What are everyone’s thoughts on eSIMs?
Is it true they only offer data and no ability to make phone calls?
Tossing up between getting a physical SIM or eSIM for my next trip, as I’ll be visiting three continents over 5 weeks.
I’m keen to see what other people think so I can make the best decision.
Thanks!
Hey @kate25 ! Awesome questions! With e-sim you basically only get data but you can still use the data to make phone calls on apps like Whatsapp! I do it all the time when I travel abroad. I personally use a company called Saily and you just choose a plan based on your data needs and travel destination, pay for said plan and install the e-sim on your phone. You simply turn the e-sim on when you land at your destination and its ready to use and super easy! 
Hi @kate25 I have been using Airalo for quite a while and works extremely well. One of the cool things that I found on my last trip to Vietnam is that if you book with TourRadar you get a free e-sim that you can install via their App.
It was unexpected for me, but very nice thing to have as I basically did not have to worry about it 
I second @Alberto. I’ve been using Airalo e-sims for the past 6 years and it’s been so smooth and honestly less hassle than dealing with phone operators. I used to pay for Airalo each time, but TourRadar has got you covered on any tour you book. Highly recommend! 
eSIM for sure is the way to go. I used to mess around in the past with buying physical SIMs and it’s a pain and they are easy to lose. The others have already covered the basics (I’ve also used both the Airalo and the TourRadar e-SIM I received for booking a tour and both worked great).
My Pro-tip? Make sure you use a custom name / label for each one. It sounds like you’re going to be doing a lot of travel and you’ll perhaps pop in and out of some countries, so clearly labelling each e-SIM will allow you to easily choose which ones to activate at the right time.
I need to do a bit of admin to delete some of my older ones, but it’s not unusual to have 2 or 3 which need to remain active.
You’ll also see that it’s not much more expensive to get 1 for a full month instead of a few days, so keep that in mind if you will be returning to some places: it’s totally possible to switch them on and off as needed - I was doing exactly this only last week as I went from Canada to USA and back to Canada again (and I live in Europe).
Happy travels!
