I don't have verizon, so I'm shooting in the dark here ...

Is verizon on a physical sim on your phone? If it's on e-sim, you can only have one e-sim active at a time.

Anyway when you have one physical sim and one e-sim on your phone, you can control which is used for for data, etc in setting/cellular

Verizon should be able to give you a physical sim if you need one.

-David

If you are traveling to the EU you could buy a physical SIM from an EU carrier that has a good EU wide data package (most do). This also would work traveling elsewhere to a single country. This is what I planned to do with my Xs and TMO when it first came out. Since TMO won't do postpaid eSIMs I've gone the data eSim route (i.e. Ubigi)

Many thanks for all of your kind replies.

Both of my lines (eSim and Physical Sim) are Verizon.

Actually, I don't have an approach that I have developed. I am new to this concept. :) The idea I had was that my primary number would remain active during my trip. The secondary voice number would be forwarded to an associate. Once forwarded, I would then use the Sim "space" for international data roaming when I was traveling.

Before I even knew what an eSim was and how it could be deployed, my idea was to take out the physical Sim on the secondary line and replace it with a physical SIM. However, it seems like the eSIM offers opportunties to download on the fly, improving functionality?

Any experiences or advice anyone can offer would be very much welcome!

You have 2 VZW active lines? If you want to use another SIM when traveling you are going to have disable one, either by removing the physical SIM or by temporarily replacing the e-sim with something like ubigi.

I have t-mobile, they have a virtual phone app called digits. I can set that up and log into it and enable/disable it in it's settings. If it's enabled, I will get all my calls to my normal t-mobile number through that app (and also through the phone if I make the mistake of activating both at the same time.)

I'm pretty sure Verizon has something like that also. Is it "my numbers?"
https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/my-numbers/

With a virtual phone app, your phone number that you displace can be virtual (similar to google voice), and you will still get calls etc on that line, just through the virtual phone app. If you want to use ubigi, just use the Verizon virtual phone app for the number you temporarily displace. When you are done with your trip, restore your VZW e-sim, and disable that number in the virtual phone app.

You may find that you like the virtual phone app for your second number.

ETA, the my numbers faq says they charge $15 per line? Maybe I'm reading it wrong or there's a different app? Somebody here will know.

-David

Verizon's "virtual phone" app is called Message+. I used it in France via the Ubigi data line on my eSIM, with the Verizon SIM turned off. It worked well. Just be sure you activate it before you turn off the Verizon line.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/message/id621469412

Thanks all for their input!

I do have two active Verizon numbers on my phone's two SIMS. The Verizon "My Numbers" app looks interesting, but I'm not seeing how it would help in my situation (perhaps I have failed to properly communicate my needs.) However, the "My Numbers" sounds like a winner if a couple desire to have a shared number that can be answered on either device!

Thanks for this information. How does this app help over the iMessage? Is it used to just avoid international text message charges?

Also, when you say "Verizon SIM turned off," are you referring to going to Settings/Cellular/Cellular Plans/Turn this line On/Off?

It doesn't have anything to do with iMessage. It just lets your send/receive SMS and phone calls using your regular number over a data connection from any device, or from your phone with that line turned off.

Yes, that's what I mean.

Thanks. That is helpful.

A general question for Verizon users: How does a user best discover all the features helpful in global travel. Is there a single stop that says: Hey, check out all of our good stuff for you?

To all our UK friends. Does anyone know if Three is going to esim? Since I can't get T-mobile to give me a sim swap.

Think about how carriers make their money for a second and it will make sense to you. eSIMs are the end of contracts, ie recurring carrier revenue.

Yeah I forgot to mention that point which is a real plus on top of the other benefits.

Hi, does anyone have experiences with eSIMs in Japan other than GigSky? In particular, any experience with Ubigi ?

Thanks.

M.

I'm currently using a physical TMO SIM and a Spark NZ eSIM. It's flawless. Two active phone numbers while relying on Spark NZ for data.