Primary - Data roaming off

For data select your airalo sim and make sure data roaming is on for that one
For voice, I leave my primary on for any emergency incoming calls. For outgoing calls I use whatsapp or skype

I'm a big fan of Airalo and have used them many times, but I'm headed to Singapore and Airalo is showing Singapore as "sold out". I contacted them and they said they are working to get Singapore back in the coming months. (I think Airalo are a Singapore based company.)

Anyone have a recommendation for Singapore?

For visits to Singapore I just purchase one of the prepaid Singtel SIMs at the airport.

Just found out about esim being more popular to be used when traveling, is there any downsides to the esims, besides not being able to move the sim to another phone easily like a physical sim?

SingTel offers 30$ for 100GB and 50$ for 120GB 5G prepaid packs, and a whole host of lower data if you don't need 5G. Available straight from the airport.

You generally pay more for a given amount of data than with physical SIMs. But for the greater convenience, a lot of people are deciding that it's worth it.

I always use eSim when I am travelling to other countries. They are a cheap, simple and convenient way to get data. The disadvantage is they usually don’t have phone service. There are many ways around this, including using Google Voice, WhatsApp or Skype for phone calls, which is what I do.

In general there's a few disadvantages to using an eSIM. The primary one isn't related to eSIM as such, just the way the business model works for "travel" eSIMs.

In the majority of "travel" eSIMs are not based in the country that you're using them in, but instead from another country and then roam into the country you're in. For example, I was recently using an Airalo eSIM in Japan, however the eSIM itself was from Singtel in Singapore, and was roaming onto the Softbank network in Japan. This works fine, but the nature of mobile phone "roaming" is that data is almost always backhauled to the country the SIM is from - so all of my traffic in Japan was backhauled to Singapore before being released onto the internet, which will add to latency. Compare that to using a local SIM where the SIM will be for the local provider, so the traffic goes out locally. For Japan->Singapore that's likely not a big issue, but if you're in Japan and you're using an eSIM that's from a provider in Europe it's not going to be a great experience.

In some occasions the travel eSIM will be from a local provider in which case this isn't an issue. For example, Airalo's eSIMs in Thailand are for DTAC, a local Thai provider. So in that case you'll get the same experience regardless of whether you're using a DTAC physical SIM, a DTAC eSIM, or an Airalo eSIM.

Another disadvantage is that eSIM's are often data only, so if you need to make phone calls/SMS/etc you can't.

The other disadvantage of eSIMs is the one you've mentioned - you often can't move them between phones, or at least, not easily. This isn't really a technical limitation, but one that travel eSIM companies put in place likely to avoid people sharing eSIMs. How big a disadvantage that is depends on how often you flip between phones, but for a travel SIM likely isn't a big problem.

In general, the advantages of an eSIM will far outweigh those disadvantages - but obviously it depends on the person and the use case!

I agree. The one area where an eSIM has a lot of value is in those locations where there might be a language or process barrier to obtaining a travel SIM. In a place like Singapore where you can get a 100 GB data pack with calling and even roaming in adjacent countries for S$20 in 5 minutes at the airport, there's probably not a case for an eSIM. In a place like Japan where even if you have some Japanese language knowledge there are still barriers to buying a physical SIM as a visitor, an eSIM can be a lot more valuable.

Another value add for eSIMs is that companies like Airalo have regional (and even global) eSIM options for those places that don't have roaming agreements in place, such as non-EU, where your tourist SIM might stop working the second you cross the border.

Anyone heard of/used Alosim?

Prices look reasonable, but they currently have a $50-credit-for-$22 deal on StackSocial which makes their prices pretty damn good - at least for the few countries I checked.

Their website seems to imply that you "get" an eSIM which you then load data packs onto. ie, it's implying that it's a singular eSIM, rather than one for each country as you'd normally get for someone like Airalo - however I'm not sure if that's actually how it works or they are just trying to simplify the messaging for people that don't know how eSIMs work?

This is embarrassing.
 

In the spirit of "there are no stupid questions" I'm hoping to get some help for an upcoming trip. You see, I feel like the information in this thread is way more technical than I need. But I also know I need information about esims. I have an iPhone and Verizon as my carrier. I'm an infrequent traveler and so last year I activated Verizon's $10 a day for both me & my husband. We were charged for each day we used our phones overseas. But in a sense it's still an active plan, since Verizon only charges the subscriber when they use their phone overseas. So if I do this wrong, it's very likely that when we travel to Europe next month, Verizon's going to charge us. 2 people, 14 days in Europe and it's going to run into some serious $$$.

I'd rather get an esim, but I am pretty ignorant about practical aspects. I don't seem to understand basic concepts. A lot of the posts here read like they're written by software engineers and I'm just a user. I don't need to know the deep technical stuff. I just need to know is how to use my phone if I get an esim for my trip, so I don't have to pay Verizon's high prices.

I believe that an esim gives me data, correct?.But not voice, right? I also understand that I should use a phone app instead of using the regular phone feature on my phone. I have a Google Voice account that I use right now to make calls when I'm home in the USA and want to call Europe. But those calls are charged by the minute. So do I need a different app? Or a local European phone number somehow?

So here's what I don't understand and would like to know, if I have an active esim card on my phone:

• If I just turn on my phone with an esim card, will Verizon know I'm using my phone? Does merely turning on the phone invoke that $10/day charge?
• Will someone from home be able to call me on my regular phone number? Not that I want it, but if they do, will Verizon charge me that $10 a day?
• If I don't answer the phone, do I need to turn off my voicemail? Cause in a sense, voicemail is the same as answering the phone, right?
• Can I prevent regular calls from coming to my phone altogether? Can I forward calls from my regular phone to go to a VOIP app in case I really DO want to get calls from "home" while I'm away?
• If someone from home texts me, will those texts come through? If I open those texts, does Verizon view that as using my regular calling plan?
• If I'm using a VOIP app in Europe and I want to make a call to a local European business (say, a restaurant or to call an UBER) am I making an international call? Or am I making a local call?
• Should I cancel my international plan with Verizon? (I'm thinking that is probably a "yes")

I guess I'm hoping I can avoid paying Verizon $10 a day, but I don't want to do something when I'm in Europe (like even just turning on my iPhone) that would allow Verizon to charge me for doing so.

I hate it when people post questions and say thing like "Answer me like I'm a 5 year old". But honestly, I feel like an idiot. I'm not stupid, but I'm ignorant of the fundamentals here, and I'm hoping someone will help me understand the underlying theory.

Let me try to help... I am assuming you have an iPhone XR/XS or newer model with eSIM support?

Generally, these eSIM providers that you can activate remotely, such as Airalo, will be data only and not have voice or texting features. If you are comfortable with using Google Voice, you can use that app via the eSIM to text or call back to the US. There would be no charges for this, but calls would consume data from your eSIM plan if you weren't on Wi-Fi.

I don't use Verizon, so I can't comment directly. Typically the phone would have to connect to the foreign network and start roaming with data or place a call. If you have the Verizon SIM disabled on the iPhone, you'll avoid any charges. You can disable the Verizon SIM on an iPhone from Settings -> Cellular and toggling off "Turn On This Line" under Verizon.

If you have the Verizon SIM disabled, the calls would go to voicemail directly. You could set up call forwarding before the trip to your Google Voice number to receive calls, but text messages will not forward.

If you have Wi-Fi accessible you could set the phone to airplane mode, and enable and use the Verizon line via Wi-Fi calling while in airplane mode. I don't know if you can enable or disable lines while in airplane mode though on an iPhone. With airplane mode off, there's a danger that your Verizon SIM might connect to the international network and charge $10.

I don't know about Verizon, but I wouldn't think this would be a chargeable activity or require any changes.

I don't see a situation where you would need to prevent inbound calls altogether. Per my response above, you can forward your number to the Google Voice number instead of voicemail.

With iMessage, if you have that set up, the texts will come through and be treated as data. SMS will not come through if you have the Verizon SIM profile disabled. Again, my suggestion would be to enable the Verizon profile when connected to Wi-Fi and in airplane mode. Just remember to turn off the Verizon profile before disconnecting from Wi-Fi.

If you are using Google Voice with your US number, it would be an international call, so you'd pay whatever Google Voice rates are to the country where you're calling.

Is there a way to 1) cancel the plan and 2) block international roaming charges on the line? If you're able to do both, you'd be assured of not accruing any international roaming charges.

My suggestion would be to get an Airalo eSIM since their app is user friendly, allows you to store a credit card to recharge, and has regional eSIMs, such as European countries. Airalo might not be the cheapest option, but I think it's the best eSIM provider in the travel/visitor category.

AT&T iPhone user, for the Verizon sim turn data roaming off and turn Wi-Fi calling on. My son did this for a 3 week trip to the Republic of Georgia and avoided all international roaming charges. He used whats app to connect with locals. Visual voicemail uses data.

For your Verizon phone you need to turn off TravelPass. You can’t do this from the app but you can do it from the Verizon website. If I recall correctly this was hard to find but it is there somewhere. If you don’t turn it off, it will activate automatically. Otherwise from your questions you seem to understand the eSIm quite well. This is what I do, it might not be the best but it works for me. Turn off TravelPass. Buy the eSIm and load it on your phone using the code. To do this I open the email with the code on my iPad then open the camera on my phone so that the code loads on the phone. Don’t activate it till you arrive. Get a GoogleVoice number. Give this to anyone who might need to call you in an emergency. Before you depart, turn off data roaming on your phone. I just turn off the Verizon SIM (Primary) completely in Settings/cellular. When you arrive, activate your eSim, this will be the Secondary in Settings/cellular. Turn data roaming on in the Secondary. If you need to make a phone call use Google Voice or WhatsApp or Skype. You will have to deposit some money in GoogleVoice or Skype. Every evening when I have Wi-Fi at the hotel, I turn the Secondary off and turn the Primary on, with data roaming turned off on the Primary and Wi-Fi calling turned on. This will download any voice mails, your phone log and any messages from your Verizon line. Then switch back to having Secondary on and Primary off.

One other suggestion, if you are not completely comfortable with it, do a trial. That’s what I did, bought a US eSim for $5 so I could see how to load it, activate it and use it and become familiar with the functions in Settings/cellular before my first trip with an eSIm for a foreign country.