For our last several international trips, my husband and I have bought international SIM cards for our cell phones at our first destination airport. These SIM cards enabled us to use our phones without having to have WiFi access.
Last summer, I did have a hiccup with my eSIM card because my new iPhone wasn’t yet unlocked (see this post). So, I had to use Verizon’s $10/day plan, and I ended up paying an extra $60 to make an international phone call when my flight was canceled.
Since we are leaving imminently for our spring break trip to Europe, and my husband and I both have iPhone 14s that have eSIM capability, I decided to look into buying eSIM cards online prior to our trip.
Researching the best eSIM cards
I’m a big researcher when it comes to all things travel related, so naturally I decided to research which eSIM card we should purchase. There is a ton of information out there. I found this article on The Savvy Backpacker very helpful.
On this trip, my family is splitting up and flying out of two different cities on two different airlines. We’re also meeting up with friends who live in Portugal. We want to have text and phone call capabilities as well as data. Plus, international calling would be nice in case we have to talk to family back in the U.S.
We ended up purchasing the Orange Holiday Zen eSIM (two of them) from simoptions.com. For the price of $29.90, it includes:
- 12 GB data (should be plenty for 8 days)
- Unlimited calls and texts within Europe
- 30 minutes of international calls + 200 international SMSs
- 14 day validity period from first use
I love that we don’t have to keep track of physical SIM cards anymore. I was always so nervous that I would lose my phone’s original SIM card.
After I purchased the eSIM online, I received an email with a pdf that included an activation QR code and other instructions. I’m glad that I purchased this before our trip because when I tried to activate this on my phone, I still received a message that my phone was unlocked. We had to call Verizon and open a ticket in order to get it unlocked.
But that’s fixed now, and my phone is ready to go. I’m hoping to hit the ground running when we land in Lisbon!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
This blog is on Buying an E-sim card while we are going for a Europe trip. we have to do full research on best E-sim availability
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The eSIM page you listed only recommends what seem like the overpriced carrier eSIMs (hello $$ commission!).
I’ve had great luck buying from some eSIM apps that offer much much lower prices. Most take ApplePay if you have an iPhone. Hot Tip: Take a screenshot of the eSIM QR code and you can upload it in System-Cell-Add eSIM to activate the plan (it used to require somehow taking a photo of it from someone else).
MobiMatters is great (use my ref code for $5 off RMN1638154)
I bought a cheaper than cheap eSIM for Thailand from Klook for like $3 which is at least $15 cheaper than the “tourist” sim garbage they push in Thailand.
GlobalYo was great in the Philippines.
Can search for eSIMs on eSIMDB.com to find the best deals.
Happy travels.
thanks . really wonderful post.
http://www.vjes.org
Or you could just switch to Googlefi. If you have a Google phone (along with a couple of other brands) you don’t have to worry about sim cards period.
Great writeup. Hope we hear how it worked out when you get back. We’ve never gone the eSIM route. We even still sometimes use portable WiFi.
For calls to a US number (calls between ourselves or to back home when we’re out of the country), we’ve used WiFi Calling for free (best!). Depends on your cell mobile provider.
Thanks, Peter. I’ll follow-up with how it worked out.
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