eSIM cards are without a doubt going to change the landscape of international roaming. There are options for you to buy an international data eSIM card to date. We’re going to go over the rates and what can work for you in this article. The big benefit that you’re going to get with an eSIM card over a regular SIM card is that you literally don’t have to keep track of the card itself. Inexplicably phone manufacturers kept making SIM cards smaller and smaller. Sure, that helped save up space in phones that are also getting smaller and smaller. If you remove the card though keeping track of it can get hard. Ultimately there’s no question that eSIMs are going to take over.
As it stands right now, at the time of writing for this article in the final months of 2021 there’s still a ways to go before we see a full eSIM take over. There are a couple of reasons for that, and to be honest a lot of them seem quite odd. As a user there’s no question that getting rid of the need for a SIM switch and being able to get local coverage is a great idea. We’re all for that on this particular site. Again though as it stands there aren’t too many companies that are out there offering an international data eSIM card. At least the big wireless service providers seem to be late to the party. As we mentioned, that’s a situation that’s essentially inexplicable. As a user though, should you be looking for a prepaid eSIM card when you travel?
Benefits of an International Data eSIM Card
The benefits of an eSIM in general over a regular SIM card are abundantly clear at this point. You don’t have to worry about keeping an actual card that needs to be properly inserted in your phone. Through the COVID 19 pandemic there’s actually been a shortage of materials to even make SIM cards. You won’t have any of those types of problems with an eSIM. You can activate through a QR code an app or whatever you want to do. We’ve seen that many people end up paying more cash for their wireless services when they travel just because they don’t want to mess with their SIM card.
Another issue that totally should disappear with an eSIM are those dreaded compatibility issues. Some phones need smaller SIM cards, some phones need larger ones. You can cut the SIM card to fit some phones, but then getting it back to its original size can be a pain in the neck. This goes back to what we just mentioned. A lot of people just stick to their roaming rates because they literally don’t want to have to deal with removing the card, making sure that you keep the card safe, and all of that.
Of course, the other major benefit that you’re going to have with an eSIM is that you’re potentially going to be able to get coverage from both SIM cards simultaneously. If not at the same time you can go into an app and change what SIM is giving you coverage, and you can get the messages from your regular number right then and there. With the regular SIM card that’s always another issue that comes up. Your regular phone is fully out of reach when you have the other SIM active. A dual SIM phone solves this issue as well.
Current Cons of an International Data eSIM Card
The biggest issue that we see in the current landscape of wireless service providers is that most of the big companies, at least in The US and parts of Europe, are not offering prepaid plans that run on eSIM cards. Why is this a problem? To be able to get coverage from a top service provider you would need to enter a long-term plan. There are countries where you can’t even do that legally as a tourist. What’s worse is if you’re going to be abroad for more than a month even if you paid all of the roaming fees or international day passes from your local US provider the service is going to be cut off after a month abroad!
Your option here is getting a regular SIM card from one of the recognizable service providers. If you’re stuck on the eSIM idea though then you’re going to have to get coverage from other providers that may or may not offer great deals. In fact some of the options that are in the market today cost you as much as your regular local service provider on roaming fees! If you’re going to do that then why would you even bother getting another SIM card. Just on the basis that you may get better coverage? The way that we see it, that’s a hard sell!
What Are The Current Options Available On The Market?
There are two options that we are going to go over here. We want to be quick to point out that we’re not saying these are the only two options that you’re going to be able to find on the market. In fact, if there are more options that you find we would love to know so that we can explore them further. Again though what we’ve found for the most part is that your typical service providers are not jumping on board to offer prepaid eSIM options. When we talk about getting a local SIM card we are almost always referring to getting a prepaid SIM card. As we mentioned there are some countries where you can’t legally get into a long-term contract on a tourist visa.
TravelSim: The SIM Card For World Travel?
TravelSim is a company that offers what they call world SIM cards for folks to be able to use their phone literally wherever they want. The idea seems a bit futuristic. You’d think at this point where we are with satellite transmissions and wireless internet we would be able to have more of these options. However, these are still few and far between. This company does offer though an eSIM card that you can use on your phone pretty much anywhere in the world. What’s the catch then? The price tag on their services is just over the top.
Their big hook for potential customers is the fact that you can use your phone wherever you are in the world. Which certainly seems like a great idea for avid travelers. The rates though are very similar to what local US companies charge as roaming fees when you go abroad. The biggest problem is that this SIM card does not have a home country. So that means that wherever you are in the world, even if it’s “home” for you, you’ll still be paying a hefty fee for coverage. You can justify having this eSIM as a back-up plan. Especially if you’re an avid traveler. At a rate of 0.25 cents per MB and over 65 cents a minute on calls it’s not a bill that you want to see a lot of.
Airalo eSIM Store: Is It Legit?
This isn’t exactly one company that we’re talking about here. This is an eSIM marketplace. Right off the bat we want to say use at your own risk. We have not tried buying from the marketplace, but in doing research for this article we came across the platform. What it does help with is give you an idea of what you can expect to pay if you want to go ahead and get an eSIM for when you travel. There’s an eSIM on there for folks traveling to the US from a brand called change. The rates for data only didn’t seem that bad. It says on the site that you’ll be on AT&T or T-Mobile’s coverage map.
There was also a data only eSIM for Spain with a company called GUAY Mobile. The rates were decent at 18 dollars for 10 GB. We didn’t love the fact though that we couldn’t find a ton of information on the alleged service provider. Having said this, we may have to amend the cons section that we talked about earlier. With the big players not being involved in the market there’s a sense that getting one of these eSIMs can be a real risk. We would not blame anyone who wasn’t willing to take the gamble on any of these service providers.
Are Regular Services Providers Ever Going To Offer A Prepaid eSIM?
There’s no reason to believe that they won’t … eventually. Regular service providers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Movistar, Orange, any of the top brands from across the world have for the most part looked down on prepaid plans. The simple reason behind this is that regular plans make more money for the company. They can hit you with roaming fees or get you on a bad credit deal for a new phone. As things stand right now though it’s overly likely that eSIMs are going to be the future of wireless services.
Right now devices are just coming into the trend. There’s going to come a time though when all of the phones are going to move completely to eSIMs and there’s not going to be a way to ignore the trend. When that happens or even a bit before that, regular services providers are going to move to offering eSIMs for prepaid plans. Although it’s not the best thing for their business these giant companies aren’t going to let GUAY mobile take over that chunk of their business. For now though they do seem content with keeping eSIMs as a luxury that only folks on a long-term plan can have.
Things To Consider Before You Travel
People want to have the benefits of an eSIM, but don’t have the device to be able to get that done. If you don’t have a phone that can read an eSIM you need to fix that before you go shopping for one. That’s a basic situation, but we sometimes forget to check compatibility. Again, even if you do have a phone that can read an eSIM it can be a good idea to double-check the compatibility with your device before you go out and buy an eSIM or even a regular SIM card. Where you’re going to be traveling is really going to dictate your options.
You can’t expect every single country that you travel to, to be on the same technological scale compared to your home country. If you’re traveling to Latin America, certain parts of Asia, certain parts of Africa, and other more remote places eSIMs are going to be hard to come by. That’s just a fact. The technology is taking over without a doubt, however we could still see regular SIM cards available for years to come as certain countries catch up.
Conclusion International Data eSIM Card
eSIM cards are going to take over for regular use sooner rather than later. As was just mentioned there are certain parts of the world where the process is going to take a little longer. However, regular SIM cards are getting harder to make because of a lack of raw materials. Therefore, the whole switch over to eSIM cards could be sped up by that. As we stand right now in 2021 going into 2022 most of the high profile service providers aren’t offering prepaid eSIM cards. There are some lesser known providers who’ve been early to the market. Sadly, some of these options are of the try at your own risk variety.
If switching your regular eSIM card is a problem for you then for sure, look for an international data eSIM card. Just make sure that whatever you buy is compatible with the device that you have. Otherwise, you may have just thrown money down the drain. This article is without a doubt going to become obsolete at some point in time. It is interesting though to think that most companies aren’t racing to offer international data eSIM cards. As we mentioned, the big business for most of the noteworthy service providers is in long-term contracts.