When researching phone carrier options for my trip to Albania, Greece, and Turkey, I came across a fairly new company called Airalo. This company purports to have a solution to making international travel and communications easier than it has ever been before. Intrigued, I started doing some research into the world of eSIMs.
Airalo describes itself as the world’s first eSIM store that gives users access to over 190 different digital SIM cards! As of August 2021, they have over 260,000 people using their service.
What is an eSim
How are eSIMs different than regular SIM cards? eSIMs or embedded-SIM cards are software coded information that is sent to your smartphone to tell it the unique ID and configuration details for a given cellular network. The normal SIM card that goes in your device operates much the same way, but transfers the information from the physical card. Traditionally when you switch carriers, you have to visit the brick and mortar store, purchase a SIM card, and wait for the carrier to configure it with your account information. When you travel frequently, as I do, your normal steps upon arriving in a new country usually include visiting a carrier store right away.
With an eSIM, one company can offer one plan that covers many different countries and multiple carriers. And Airalo is the broker for all those different companies. They handle selection, payment, and support for all the cell plans they carry in their digital store.
Does your device support eSim? Generally that’s a yes for every iPhone since the iPhone XS, Google Pixel since the Pixel 3, and Samsung since the S20/Note 20. You can see a full list of compatibility on Airalo’s website here.
Getting started with Airalo
With an eSIM there is no physical store to visit to sign up. First, follow this link to set up an account! Once you’ve created your account, download the applicable app to your device. Then head to the “Store” section of the app to browse your options. Cards are sorted by region and you can select cards to cover individual countries or larger groupings. I signed up for the “Eurolink 10GB 30 Day” plan which covers 38 countries and proved to be cheaper than getting one plan each for Albania, Turkey, and Greece. Plans are available in 1 day, 7 day, 30 day, 90 day, and even 180 days! Many are very reasonably priced and oft-comparable to the prices I’ve seen at carrier stores.
The initial configuration process was straightforward and simple. On iPhone, you purchase your desired plan, tap “Details”, then “Install eSIM”. The app will then display the upcoming requisite steps to finish the install. It is important to fill out all the details exactly as described in these steps. If you do not properly set up the eSIM, it will not function. I would recommend taking a screenshot of the installation steps page or bookmarking this link on Airalo’s support site.
The setup process is a bit different, and I’d argue less smooth, for Android devices. Instructions for Samsung devices can be found here. And for all other Android devices that support eSIM, start here with this support article index.
The perks
The benefits of smooth setup and no physical store trip were enough selling points for me, but there are more. You don’t have to be in country to buy the plans. I stepped off the plane in Albania, flipped to toggle on my eSIM line to “on”, and was instantly connected. The pricing structure is fair and offers many different price points to suit many different use cases. And most of the plans an offer can be topped up without having to go through the setup process again.
The company also has Airmoney, their catch-all reward program for referring friends, promotional offers, and frequent purchases. Airmoney can be used to purchase new eSIMs or top-up existing ones.
It’s not all roses
I did run into my first problems when I crossed the narrow Strait of Corfu from Albania into Greece. I had drastically reduced connection speeds and I suspect some of that might have been issues switching from one network to another. At their closest, Albania and Greece are only 3km apart. I was still getting signal for Vodafone Albania while standing in the Port of Corfu. I manually went into Cellular settings on my iPhone and switched the network carrier to Vodafone Greece. (I later found a help article on Airalo’s website that advised manually selecting the supported carrier per country, I suspect to solve this very issue).
I left my T-Mobile physical SIM in the phone and since it operates on similar networks to the eSIM plan through Airalo, I have been able to compare their reception as I go. There have been times where my physical SIM card on the Vodafone network has full bars, while my eSIM also on Vodafone has none. I also encountered a strange data issue while in Santorini, Greece. My phone displayed full signal on Vodafone Greece for the eSIM, but when I tried to access any internet based app, I received an error message saying I was not connected to the Internet. Waiting awhile and trying again seemed to resolve this.
Lastly, most of the plans I looked at while researching this piece do not come with a phone number and as such cannot be used to make phone calls or send SMS. I didn’t even notice this issue as I predominantly communicate with friends and businesses via WhatsApp or iMessage while traveling. But if this is important to you, then be aware of this potential limitation. One additional caveat is many apps like WhatsApp require a phone number for authentication, so be sure to set these up with your home country cell number before switching to eSIM on the road.
Conclusions
I can easily see how Airalo and competitors are on the cusp of revolutionizing digital nomad phone service. The business model is primed for anyone traveling internationally for short or long term and for those that hop around to multiple countries. I can envision region-based plans being ideal for backpackers traveling in Europe or Southeast Asia. While there still exist some technical support problems that I worry could prove tricky for support situations, Airalo impressed me and I recommend it for digital nomads and frequent travelers.
