Don’t feel bad. It’s happened to all of us at least once.
You book your preferred hotel, pack exactly the right outfits, and curate the perfect vacation playlists, but you stroll off the plane and realize you have no idea how to use your phone while traveling.
Your carrier sent you an automatic text when you landed, explaining something about how you’re now “roaming.” Um? But what does that mean, even?
Are you supposed to leave your phone on Airplane Mode your whole trip? Keep it switched off? Hide it inside the deepest, darkest compartment of your suitcase and not even look at it until you’re back at home?
And if you do use your phone while you’re on vacation … it’s expensive, right? Like scary expensive? Every second it’s lit up in your hand, it’s probably costing you twenty bucks? Ugh. PANIC!
This is the part where people usually decide to either:
(A) Touch their phone as little as possible because they’re freaked out about mysterious roaming charges
(B) Use their phone normally (YOLO) and just figure they’ll deal with some $$$ charges when they get home
What if we told you there was a much, much better third option?
(C) Use an eSIM data plan
Wait, what is eSIM?! Never heard of it before? No worries. It’s a fairly new technology, and it’s not something that’s gotten a lot of buzz yet. (Like most awesome things, it starts off with just the cool people knowing about it.)
eSIM stands for “embedded SIM,” and it’s the digital version of those little plastic SIM cards in phones. It’s how your device connects to networks. Without any kind of SIM in your device, you can’t use data — just Wi-Fi.
Okay, so why are eSIM data plans good for travel?
Savvy travelers like to use prepaid eSIM travel plans for a couple of reasons:
1. They don’t want to pay roaming charges
2. They want to use their phones freely and stay connected
3. They like knowing exactly what they’ll spend
How is an eSIM data plan different than my monthly data plan?
Good question! Let’s break it down …
How data works with your carrier:
1. You pay your carrier for a certain amount of monthly cell phone data (5 GB, 10 GB, etc.) and the agreement is that you’ll stay within your coverage area to use it
2. If you go over your data limit, they’ll let you keep using it — but charge you data overage fees
3. If you leave your service area, they’ll connect you with different networks — but charge you roaming fees
How data works with an eSIM data plan from aloSIM:
1. You choose a prepaid eSIM data plan (1 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, etc.) for a specific country or region (group of countries)
2. If you go over your data limit, your data stops (and you won’t be charged). But you can top up your plan to get more data, if you want.
3. We’ll connect you with different networks to get the best coverage, but you’ll NEVER pay roaming fees
How do I get an eSIM data plan for my vacation?
It’s easy to get your very own eSIM data plan here at aloSIM.
Just choose the country or region you’ll be visiting, select a prepaid data plan, and install it on your device in seconds. (We have very clear instructions for both iOS eSIM installations and Android eSIM installations.)
So I have the plan … then what?
When you arrive at your destination, it just takes a few taps to activate your eSIM data plan and start using your data. (This is the part where you’ll switch roaming “OFF” within your regular data plan, so your carrier back at home can’t charge you roaming fees.)
That’s it! Then you’re free to use your phone just as if you were back at home, without needing to track down a Wi-Fi connection every two seconds. (You can even make and receive phone calls on your regular number.) We’ll send you a gentle reminder when you’re getting close to using your full eSIM data plan, and then it’s totally up to you if you want to top it up. If not, no problem. You won’t be charged another penny.
Once you’re back from your vacation, it takes two seconds to flip back to your regular data plan and continue to use your phone normally. But we bet you’ll love the eSIM experience so much, it’ll become a regular part of your travel routine. 😉
