data, calling, and texting during that day. It only charges you for days when you use it, just like Verizon, but you have to be careful if you don’t want to pay for that day. International day passes like these are excellent for vacations, where you can spend a long weekend or a week, and, while you have a pretty significant bill at the end of it, it lets you use your phone like you would in the United States. 

Their pay-as-you-go rates are almost exactly the same as Verizon’s. Considering their day pass is only $10 you would be hard-pressed to use your phone at all and incur pay-as-you-go rates of less than $10 during the day. If you are going abroad and plan on keeping your phone active, we recommend going with AT&T’s international phone plan instead of their pay-as-you-go rates. 

Every AT&T unlimited plan has unlimited talk, text, and data in North America, and AT&T’s unlimited premium plans have that same talk, text, and data in 19 other Latin American countries. In this case, the unlimited data they offer is high-speed data, ensuring that you can use the fastest speeds on the network, wherever you are. There are locations where the network speed is capped at slower speeds than what we experience in the United States, but no plan would give you faster speeds in that location. 

T-Mobile International Phone Plans

T-Mobile has robust international phone plans with unlimited data and texting in over 200 countries around the world. Calling is $.25 a minute, but this lets you enjoy free roaming almost everywhere you go. These international rates are superior to what Verizon and AT&T offer. Their Magenta plans offer 5 GB of high-speed data in 11 countries; otherwise, your roaming is relegated to around 256 Kbps. That’s pretty slow. You won’t be able to do any streaming or social media scrolling, but it is enough to operate the basic aspects of your phone. 

The tier above that is their Magenta MAX plan, which offers that same 5 GB of high-speed data in over 200 countries. Five gigabytes is not a lot, but when you are abroad it lets you use your phone normally for a few days of your trip, and since it comes with the plan it is way better than the offerings from other major wireless networks. 

T-Mobile also offers an international data pass which bolsters the high-speed data you can use abroad. Their international data passes come in three tiers.

• International 1-day pass: $5 a day. For that day, you receive unlimited calling and 512 MB of high-speed international data
• 5 GB International Pass: $35 for 10 days. During those days, you receive unlimited calling and can use up to 5 GB of high-speed international data. 
• 15 GB International Pass: $50 for 30 days. For the month, you receive unlimited calling and up to 15 GB of high-speed international data. 

These three options are great ways to tack on some extra data if you know that you are going to be in a place where you will use a lot during your trip. While we recommend working around your schedule to use as much WiFi data as you can abroad, getting one of these passes is a nice way to stock up on an emergency supply of high-speed data which you can use whenever you need. 

T-Mobile offers the best international phone plans of the three major wireless networks. When choosing a new cell phone plan, T-Mobile’s international deals are something we really like about their plans. They offer the strongest comparison to local eSIM phone plans when traveling. 

MVNO International Phone Plans

The premium wireless companies, while they have pretty robust international offerings, are all very expensive cell phone plans. MVNOs offer a great affordable alternative to coverage, and some of them have international phone plans that are just as good as some major wireless providers!

If you have an MVNO or want to switch to one, Mint Mobile and Google Fi have the best global cell phone plans. This section will break down what each company offers. 

Google Fi

Google Fi includes talk, text, and data within North America, and their unlimited plus plan offers data in over 200 countries. If you are on their flex plan, the data costs abroad are the same as the data costs in the United States, which is phenomenal. You pay $10 a GB for data abroad. We cannot stress how great that is. You can use eSIM while traveling with Google Fi as long as your phone is unlocked. Their unlimited plus plan is a great package, giving you free texts and $.20 per minute calls abroad. If you have Google Fi and are planning on traveling, we recommend switching to their Unlimited Plus plan for the duration of your trip!

Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile has its way of roaming. Their UpRoam credits allow users to charge their accounts with money that’s spent on roaming costs. This lets customers put a set amount on their account, and they will automatically get taken off the network if they spend all the allocated funds rather than racking up a huge bill. Mint Mobile’s rates are good, each text is $.05, each minute calling $.25, and each MB is $.25. 

They do not have a specific plan or pass for international phone plans, but they have good coverage in a lot of countries, and their pay-as-you-go rates are quite good. That being said, you want to limit your phone usage as much as you can when you are traveling abroad with Mint Mobile. They offer free calling within North America, but if you are traveling somewhere else, we recommend putting a plan in place to figure out when and where you need to use your phone, or using eSIM while traveling to pick up a local phone plan. 

Key Takeaways

eSIM provides an excellent way to travel and pick up phone plans as you go. There are a lot of affordable low-data phone plans in other countries that provide a few GBs of data with talk and text — perfect for your trip! There are a variety of international plans available from US carriers, but a lot of them are very expensive, even for minimal phone usage. Local plans abroad almost always provide lower prices and better rates for the data you receive. 

Regardless of which avenue you take, your options decrease the more you plan to use your phone when you are away. If you can limit your phone usage to when you are in WiFi zones, you can save a lot of money on your travel expenses.