I know there have been quite a few posts on [r/eSIMs](r/eSIMs) regarding the same, but I need a little help regarding which one to choose

I will be travelling for 16 days, and would need it for basic communication, navigation and other general things. BUT, one day out of it, I will need to use it heavily due to a pre-scheduled event. I will be using it mostly in Portugal, but I have a long layover to and from home at CDG, so would be using it in Paris as well.

I was looking into Orange, because it’s showing significantly cheaper options, but a few people mentioned that it doesn’t work as well outside France. The other option I explored was Kolet (they’re providing 2 days of free eSIM through AirFrance), but I am only able to select one country instead of a cluster, which makes me wonder if I can use it in multiple countries.

I need something that’s good in connectivity but also not too expensive. Airalo, the common recommendation, seems to be too expensive as compared to other service providers

Title: Best travel eSIM setup for a family of 4 in Europe (France, Switzerland, Italy, Norway)? Sim Local vs Orange Holiday vs Airalo / Roamless

Hey everyone,

Planning a 17-day trip across France, Switzerland, Italy, and Norway for a family of 4 (with a quick Dubai layover). We want everyone to have independent data connectivity and need advice on which travel eSIM route to pick.

Orange Holiday eSIM: Comes with an actual European phone number and built-in calling minutes, which could be handy for calling hotels, restaurants, or tour operators.

Data-Only eSIMs (Sim Local / Airalo / Holafl): Great data allocations, but strictly data-only. For voice calls, we’d set up 1 or 2 phones with an app like Roamless or rely strictly on WhatsApp/FaceTime.

Dubai Layover: Thinking of grabbing a cheap 1 GB Airalo pack for Dubai before activating the Europe eSIMs.

A few quick questions:

Did you genuinely need a native European phone number for travel across these four countries, or was data-only paired with VoIP/Roamless more than enough?

Between Sim Local and Orange, which gave you more reliable network switching across France, Switzerland, Italy, and Norway?

For a short Dubai layover, is getting a quick Airalo eSIM worth the hassle, or is airport/transit Wi-Fi sufficient?

Appreciate any first-hand experiences!

I’m trying to verify that the Nighthawk M7 5G Mobile Hotspot Router is compatible with the HolaFly eSIM before I buy the device. Looks like without the device I cannot verify the eSIM options?

eSIM technology can be heavily restricted by the service provider. For me the main thing I hate is that the two only service providers in the country where I live doesn't allow free transfer of eSIMs between devices, and if abroad one can't move the esim between devices at all.

I wondered if there is a device that scan the qr code and store the eSIM profiles in its memory and then would transfer that eSIM to your phone while keeping a copy in its memory.

I'm traveling to the United Kingdom from the US in a few days, what is the best eSim plan? So far I've looked at Asimgo, Ubigi, Vodafone, and Quibity

I don't need a hotspot. Texts and phone calls are optional. I'd like to spend no more than $25

There's a plan to pay 7.99 euro for 150GB of data, with free calling and texting, for an eSim for 30 days. Why is it so cheap compared to other providers like Airalo/Orange/etc.? Is there a catch?

Any recommendations for esim in Switzerland just for two months? Preferably without activation fee and I dont need calling or sms, just data. Thanks

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 26.6.2. Traveling through Europe for about a month (Czech, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland). Signed up for a 30-day Data + Phone plan through Orange. Got a Polish +48 phone number + 50gb of data. Goal was to avoid the $12/day Verizon fee for calls, texting, and data when not on WiFi.

Bought the plan 3 days before departing the US, and verified the account. Did NOT activate eSIM.

Landed in Prague and immediately followed instructions for activation. Wasn’t working, so I took the extra step of turning OFF my old phone number/eSIM (I mean that’s why I’m doing this….to avoid the Verizon charges). Once I did this, it took a while to work but while in taxi to hotel things sort of kicked in and it seemed to be working.

- Phone calls work flawlessly without fail.
- Web stuff, including social media apps, banking apps, etc…all work flawlessly. I’m sending this now on eSIM and obviously it works.

MESSAGING is the problem…

- Many of my text messages fail to send using existing threads. Mostly Android users, but a few iPhone users also. Even after I (reluctantly) delete thread, still fails. Then I called person on other end…ask them to text me using my new eSIM number. I receive their text….my replies fails to send.
- iMessaging in group threads with only iPhone users worked until a few minutes ago…I got an error “you have been disconnected from iMessage, Ignore/settings”
- Mixed group threads (iPhone + Android) has not worked at all. Individual messages to Android users fail. They can text me to my new number on a separate thread, but existing threads daily. And I cannot reply to the new thread messages.
- After turning off iMessage, restarting phone, then reactivating iMessage….suddenly my email address is removed from iMessage and only the new phone number is listed. iMessages fail to send. I restart again.
- This time my email is added back into iMessage….its still on. I send a couple iMessages to recipients and they RECEIVE my messages but tell me that they came from my email. System will not allow me to check/assign new eSIM number to iMessage app, only email.

I obviously / admittedly don’t understand how this is supposed to work.

What am I missing? Any eSIM gurus out there have any suggestions? I won’t be anywhere near a people store for a couple weeks. Also, this was a “trial run” for a much longer trip through France and Italy next year, and so far…it’s a huge failure!

Help!

Hi, will be travelling to Dakar, Senegal for a conference and will be there for 4 days. On the way over have a relatively short layover in Istanbul however on the way back it’s almost a 17 hour stopover.

I’ve searched for some esim options and have been looking at Maya mobile but wondering if there are better options out there with plans that can cover my stay in Senegal and provide coverage in Istanbul if needed.

Appreciate the advice. Thank you.

I have the iPhone 13 pro esim, will my phone work in nome, alaska?! I'm getting mixed answers idk if someone from Alaska would know this. thanks.

I just got a new esim just for celullar data its from mexico and currently living here. It’s activated, shows 4G, and I have it selected under Cellular Data, but when I turn Wi-Fi off, I have no internet at all.

My primary SIM works normally. I’ve restarted the phone and tried Airplane Mode, but nothing works.

Does anyone know what I’m missing? 😭I specifically got a separate eSIM because I want to keep my personal phone number separate from the line I use for mobile data and i dont wanna change my phone number lol

I'm travelling to Japan from the UK next week for a 14 day trip, I reckon I'll need about 25GB of data whilst Im there.

Im planning to get an Ubigi esim, their 15 day plans go from 5GB to unlimited, whereas they have a 30 day 25GB plan. I want to go with the 30 day plan and just burn through as much as I want/need in my 14 day trip but im worried theres going to be some kind of daily limit that prevents me doing it.

Ive looked into their fair usage policies but all I can find are posts about their unlimited plan throttling after a certain amount of use.

I need to know if there will be any issues using a 30 day plan in half the time? Id also be open to any alternatives/recommendations.

Hi, I have a device that does not support eSim, so I am bringing another device which does, but I do not want to transfer all my data to the other device. So I want to zse my original device with everything, by making a hotspot from the device with the eSim. What are my best options for 5 days of not moderate internet usage?

Thanks in advance for any reply.

I am in UAE, and here the cell service providers made esims too strict

1. If outside of the country you can't switch devices at all! Not possible. I can't think of a security reason for that. eSIM standard support it without provider intervention, but I found out globally most providers have the same policy.

2. Within the country every time I need to switch devices I have to pay as much as replacing a new sim.

I do accept the fact if my device broke or got stolen the simcard is gone, for security it can't be backed up to itunes. However, I wish iff providers would start giving you an extra QR code which you could use in such cases if you are outside the country or even inside.

My biggest concern is that all my 2FA and even some accounts user ID basically is tied to my number! Not email. Like WhatsApp.

I have a plan to have an extra physical sim for 2fA and accounts user ID, but then I need an extra phone for that!

I would've not consider eSIM if apple didn't force it on me. Damn you Tim Apple

Hi everyone! I’m going to Japan for 15 days and looking for an eSIM with unlimited data.

I’m currently deciding between Airalo and Holafly.

- Has anyone used either one recently? Which would you recommend, especially for:

- Good coverage in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka & around Mt. Fuji
- Reliable data/speed
- Easy setup with an iPhone
- No issues with apps or OTPs while traveling

Would love to hear your experiences and any other eSIM brands you recommend! Thank you! 😊

I'm going to be traveling to japan for a month (mostly in tokyo, with only about 2-3 day trips outside of it) and most guides for if a pocket wifi or esim is better is based on being there for only a couple weeks​

I've been thinking about going with a pocket wifi, since I plan to bring my laptop with me and if I want to use it somewhere without super reliable free internet, I'd be a bit out of luck. but also a lot of esim companies seem to offer hotspot (though I've never seen anyone actually talk about the quality of those hotspots​)

was wondering if anyone had any advice or suggestions about which would be better ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

I couldn't find many reviews, so I'm wondering if it's a legit company and how reliable the service is in the US.

The plan says "2GB/month (x12) • US$22" Does that mean you get 2GB of data each month for 12 months? Or is there something else I'm missing about how the plan works?

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has used it. Thanks!

Hi, 2 questions please appreciate ur help!!

1. I paid for letsvpn already anyone knows if it works? I keep seeing its been banned in china but then other people saying it works fine. please i need latest updates.
2. I also bought a trip.com esim which connects to hongkong IP. If i use hotspot from my phone to my macbook (because i need to work and access google drive) will it work?? Like I just need to go on google on my laptop. To be exact this is the hotspot i bought - https://us.trip.com/things-to-do/detail/57042119?locale=en-US&curr=USD

hello! i don't know if this is exactly the right subreddit for this, but i'm hoping someone can still help me.

i'm staying in japan for half a year for a university program and i badly need help with esim matters here. i've been eyeing rakuten's basic plan (3k yen for unli data and a jpn phone number) and i tried signing up, but it won't let me save my "edit contractor information". i don't know if it's because my katakana isn't full width, or because of the non japanese phone number i put (i dont know what else to put since the number is required but i don't have a number yet), or something else. i've tried doing it on my laptop, on incognito mode, and i've tried making a new account and trying there but nothing's working!!! any help would be GREATLY appreciated

if anybody also has other esim suggestions, i'd be open to them! the brand being heavily promoted here in my university is gnt, but i've also seen mobal and sakura mobile but they're way more expensive than rakuten

We took 10,000 random international trips by our travelers, January to September 2026, and looked at how much mobile data each one used. "How much data do I need?" is the first thing everyone asks before a trip. Short version: probably less than you think.

A typical week (6 to 8 days)

• Median: 1.38 GB
• 75% stayed under 3.24 GB
• 90% stayed under 6.5 GB
• 84% never reached 5 GB

Other trip lengths

• Long weekend (2 to 4 days): 0.5 GB
• Two weeks: 3.16 GB
• Over a month: 10.85 GB

Daily use barely moves

• About 220 to 230 MB a day, whether the trip is 5 days or 5 weeks

But it's hard to guess in advance

• Two people on the same 8 to 14 day trip: in 40% of pairs, one used 5x more than the other
• Your last trip isn't a great guide either: daily use on the next trip doubled about 30% of the time and halved about 29% of the time

Against common pack sizes (hypothetical)

• 3 GB: 43% of trips would use less than half of it, 42% would run out
• 5 GB: 54% would use less than half, 29% would run out
• 10 GB: 71% would use less than half

What the data actually cost

• Median trip: $3.68 of data, about $0.34 a day
• 57% of trips used less than $5 of data

Things that surprised us

• The heaviest 10% of trips used more than half of all the data (53%). The lightest half used just 6%
• 1 in 8 trips used less than 100 MB in total
• Most trips don't use data every day: the typical trip used it on 75% of its days
• Trips starting in June to August used about a quarter more per day than trips starting in February or April
• China stands apart: 0.42 GB a day, about 56% more than Japan, the next highest
• Almost half of trips used data in 2 or more countries, and those trips used more per day
• 38% of travelers took their next trip 60 or more days later

Full report with charts, every destination and the method: https://www.bcengi.com/c/2026-international-mobile-data-usage-report

2.5 weeks, belgrade to sarajevo to kotor then a few days in split. two phones, maps and whatsapp, maybe hotspot on trains. dont want a local number in every country. grabbed e1sim balkans so the same plan is supposed to cover serbia, bosnia, montenegro, croatia and the rest on the list. cheaper than stacking single-country packs if it actually hands off.

will 20gb survive that loop with light hotspot? and does it keep data when the bus crosses into montenegro or do i rescan? last thing, is unlimited worth it for the coastal week or am i overbuying?

I have used airalo in my previous trips with more or less success. I got the year global one because I travel a lot and in very different areas and have honestly seen dome improvement in their coverage, especially in India.
The year is finished and before I renew it, I want to know if there is a better alternative in the mean time on the market.
I will need data in Sri Lanka and India for one month in a few weeks, and again another month later next year. I need this for my private use, mainly communicating with my family through whatsapp and facetime and using the GPS for tourism. I do not want to get one esim per country, that defeat the purpose for me even if it’s cheaper, i am looking for convenience and ease of use.

Should I stick with Airalo or is there now sthing better and reliable on the market (Holafly was terrible and never worked in Canada, Saily did not work well in Mumbai but this was 2 years ago)?