Yeah. Before your options were roaming or waiting till you get there to get a physical SIM.
Today I can get an app that will install the esim before I get to the country so I'm ready to go out the gate. Also pay per day options.
Rates seem really good this way.
Not as good as the local sim (in Asia not by a long mile if I recall correctly), but it's way more convenient. Then again, here we can get some daily limited (500MB-1GB, depending the country) data roaming packages for the equivalent of 1-2€ daily. If it's quite a few days I'd go local sim, it's a bit of a hassle the first day, but their data packages are silly cheap. I guess in Europe/US/Canada I'd consider seriously some Airalo or equivalent.
There are lots of countries where they won't sell you the cheap local plans as a tourist anyway.
How is it not as good as a physical sim? They are the same rates.
With Airalo? Not really. If you manage to get the eSIM from the local provider, then sure, you can get the same rates, and before you even pack for the trip. But not all local providers are so readily to offer you an eSIM. And Airalo offers convenience at a not terrible rates, but definitely the best rates are local providers, physical or eSIM.
Yeah. Before your options were roaming or waiting till you get there to get a physical SIM.
Today I can get an app that will install the esim before I get to the country so I'm ready to go out the gate. Also pay per day options.
Rates seem really good this way.
Not as good as the local sim (in Asia not by a long mile if I recall correctly), but it's way more convenient. Then again, here we can get some daily limited (500MB-1GB, depending the country) data roaming packages for the equivalent of 1-2€ daily. If it's quite a few days I'd go local sim, it's a bit of a hassle the first day, but their data packages are silly cheap. I guess in Europe/US/Canada I'd consider seriously some Airalo or equivalent.
There are lots of countries where they won't sell you the cheap local plans as a tourist anyway.
How is it not as good as a physical sim? They are the same rates.
With Airalo? Not really. If you manage to get the eSIM from the local provider, then sure, you can get the same rates, and before you even pack for the trip. But not all local providers are so readily to offer you an eSIM. And Airalo offers convenience at a not terrible rates, but definitely the best rates are local providers, physical or eSIM.