Originally Posted by
watson10
I live in the UK and travel 2 or 3 times a year to the USA. The cost of roaming is expensive so I’d like to try an e-sim. But. I’m having trouble getting my head around how to actually use an e-sim. If someone can walk me through this I would be grateful:
- I live in the UK and have an unlocked iPhone 11 with a monthly UK plan using a physical sim.
- Can I just buy an e-sim (Airalo seems to have what I want) and install and activate in the UK right before I fly to the US?
- I think I only need a data only plan as I will only use iMessage, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Skype comms, is that correct, no phone number required?
- Once e-sim is purchased and installed, do I just select the e-sim in settings? Will that make my physical UK sim inactive (which is what I want) until I reselect it when I return to the UK?
Am I missing anything else?
Thank you for any help you can give.
- You can install the eSIM but it will not activate until you land and turn it on in the US
- No phone number required
- Your cellular settings will show both your UK and eSIM. When I travel, I turn off roam on my home sim and turn roaming on on the eSIM (you have to do this for it to work) I set the eSIM to primary for data, and leave my local SIM as primary for phone so that any urgent calls would still come through.
I've used Airalo for years now and been very happy. I can share a referral code with you that gets you some discount (and some benefit to me if you use it), just PM me if you want it.