How to Save Money (and Stress) by Roaming With eSIMs When You Travel

A database site’s filters can prune the number to a manageable selection. Requesting plans with 6 to 10 gigabytes (GB) of data covering five to seven days and costing no more than $20 condenses that list to five providers selling 17 plans.

How much data to buy? Check your bill or online account to see how much data you used in the most recent billing cycle. Divide that by the number of days in that month, then multiply the result by the number of days you’ll be traveling.

Some providers sell unlimited service. That can spare you from having to buy extra data during the trip but will probably cost more up front.

On a recent six-day trip through Europe with stays in the United Kingdom and Spain, 4GB proved to be just enough for me. You can then pick plans based on the number of countries each covers, whether a plan provides free but slow data after you exhaust the data allotment, and if a local phone number is included.

Consider a calling app. You may not need that last option. You can use WhatsApp worldwide on Wi-Fi or data to call others who have the app, but if you call someone not registered on WhatsApp and they don’t want to download the app, you may have to pay for the call.

Remember to ask friends and family members who travel for eSIM recommendations. That can get you not just the value of their insights but money saved via the referral codes these services often invite customers to share.

Activate your eSIM while you have reliable Wi-Fi

Setting up an eSIM is simpler than choosing one. Go to the eSIM provider’s site; create an account, which is easier with a password manager; and pay for the plan.

You then usually install the eSIM in one of three ways, depending on provider and your phone’s operating system:

• Install the provider’s app.
• Click on a link in the e-mail receipt with your order.
• Scan a QR code in that message.

In recent versions of iOS, all three options work and let you buy and set up your eSIM on your phone alone. If you get a QR code in an e-mail, tap and hold that image to launch the setup process.

Android and pre-2023 versions of iOS don’t support setup links and require you to scan the QR code from a separate display — either the screen of a laptop or a tablet or a printout.

In all these scenarios, your phone itself needs connectivity. You can’t wait until you’re in a small airport without Wi-Fi.

Choose to split service or keep everything on the eSIM

With the eSIM set up, Android and iOS will invite you to choose to keep voice and text calls on your regular SIM. If your home carrier is T-Mobile, which provides free texting and 20-cents-a-minute calling on most plans in addition to slow-speed roaming, that’s a great idea.

On other services, it may not be. AT&T and Verizon charge $12 a day for international data, voice and text service with no cheaper option for texting only.

Finally, you’ll need to enable data roaming on the eSIM: In both Android and iOS, open ⚙️ Settings and select Network & internet (Android) or Cellular (iOS), choose the eSIM and make sure that option is enabled.

Then it should be like using the phone at home, except the carrier shown on your phone’s screen varies depending on which local service the eSIM provider resells at the time. Your provider’s app may keep track of your usage and prompt you to pay for extra data if necessary, but Android and iOS also track that in the same parts of their Settings apps.

Remember one last chore with an eSIM: When your flight home touches down in the U.S., return to your phone’s Settings to take the eSIM out of service and switch back to your regular SIM.