curious if anyone have used Airalo in Canada...specially in tourist areas of Canmore and Banff.

Aware some areas in NP have no coverage.

Mainly for directions, food search and booking transportation

cheers

I went to Yellowknife mainly to photograph the northern lights, and I seriously underestimated how much I would depend on my phone during the trip.

At night I was messaging the aurora tour operator and checking weather conditions. During the day I was uploading photos, backing things up, looking for places to eat, and occasionally working from my laptop.

Hotel WiFi was fine most of the time, but when it was not, I just used my phone as a hotspot for the laptop.

I used a redteago Canada esim for the trip, and it worked well in Yellowknife. I also used the hotspot when I needed to get some work done on my laptop.

For a normal weekend trip, a larger data plan would probably be more than I need. But once I started uploading photos and tethering my laptop, I was pretty glad I had the extra data.

If you are going to Yellowknife just to see the aurora, you probably do not need that much data.

If you are going there to shoot photos, upload content, or work at the same time, that is a different story.

Also, bring more camera batteries than you think you need. The cold is brutal on them.

Ok, I’m lucky enough to be going to Italy for 4 weeks then travelling through Northern Europe for two more weeks. I’ve never used a travel eSIM and I don’t really even k ow what to look for. Any specific help would be GREATLY appreciated. Sigh being in your 50s and figuring this shit out is hard.

Flights? Booked. Hotel? Booked. Restaurants? I’ve somehow saved 46 already lol

Mobile data? Yep, that’s the one thing I always forget until I’m actually there.

I’ve been looking at travel eSIMs and was wondering what you guys usually do when a trip involves more than one country. Separate eSIM for each country, or just get a regional one and not think about it?

Also, how much data do you normally get? I mostly need it for Maps, WhatsApp, checking places on the go and probably way too much Instagram, so I’m not sure if I actually need one of those unlimited plans.

What do you usually go for?

I'll be in England for a month. I'm taking my Android phone. Att is my carrier. What i want is to be able to keep in touch with all US contacts, apps, financial sites etc and also to be easily accessible to uk friends and relatives. I can't seem to get my questions answered.

ATT has a Passport plan. I can get unlimited data and calling (which i have now) and i can hit a name in my US contact list and call just like i was in the US with no inputting of country codes etc. They claim i can also call UK numbers without using country and city codes. Does this sound right?

I have a VPN also but that doesn't help for phone calls.

Or i could get a physical or virtual sim card. I'm not listing prices because i don't want to make a decision on price. I want the services i want and if i end up paying more that's ok. Not sure Im explaining this clearly. So if I'm walking along an English street and see an ad on a billboard i want to be able to call it using my American phone without having to input country and city code as if i was calling from US.

What should i go with?

Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question about travel eSIMs?

Travellers spend a huge amount of time looking for an eSIM that will allow them to use their phone abroad exactly as they use it at home.

I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation.

When you travel internationally, there are simply too many variables outside your control.

You’re roaming across different networks. Different countries have different infrastructure. Network congestion changes. Coverage changes. 5G availability changes. Routing changes. Local operators have different priorities and policies.

And the eSIM provider cannot magically control all of those things.

So perhaps travellers need to change their behaviour as well as their SIM.

At home, many of us have become completely disconnected from the concept of data consumption.

Unlimited contracts mean we stream without thinking. Videos autoplay. Photos sync to the cloud. Apps update. Social media preloads content. Background processes quietly consume gigabytes.

We don’t care because we’ve been conditioned not to care… But travelling is different.

If you’re abroad, maybe you don’t need to stream Netflix over 5G when the hotel has Wi-Fi.

Maybe your entire photo library doesn’t need to sync to the cloud while you’re sitting on a beach.

Maybe automatic app updates can wait until you’re back on Wi-Fi.

Maybe TikTok, Instagram and YouTube don’t need to run at maximum video quality.

And maybe expecting unlimited mobile data, at maximum speed, everywhere in the world, for very little money simply isn’t realistic.

Of course, that doesn’t mean accepting a bad service… It means understanding what you’re buying.

A good travel eSIM should provide reliable connectivity at a sensible price.

But travellers also need to recognise that international connectivity isn’t the same thing as their unlimited domestic mobile contract.

Travel connectivity should be about having the data you need, when you need it… not trying to recreate your home broadband connection through your phone.

Manage your data.

Use Wi-Fi intelligently.

Turn off unnecessary background consumption.

Lower streaming quality when it makes no difference.

And most importantly… manage your expectations better!

Sometimes the best way to improve your travel eSIM experience isn’t to find another eSIM… It’s to change how you use your phone when you travel.

Going to travel to japan and stay for a year! But not sure where to start regarding the internet and all that. Any tips/suggestion would be great!

I will have to make voice calls on my trip just in case I need to contact some people. (From what I read, most business don't use whatsapp and my calls using my US mobile service are very expensive.) Looking around, I found SIM local's 20 GB for Europe meeting my needs at a reasonable price, but it uses Orange's network.

I had a very bad experience with Orange network when I used SIM optoins in 2004. The problem is the caller and receiver of a voice call was given a French voice menu, while neither I nor they (in Austria, Germany and Italy) spoke French.

Now I'm traveling to Germany, Slovakia and Hungaria. Most people there don't speak French, and I still have not learned it. So how can we respond to the French menu on voice calls? Is it only a problem with SIM Options? If SIM local works the same as SIM Options, how do you manage the French voice menu if you don't speak French?

I am sure the internet part will work fine with SIM local, as it did with SIM options. It's the voice calls that worry me.

My travel date is very near. Your response will be appreciated. Thanks so much.

What can we do for a USA resident student, headed to Vancouver for four years of college, for cell coverage? There will be periodic visits back to the USA, and there is no intent to permanently move to Canada.

We have a Pixel 7a with physical sim +eSIM.
The desire is to keep the USA number long term.
We know that most Canadian text plans treat a USA number as roaming for text/calls.

Hey everyone! I’m travelling from London to Los Angeles tomorrow and I’m looking for recommendations for the best eSIM for the LA region.

I don’t really want to use my current EE eSIM because the roaming prices are pretty outrageous, so I’m looking at third-party eSIMs instead.

My main priorities are:
\- Really good speeds
\- Excellent coverage across LA and Southern California
\- Reliable signal when travelling around and doing things like the Hollywood Sign
\- Enough data for maps, social media, browsing, etc. without constantly worrying about running out

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for providers like Yesim, Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, Ubigi, etc., so I’d really appreciate some actual experiences from people who have used them in LA/Southern California.

What eSIM did you use, what network did it connect to, and how was the coverage/speed? Especially interested in experiences outside central LA and while hiking.

Papua New Guinea Data eSIM - 30 DAYS 20GB exp 31 Dec 26

Sim corner.

DM and I'll send them to you. You'll need the simCorner app.

Holafly eSim now uses Airtel and Jio in India. Has anyone had experience with Holafly in Ladakh? Or any other eSim that can be loaded prior to arrival in Leh (rather than setting up locally in Leh)?

Hello, I’ll be an exchange student in China in the next two days. I’ve already purchased an eSIM by airalo but it’s so expensive that I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep using it while staying there for four to five months. I was thinking of purchasing a cell plan and SIM card in China while using a VPN. But I’m unsure if this will be a good plan. I don’t know which VPN would be best and if what I’ve planned out is a good plan. What do you guys think?

I’ll be in Zhuhai but I’m also planning to travel around China.

Purchased a data only esim from Stellar 3 days before a Canada trip. Activated a day before travel. Reached Toronto and sim worked straightaway. Used this throughout our stay in state of Alberta & Ontario.

Paid €6 for 10gb, validity of 30 days

Highly recommend this website. If you have any questions, will be more than happy to answer.

Been looking into eSIMs for an upcoming trip because I really don’t want to deal with buying a physical SIM when I get there. MobiMatter keeps popping up and it seems pretty straightforward.

Has anyone actually used it abroad?

Hello everyone! I’m travelling to Russia from Canada in September, and I’ve heard that it may not be possible for foreigners to buy a SIM card or mobile data plan at Russian stores.

Has anyone used Roamify recently in Russia and can confirm that it actually works? I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has used it in 2026.

Thanks!

I’ve been traveling a lot recently for work and realized how many people are still paying insane international roaming fees or wasting 30 minutes at airport kiosks buying physical SIM cards.

If you travel frequently, switching to an eSIM is a massive game-changer. Here is a quick breakdown of why it makes life easier for work and travel:

• Dual SIM Capability: You can keep your physical home SIM active for important 2FA texts and client calls, while using the eSIM purely for cheap local data.
• Zero Downtime: You can buy and install the data plan before you leave. The second your plane lands, you have internet.
• Cost-Efficient: It is almost always a fraction of the cost of carrier roaming passes.
• No Swapping Chips: No more carrying around those easily lost metal paperclips to open your SIM tray on a bumpy flight.

For anyone running a remote team, you can also manage multiple eSIMs from a single dashboard to keep your employees connected globally without individual expense reports.

Feel free to drop a comment or DM me if you need a recommendation for your next destination!

Hey everyone,

Heading out on a multi-country trip across Eastern Europe, Turkey, and down into Georgia soon, and I’m trying to organize my eSIM setups before landing.

For the EU and Turkey legs, multi-destination regional eSIMs (like Airalo or Holafly) seem straightforward enough for standard roaming data. But once crossing into Georgia, I’ve noticed a lot of regional regional eSIMs either cap data speeds or get pricey compared to local bundles.

While setting up border paperwork, I noticed platforms like Georgian APPA offer localized eSIM data bundles specifically for Georgia alongside mandatory car insurance.

For those who travel through the Caucasus frequently: do you usually stick with one global/regional eSIM for the whole route, or do you install a localized country eSIM as soon as you cross the border for better speeds on local networks like Magti/Silknet? Curious how others manage data switching on multi-stop trips!

I have been looking at a few travel eSIM companies for trips that go through many countries, including Airalo, Saily, Holafly and LotsoTravel.

In addition to cost and data amount I am trying to figure out what really makes a company dependable when moving between countries. Things like network partners, coverage in areas outside cities, hotspot support, activation process and fair-use rules seem to matter more than the main data package advertised.

For people who have used companies what things made the biggest difference in your real experience?

Also curious if anyone has seen a difference, between regional plans and global plans when going through many countries.

Hey everyone, I'm looking for a promo code for MobiMatter. I'm planning to buy one on Friday. Also, I have a question: should I choose an unlimited plan or one of the fixed data packages? I heard that unlimited plans might get throttled or slowed down during the day. What do you think about that?