I traveled using an eSIM for my iPhone — and here’s why you should too

[admin]

Traveling with an eSIM on an iPhone couldn't be simpler. Here’s how well an eSIM worked out for me while traveling recently.

I traveled using an eSIM for my iPhone — and here’s why you should too : Read more

 

[drdigital1]

There is one area not addressed in the article: making/receiving phone calls and SMS. Specifically, there are 4 cases that need a solution:

• Making calls and sending SMS to USA
• Receiving calls and SMS from USA
• Making calls and sending SMS locally (in the country you’re visiting)
• Receiving calls and SMS sent locally (in the country you’re visiting)

The article makes a passing reference about “texts coming through my primary US number“. If the texts are iMessage or WhatsApp text messages, they work indeed through the eSIM data network. But regular phone calls and SMS to your US number will be sent to your phone. One can block data roaming but phone calls and SMS cannot be blocked. If you answer the incoming phone call/SMS, you’ll be charged international rates by your US carrier. There is a potential work around: using WiFi calling. Not clear to me but it might be possible that WiFi calling feature might also work when the Internet connectivity is provided by the eSIM data network, not by WiFi. If so, the first 2 cases listed above are covered.

 

[DaveAS]

A disadvantage of an Airalo eSIM (and maybe others too) is that it can only be used for data, not calls - there is no phone number.

This was in Turkey and a local phone number was required for certain online services (travel card top-up for example).