Generally, yes but I’ve had missed experience on this front so some caution warranted.

Phones that support multiple eSIMs generally do allow you to activate the eSIM and then receive messages on both active eSims. But for some reason, my current phone only lets me use one eSIM at a time. When I turn on the secondary eSIM, the primary one stops receiving messages. I have to toggle back and forth to see if any messages came in on the other line.

its not an eSIM issue because on the past couple of trips, Mrs Samplat and I both purchased eSIMs from the same provider. Her phone worked perfectly fine with both eSIMs active, but mine didn’t.

My guess is it’s some phone config issue but the provider (TMobile) hasn’t been of much help in figuring it out.

I started to review this thread late in the game and used ChatGPT to summarize the 60 pages of reviews. This is what it was said:Here’s a summary of the eSIM providers discussed in the file, arranged alphabetically:



1. Airalo:

• Provides eSIMs tailored for specific countries and regions. Users noted that Airalo offers competitive prices, with $13 for 5GB for locations like Croatia, though it may be pricier than other options for certain countries such as Bosnia.

2. BNESIM:

• Known for its “no expiry” data plans covering Europe. Users can pay around $11 for a 5GB Europe plan. BNESIM also offers plans at a rate of around $1–2 per GB in the EU. Customer service was highlighted as quick and effective in resolving issues, such as replacing non-functional SIMs.

3. Esim4Travel:

• Offers low-cost eSIMs for Europe, with 1GB available for as little as $0.85 for 7 days. It’s praised for affordability, especially for shorter trips or as a secondary eSIM. It includes multiple European countries but doesn’t feature an app for iOS, requiring users to manage plans via desktop.

4. Orange:

• The “Orange Euro eSIM” plan is suitable for multi-country use in Europe, often offering large data packages such as 100GB for around €40. Users found it convenient for long travel itineraries with good 5G coverage in major European cities like Stockholm, Berlin, and Copenhagen.

5. Roamless:

• Known for reliable customer service, which was reported to assist effectively with transfer issues. A user noted a positive experience with transferring their eSIM to a new device with Roamless support handling account adjustments smoothly.

I also asked ChatGPT who had roaming in New Caledonia and Namibia and it hit the nail on the head.

there are certain providers that are good in particular regions (while bad at others). hence sites like esimdb.com help, plus word of mouth here

no

only iPhone 13 or newer have dual eSIm feature*

on android side:
only samsung S24 or newer*
only pixel 7 or later AND carrier allows (this plus the backup calling fiasco, sigh)

*except phones that dont have esim i.e. china models

othermodels with esim, generally support esim + physical sim together (but not dual esim)#
# except surface duo and pixel 2/2xl - they have esim + physical, but can only use one at a time



the Orange esim 100GB was limited promo, now its 70GB for 49 eur(discounted to 39 eur now)

Text Now might work. It has texting to one hundred countries and if you get their SIM card, you’ll get a cellular number (not VOIP) but can access it with their VOIP client. If I were a US or Canadian ex pat, I would probably pay the $25 a year for their permanent number and use the VOIP client 95% of the time. When I was back in the US, I’d use their free cellular calls SIM and either buy their data packet or one of the esims for US data..

https://help.textnow.com/hc/en-us/ar...%20or%20Canada.

I had this pdp error happen once. But I was deliberating draining the entire data allotment, and error popped up just when balance went to zero. The data counter on the esim website wasn't reflecting realtime enough (takes 15-60min to update), but phone data usage showed me using it up

I thought to mention to use ESIMDB coupon to get 10% off. Also, esim4travel sells 1GB at $0.94 7 days and allowed you to queue topups, cheaper than 5GB $7.30 30 days

​​​​​Unless you have some abnormal usage, the math typically works out to get the 1GB multiple times.

Eg if you're there for two weeks, 5GB assumes you use 2GB on average over 7 days.

For the same price, you could buy 3x 1GB 7day package for each week. You probably shouldn't use up based on your anticipated use, and the second/third package won't get activated until you complete first 1GB(so second and third package should spill over to the week2 too).

only if you use data weirdly (eg 4 week trip, you use 4GB first week and 1GB across next 3 weeks. Then you need to buy 4x1GB week1 and 3x1GB to cover last 3 weeks ... Which is still cheaper than the 5GB package. Or you use 4.75GB first week (5 packages needed) and 0.25GB over last 3 weeks... Then buy 5x1GB esim4travel, cover the last 3 weeks with Roamless ($2.5/GB*0.25 = $1)


I know some people may not care enough to optimize the spending to save another $1-3 (and the overhead of figuring this out/tracking) .. but esim4travel makes it easier by allowing topups on the Europe esim (not all esims have this), And if esim breaks, go to your backup plan (Roamless $2.5/GB or BNE 1GB 30day $1) etc... As you saw with airalo (and ubigi) , technical issues can still happen

No phone I'm aware of allows more than 2 SIMs (eSIM or physical SIM) active at the same time.

Yes you can have more than 2 eSIMs stored in the phone, but that's different from being "active", which means available for calls, SMS, etc. on a cellular network.

This doesn't match what Apple says. For example, phones Apple sells in Thailand still have one physical SIM slot and also support eSIM, and Apple specifically says -- back as far as iPhone 13 -- that dual eSIM is supported.

https://www.apple.com/th/iphone/comp...one-13-pro-max

"SIM คู่ (Nano-SIM และ eSIM) รองรับ eSIM คู่" which means "Dual SIM (Nano-SIM and eSIM) Supports dual eSIM".

This is definitely a true statement based on own experience. Also the iPhones sold in Europe still have a physical SIM slot and any combination of pysical and eSIM works. To be more specific, also 2 eSIM can be active while the physical slot is empty.

One thing I don't know about eSIMs is what happens if one buys a new phone and tries to transfer eSIMs from old phone to new phone while roaming.

I've done eSIM transfer more than once between iPhone models -- but only with a single eSIM, and I was directly on that eSIM's native network (T-Mobile USA).

But I now also have a prepaid eSIM from Thailand, which I've been using for years, but I haven't bought a new phone since then. I have no idea if the Thailand eSIM would transfer over to a new phone if I tried to activate said new phone while in the USA. And if it doesn't, whether there's any way at all to keep that Thailand phone number.

you can try... But these travel esims won't work with Apple's transfer mechanism.

Some travel esims allow you to contact them and issue a new one. Sometimes for free, sometimes at a cost, sometimes they allow you to buy a new esim and they'll transfer the balance over. Very rare that the same QR code works on a new phone (ubigi allows up you to activate up to 5 times on different phone with same QR code)


did you read my whole post? I mentioned what iPhone supports dual esim and what pixel/samsung models support dual esim. Other models won't support dual esim

From my point of view the biggest disadvantage of eSIM. While in theory one can transfer them from one phone to another, in practice it usually involves some form of authentification. That authentification might be easy for the SIM you have from your local carrier however all those other eSIM out there it's difficult to impossible. Someone wrote earlier that Roamless allows to transfer to another phone. It's definitely a bigger hassle than just take a physical card out and insert in the other phone.

I used to have an AIS (Thailand) SIM card for ages, once bought for me by my lady. Apparently it was registered under her name, I had no chance to move it to a new phone, not even in the AIS shop. They refused because it's not belonging to me. Same with the DTAC Tourist SIM you get through Airalo. It was asking for a passport number to move to another phone, which of course I did not have as I never gave one when purchasing. Maybe it would work if one has purchased a DTAC SIM directly from DTAC since they definitely ask for identification.

Im my case, it's T-Mobile USA postpaid + DTAC prepaid, so no travel eSIMs.

Apple says DTAC supports their direct transfer mechanism (and I know T-Mobile does, since I've done it). What I don't know is whether a direct transfer is possible for a given eSIM when not on that eSIM's native network. So if I try to set it up a new iPhone in the USA, I don't know if I can get the DTAC eSIM transferred properly. And if I try to set it up in Thailand, I don't know whether I can get the T-Mobile eSIM transferred properly.

And if I can't get the DTAC prepaid eSIM transferred to the new phone, I don't know if there's even a way I can keep my Thailand phone number at all. I do have the original QR code card when I bought the eSIM but I'm not clear it can be reused or even used as evidence at a DTAC shop to 'reclaim' the number.

Feels like for this scenario I might be able to reduce risk by converting the DTAC prepaid to a postpaid account. At least then the phone number is more directly associated with *me*, and there should be a straightforward way of working with DTAC to get that number transferred into an eSIM on a new phone.

I activated my Ubigi plan hours prior to departure. During my flight, I disabled my cell phone provider SIM and activated the Ubigi esim.

As soon as my flight landed in ICN, turn off airplane mode and my phone worked instantly. At the top of my phone, it says SKTelecom/Ubigi

Now we shall see how it is when I fly off to NRT, SIN, BWN, PEN, TPE in the next three weeks.

Flexiroam was able to facilitate a transfer, or reset, of the eSIM to a new iPhone after sending an email to request. The process worked without a hitch following the simple instructions sent by Flexiroam. From initial contact, to helpful response, to successful installation on the new iPhone time was about 15 minutes.

two separate Ubigi eSIM plans on one trip:
 

I have a back to back trips to Bali and Japan. I want to use eSIMs (not used before). Looking at Ubiqi (that gets good reps in both places), it's cheaper for me to buy two separate Indonesia and Japan plans (short one-off each), rather than the "Best Asia" plan that covers both countries.

My questions are:

1. Can I just purchase both before I set off? If so, will my phone automatically connect to the correct one in the correct country?

2. Instead, should I purchase Bali now, and then Japan when heading off?

3. Although these are two separate "plans", is it still just one eSIM?

thanks in advance,

tb