How to Use an eSIM for International Travel

An international vacation is a nice opportunity to cut down on your excessive smartphone screen time and be present to soak up all those adventures. (Don’t let life pass you by!) But even if you’re spending less time doomscrolling and more time exploring a new city, you’ll probably still want to use that phone to find your way around, book last-second tours, and stay in touch with friends back home.

If you’re traveling internationally, your normal phone plan likely doesn’t include data access in the destination country. Switching over to a local data plan during your trip used to involve swapping in a SIM card you got after landing. But it’s 2024, and you no longer need to purchase a physical card on the way out of the airport—if your smartphone is new enough to have an electronic SIM. An eSIM is a small version of a SIM card that’s built into a device.

Last year, I bought a data package from Airalo and installed the eSIM onto my iPhone before heading to Costa Rica. Based on my experience using it, I was impressed with the decently affordable plan as well as the reliable connection.

Are you considering using an eSIM during your next international trip? Here’s everything you need to know, including whether your phone is compatible, how much data you actually need to buy, and how to set the eSIM up on your phone.

Will an eSIM Work on My Phone?

As a general rule, if you’ve purchased a smartphone released within the past five years, it likely has an eSIM option. Kudos to you if you have a smartphone that’s older than the iPhone XR model, though it’s probably past time at least to get the battery switched out, and you’ll definitely need to get a newer model phone to access eSIM capabilities.

Some smartphones, like the iPhone 15 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) and the Google Pixel 8A (8/10, WIRED Recommends), even have two eSIMs built in, so you can operate dual phone numbers on the same device. This could be helpful if you’re going back and forth between two countries with different data plans.

Also, you’ll need to make sure that your phone is not locked to a single carrier before getting an eSIM. Checkout this helpful article from Consumer Reports for a guide to unlocking your phone’s provider. Still need help? Reach out to your carrier, whether it’s AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon, for more assistance.

How Much Data Do I Need?

Most international eSIM data plans are prepaid, so the amount of data you should purchase depends on how much you expect to be using your smartphone while traveling and which apps you plan to use the most. And Airalo is just one of the eSIM options you can purchase online to avoid wandering around your first day in a new country trying to buy a physical SIM card. AloSIM and Airhub are two other popular choices for travelers.

Want to video chat with loved ones before bed and share jealousy-inducing video clips? You’ll likely want to opt for a larger data package, and even that may quickly run out. If you’re just looking to get around using Google Maps and send occasional texts and photos to friends over WhatsApp, then a smaller data package is likely sufficient. Of course, the longer the vacation, the more data you’ll need to consider prepurchasing.