These are ESIM data plans. So they do not have an associated phone number. Which you would need in order to do texting. WhatsApp solves the texting part for most people.

Whatsapp solves the issue most of the time. But sometimes you need a local phone number to sign up for certain local phone apps.

We've used Airalo's eSims in quite a few places (France, Costa Rica, Poland, Greece, Colombia, Jamaica, and Israel). In most countries they only offer data plans, but in some countries they offer an option with a local phone number for a couple dollars/euros extra. We did that in Israel on one of our phones as we needed a local phone number to be able to park a rental car on the street (parking is all paid by app and you can't register for the app without a local phone number).

Do these plans come with texting? Presumably they come with a phone number since they include calls.

Is there any meaningful difference between buying from esimholidays and from buying from https://esimprepago.vodafone.es/

They don’t mention texting but you can call them and ask.

So how does a plan include

• 2000 minutes of calls within the European Union

if there is no phone number associated with it?

This would definitely indicate it has an associated phone number. However a lot of travel Esims do not have one unless otherwise stated.

For those with dual sim iPhones, IMS solves the texting issue using your primary US voice line in conjunction with the roaming esim service. I believe iPhone 13's and newer all have this capability.

If you are not familiar with the IMS function, there are several threads here on FT that have all the details. Basically it uses two lines, with one for voice/texting, and the second, roaming line as a simulated WiFi service. Your home carrier must have WiFi calling available for some features.

no amazing insights in this BT article ... but quite a useful introduction to e-sims for anybody new to them ...

https://www.businesstraveller.com/li...ow-esims-work/

I believe they do include texting - free for incoming texts, but you have to pay per text for outgoing texts.

I used the esimholiday eSIM last year and it had incoming and outgoing calls. Remember, the are not selling special traveler SIMs - they are selling domestic European plans.

Also I believe that iPhone to iPhone texting uses iMessage, using only data.

You can go to this page: https://www.vodafone.es/c/particular...jetas-prepago/ ans sign up for a plan directly with Vodafone Spain .

I’ve been buying the Orange Euro eSIM for the past couple of years, usually €40 for 100 GB, which covers all the best carriers in Europe.

Either buy it from the Orange France site or esimholidays.com, which seems to operate out of Spain.

For this trip to Spain, I saw some attractive options, 15 GB for €10 for all of Europe and 260 GB for €15 for just Spain.

Do I got the Europe one for my iPhone and then the Spain one for iPad Pro. All in, much less than the €40 that I’ve been paying.

So in the buying process, I had to upload a photo of my passport for both eSIMs. I don’t recall doing so in previous years. I don’t know if Spain has KYClaws while France doesn’t.

Also in both purchases, done about a week apart, I got emails and texts in Spainish from orange ES. Again I don’t recall that in previous purchases.

Speed wise it was good but not as super vast as I recall with the previous purchases of the Orange Euro eSIM. I didn’t try to switch carriers.

Still fast enough in most cases, though signal strength fluctuated inside the different places I stayed on the trip.

Often Orange France site has higher prices. In this case, buying the Spain eSiM really allowed me to save over 40%. But I had to wait until I was in Spain to get the Spain eSiM. I bought the Euro one at MuC during a long layover before arriving in Spain.

Spain has had KYC regulations for SIM cards for over 20 years. I can't speak for France as I've never bought a SIM card there.

How do they handle visitors who are roaming from other countries which do not collect identity documents for non-financed phones or for monthly plans not needing a credit check

Generally countries do not require KYC for visitors using roaming (because visitors won't get a local number, calls they make are done thru their original number, data they use are routed back to original country, not much money laundering concerns since they would top up in their original country). KYC is usually done to control those items (crime/fraud/terrorism: someone making prank calls from local numbers, money laundering via prepaid cards etc)

prepaid plans are actually a hotspot for needing KYC (due to money laundering/crime etc)

There are some countries that require IMEI registration when entering the country, but that's usually to enforce taxes/black market, and usually have carve outs for tourism staying under a certain number of days

This page has a few more details about both

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom...es_Per_Country

The only cases I know that might apply to a visitor for IMEI registration are for devices that aren't expected to register with a local mobile network - ie) satellite phones. I haven't encountered this for any eSIM purchase. The closest situation is where the mobile network doesn't allow the eSIM to be transferred to a different device.

Anyone purchase an eSIM with large amount of data for the US?

Obviously I have an unlimited data plan, T-Mobile. However it includes only 10 GB of high speed hotspot. It starts to get prohibitive if I want more than 10 GB.

T-Mobile site lists a 50 GB prepaid plan for $50. Odd when I check the T-Mobile prepaid plans through the eSIM directory, the best I get is $50 for 7 GB.

i just returned from Spain where I had a 260 GB bundle for €15!

I checked Ubigi, they have 25 GB for $32 or 15-day unlimited for $39.

actually Orange France offers 50GB for €34 and I know that has full speed hotspot up to 50 GB.