Travel eSIM: mobile data abroad explained

On holiday your phone is map, timetable, translator and ticket office in one. Whether mobile data abroad is cheap or expensive depends mostly on two questions: where your SIM card is from, and where you are going. This article explains where roaming at home prices applies, what an eSIM is, how to check whether your phone supports one and how installing and activating it works – without losing your own number.

EU roaming: where your plan simply keeps working

Since 2017 the EU has applied "roam like at home": with a SIM from an EU country you call, text and use data in another EU country on the terms of your domestic plan. The rule covers all 27 EU countries plus the EEA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. According to the EU's official "Your Europe" portal, Moldova and Ukraine are now included as well.

Important for readers from outside the EU: the rule protects customers of EU operators. If your SIM is from the UK, the US, Switzerland or anywhere else, your own operator decides what roaming in Europe costs.

Not covered by the EU rule are, among others:

• Switzerland – in the middle of Europe, but neither in the EU nor in the EEA
• The United Kingdom – no longer part of the rule since Brexit
• Turkey and the Western Balkans, such as Serbia, Albania, Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzegovina
• all destinations outside Europe, such as the USA, Egypt, Dubai or Thailand

Some operators include Switzerland or the UK in their plans voluntarily – but that is a choice of the operator, not a legal rule. Check your plan details or your operator's app before you travel.

1. Lisbon EU roaming
2. Dublin EU roaming
3. London no EU roaming
4. Paris EU roaming
5. Zurich no EU roaming
6. Oslo EU roaming (EEA)
7. Berlin EU roaming
8. Rome EU roaming
9. Belgrade no EU roaming
10. Tirana no EU roaming
11. Athens EU roaming
12. Chișinău roam like at home
13. Kyiv roam like at home
14. Istanbul no EU roaming

Base map: Natural Earth

The small print of the EU rule

• Fair use: The rule is meant for travelling, not for living abroad. Operators may check over a four-month period whether you spend more time abroad than at home and use your phone more there. If so, they may add surcharges after asking you about it. For a normal holiday this does not matter; for a semester abroad or a long trip it can.
• Ships and planes: On ferries, cruise ships and planes your phone sometimes connects to a satellite network. The EU rule does not apply there, and there is no price cap. Switch on flight mode or turn off roaming on board unless you use Wi-Fi.
• Border areas: Close to the Swiss border, for example around Lake Constance or in South Tyrol, your phone can connect to a Swiss network even though you are still in the EU. Pick the network manually if needed.

What is an eSIM?

An eSIM is a SIM card that is built into the phone. Instead of inserting a plastic card, you download a profile from the provider – via a QR code, a link or the provider's app. A phone can store several eSIM profiles and use one or two of them at the same time.

For travelling this is handy: you buy the data plan for your destination from home, for example a Yesim eSIM for the USA^*, install it before you leave and do not need to find a shop when you arrive. Your normal SIM – physical card or eSIM – stays in the phone.

Does my phone support eSIM?

Most smartphones of recent years do, but not all. Here is how to check:

• iPhone: According to Apple, the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR and all later models support eSIM. There are exceptions for devices sold in some markets, such as mainland China. Under Settings → Mobile Data (or Cellular) you will find "Add eSIM" or "Add Mobile Data Plan".
• Android: Dial *#06# in the phone app. If an EID appears next to the IMEI, your phone has an eSIM chip. In the settings the feature is usually under Network & internet → SIMs.
• Carrier lock: The phone must be unlocked for other networks. Phones bought with a contract are sometimes locked – ask your operator if in doubt.

The eSIM providers also publish lists of compatible devices. Check your exact model there before buying.

Installing and activating: how it works

1. Install at home on Wi-Fi. Downloading the profile needs an internet connection. Doing it at the airport or in the hotel is needless stress. Install the eSIM a day or two before departure.
2. Check when it starts. With many travel eSIMs the validity only starts when the phone connects to a network in the destination country. With some it starts at installation. The plan's terms tell you which.
3. Arrive and switch. After landing, select the travel eSIM as your line for mobile data. Many travel eSIMs require you to turn on data roaming for the eSIM – technically they use local networks as roaming partners. This does not create charges on your home plan.
4. Protect your main SIM. Turn off data roaming on your normal SIM. Otherwise apps keep loading data in the background over your expensive home plan.
5. Do not delete the profile too early. Many QR codes work only once. Delete the eSIM only when the data is used up or the trip is over.

A travel eSIM for the UK^* is available, for example, from Saily; you install it through the app.

When a travel eSIM makes sense

Even inside the EU a travel eSIM can be useful: if your domestic plan has little data, or you navigate and stream a lot on the road. Outside the EU it is almost always cheaper than a roaming pack from your operator.

Travel eSIMs exist for single countries and for whole regions. For Turkey, for example, you will find eSIM data plans for Turkey^* at Airalo; prices for 46 destinations are in our eSIM comparison. Match data volume and validity to the length of your trip: a small pack is enough for a city break with maps and messaging, two weeks of touring with navigation need considerably more.

Your own number stays reachable

Most travel eSIMs are data-only plans without their own phone number. That is not a drawback, because your phone can use two SIMs at the same time:

• Data through the travel eSIM, so maps, messaging and translation keep working.
• Calls and texts through your normal SIM, which stays active. That way you still receive confirmation codes by text, for example from your airline or online services.

Note: outside your home roaming area, incoming calls and texts you send on your normal SIM can cost roaming fees. Many people therefore call via messaging apps that run over the eSIM's data connection. On iPhone and most Android phones you choose which line handles data and which handles calls – and that mobile data does not switch back to the main SIM automatically.

No signal: prepare offline

Even with an eSIM there are dead spots – in the mountains, on small islands, in the underground. So download maps and tickets to your phone beforehand. Our article on offline maps for travel explains how.

How YesTrip helps

In YesTrip your trip plan has all your places on the map. With the offline package you download the map, places, photos and routes of your trip to the device before you leave; tickets and your own photos are stored locally anyway. That way you find your way on day one before the eSIM is set up – or wherever there is no signal. The AI and the search for flights, hotels and tours do need an internet connection.

* Ad – Partner link: if you book there, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same.