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-   -   eSIM thread (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/1954827-esim-thread.html)

frappant Mar 21, 2025 10:03 am

Hmm, it may be worth trying out, if you can order the eSIM without being in Ireland and just use it elsewhere.

I don't have any plans to be in Ireland any time soon.

I'm going to Portugal next month, probably will get the Orange Euro eSIM again.

Nayef Mar 21, 2025 3:53 pm


Originally Posted by der_saeufer (Post 36973280)
Roaming details here: https://n.vodafone.ie/support/mobile...ml#noextracost it covers the EU, the UK and Switzerland plus the French and Dutch Caribbean and, oddly, Suriname. Unlimited plans get only 40 GB roaming; other plans get the full allowance.



It's a monthly (or rather 4-weekly, because Ireland) prepaid plan similar to the prepaid plans offered by a lot of American and European carriers. You have to top up €20, which you then 'spend' on the data pack. In order to buy another data pack you'd have to top up again. If you don't, your service quits working. They're only able to charge against the credits you've purchased.

What's not clear is whether a Vodafone Ireland eSIM has to be activated in Ireland or whether it'll activate while roaming. Anyone tried to buy one from outside Ireland and use it in another EU country or the UK without first going to Ireland? It's a pretty good deal, especially since it includes both the UK and Switzerland. It's an even better deal if you can buy one for a trip that doesn't even include Ireland.

today a friend showed an email with an old travel eSIM for a plan that doesn’t exist anymore from Vodafone Ireland that he got and he said he installed it while he’s in the U.S. and then activated when he arrived in Germany. This was late 2023 (I know there are codes and stuff in the pic but he said it’s fine it’s all invalid and he doesn’t use that eSIM anymore).

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...addf7ef18.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5d2974abc.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...578c75fc6.jpeg

A link to the installation guide

https://travel.vodafone.com/help-sup...d-installation



frappant Mar 21, 2025 4:46 pm

Other eSIMs you just have to be online, which can be WiFi.

For instance the Orange Euro eSIM, clearly marketed for the whole region. I ordered and installed without being in France, not even connecting through a French airport.

draver Mar 21, 2025 4:47 pm


Originally Posted by paperwastage (Post 36973007)

Roamless is nice if you might need a usa IP (and you don't have a VPN etc). Their promo credits do expire (and they also have referral codes too)

This is probably a typo, but I do not believe Roamless credits actually expire.

paperwastage Mar 21, 2025 5:21 pm


Originally Posted by draver (Post 36974529)
This is probably a typo, but I do not believe Roamless credits actually expire.

Promo /free credits do expire (if you topped up with real $, seems like promo credits don't expire for now)

Paid credits do not expire

Let me update my post to make it clearer

EDIT: someone mentioned you do have to refill once a year $5 to keep account active. Unsure.

der_saeufer Mar 24, 2025 12:09 pm


Originally Posted by frappant (Post 36974526)
Other eSIMs you just have to be online, which can be WiFi.

For instance the Orange Euro eSIM, clearly marketed for the whole region. I ordered and installed without being in France, not even connecting through a French airport.

Most work that way but not all, so I'm hesitant to recommend carrier eSIMs for people not going to the home country absent documentation or reported experience.

The last few I've bought have been 50/50. Tello (US) and lifecell (Ukraine) both activated without going 'home' but TuneTalk (Malaysia) and Super (Estonia) didn't. Tello and Super clearly documented their activation rules but the other two said nothing. Honorable mention to 3 HK who sell their SIMs specifically for roaming purposes.

paperwastage Mar 24, 2025 4:11 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comme...users/mjia18w/

Paid roamlesss balance will expire after 1 year unless you add $5, then paid balance rolls over for another 1 year.

Time to try unisim.net and esim.sm. Until they decide to change their policy too. At least esim.sm allows multiple sims on same account, so quicker to deplete $

richarddd Mar 24, 2025 5:27 pm


Originally Posted by paperwastage (Post 36980559)
https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comme...users/mjia18w/

Paid roamlesss balance will expire after 1 year unless you add $5, then paid balance rolls over for another 1 year.

Time to try unisim.net and esim.sm. Until they decide to change their policy too. At least esim.sm allows multiple sims on same account, so quicker to deplete $

That's disappointing. For me, not expiring was the key benefit of roamless. unisim also appears not to expire, but esim.sm does appear to expire - am I missing something?

BNESim also has the virtue of not expiring. Their global plan is much too expensive, but their Europe-wide plan is reasonable. It also allows multiple sims on one account.

paperwastage Mar 24, 2025 6:30 pm


Originally Posted by richarddd (Post 36980705)
That's disappointing. For me, not expiring was the key benefit of roamless. unisim also appears not to expire, but esim.sm does appear to expire - am I missing something?

which part? I'm looking at their global esim , not the 30day packages

https://esim.sm/en/global-esim?country_id=US

BNESim also has the virtue of not expiring. Their global plan is much too expensive, but their Europe-wide plan is reasonable. It also allows multiple sims on one account.
true, but you cannot use the balance of one 1GB esim across multiple devices while esim.sm supposedly can share $5 balance across multiple

richarddd Mar 24, 2025 6:51 pm


Originally Posted by paperwastage (Post 36980801)
which part? I'm looking at their global esim , not the 30day packages

https://esim.sm/en/global-esim?country_id=US

Aha. I was looking at their destinations list. I should have looked at the bottom of the page.

Odd that the global no expiration is cheaper than the single country expiring, at least for the countries I checked. Does the global use a single distribution point (or whatever it's called - your IP address is the same worldwide) while the country specific connect through that country?

paperwastage Mar 24, 2025 8:15 pm


Originally Posted by richarddd (Post 36980817)
Aha. I was looking at their destinations list. I should have looked at the bottom of the page.

Odd that the global no expiration is cheaper than the single country expiring, at least for the countries I checked. Does the global use a single distribution point (or whatever it's called - your IP address is the same worldwide) while the country specific connect through that country?

Believe esim.sm goes thru Poland(plus/play) for payg, probably the same for all of them if it's using the same esim/APN?

Royal2000H Apr 8, 2025 9:58 am


Originally Posted by paperwastage (Post 36980559)
https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comme...users/mjia18w/

Paid roamlesss balance will expire after 1 year unless you add $5, then paid balance rolls over for another 1 year.

Time to try unisim.net and esim.sm. Until they decide to change their policy too. At least esim.sm allows multiple sims on same account, so quicker to deplete $

Looks like Roamless backpedaled and will not be expiring paid credit after 1 year.

Still, I feel burned.

1. The fact that they were going to do this clearly anti-customer change until they were hit with huge backlash is disappointing
2. If you did a "buy $10, get $20" or similar type of promo, now the "free" extra $10 will expire in 6 months. That seems completely dirty to me still. Maybe they should do that for all new purchases but those of us that already purchased were operating under the impression that there was no expiration.
3. They will start introducing some country-specific plans in addition to their global plan. I hope this doesn't start making their global rates less competitive.

I think they really shot themselves in the foot and competitors such as unisim and esim.sm are becoming more interesting.

misenlai Apr 9, 2025 12:16 am

If i buy an italy esim from roamless, does it include free local calls? Is there a company that has local calls?

richarddd Apr 17, 2025 10:03 am

We were in Germany recently and I compared Google Fi, BNE Europe and Roamless. Generally they all worked fine, but in some random places BNE and Roamless were not working and Fi worked.

Pixel 8 pro.

frappant Apr 17, 2025 10:59 am

I registered for this deal at the LH Senator Lounge at MUC today on my iPad Pro.

https://www.esimholidays.com/en/europe

For some reason, the QR code wasn't loading correctly on my devices. There was a warning to scan it only once, so I looked at trying to enter some details manually but that didn't work.

Eventually the QR code loaded on the email and I was able to load the eSIM on my iPad.

Then I had to reboot it because it wasn't finding a network.

After it came up, it got a 5G connection. Also got a message to my iPad, which isn't suppose to be able to receive SMS.

It said I have 100 GB in Europe plus 2 hours and 1000 texts for a month.

I had bought this eSIM last summer, when they were advertising 100 GB for €40. The message I got today was the same, except a different phone and SIM number.

Staying in the Algarve for a week. The place has weak Wifi so good to have speed and volume of data.


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