eSIM recommendations please

Hi,

I’m fairly sure this has been spoken about before, but am interested to hear if anyone here has used Saily? Looks as though you can get a local phone number, unlike holafly which is data only - but have had a couple of times where our rental car has broken down and we’ve been out of any WiFi reach, so having a phone number is a must really (I just know the one time I don’t bother is when I’m going to need it!).

Been buying a us physical sim to now, which seems a little behind the times, so hoping am eSIM will be a smooth and reliable process. Thoughts anyone????

Would recommend etravelsim. They do both options of data only or data + minutes (inc local number).
Have used both options multiple times and is very reliable, and affordable.

If you’re going to the USA look at 3, I use them all the time when travelling. You buy a £10 pay as you go pack (valid for 1 month) and it gives you up to 7GB data (I think it is) / calls and txts (to UK numbers) in their go world areas which include the USA. I put my UK number on divert to it so never miss any calls.

They used to limit the data use to 7GB whichever pack you chose, but they have just changed it to be a percentage that can be used abroad depending on what pack you chose.

You can select a physical sim or e-sim. I did the e-sim option a couple of weeks ago and it took a couple of minutes to sort. The number lasts for about 6 months without use so if you travel regularly you can keep the same number.

Thanks for those suggestions!

Another option you could check is BLINK eSIM, it doesn’t include a phone number, but it’s been reliable for data when jumping between countries. Setup’s instant with a QR, and support’s all through WhatsApp, which is handy if you’re already using it while travelling. I used it across the US and Europe without issues, worked fine for calls over Wi-Fi and maps.

Ngl, the whole local number thing is what keeps tripping people up. Data-only is fine till the one moment it isn’t. When I switched over during a Spain trip, I grabbed a Maaltalk because it actually behaved like a normal line instead of those weird temporary setups, just worked without babysitting it. If your rental keeps dying on you, honestly, having something stable is the real win.

Just an update. I used etravelsim in the end, lastly because it was one of the very few which had the option of phone calls as well as data. I have to admit, I did have some trepidations about this, but bought a package before we left the UK. eSIM was sent immediately, as was local phone number. It didn’t actually become active until we reached the US (was a bit concerned about that, but their customer serviced assured me this was usual) and it did indeed activate when we landed.

Very impressed, it worked perfectly and did exactly what it said it would, calls worked perfectly, data was plenty for GPS use (which we used all the time). Only downside is that you can’t check your usage online, you have to ask their customer service people.

Would thoroughly recommend.

Thanks to this thread, I decided to use ETravelSim for our current trip to Canada.

I went for a data-only package which I bought a few days before flying out. Despite raising an eyebrow when I was given a French number for this, it worked perfectly fine once I landed in Calgary and hasn’t let me down yet.

Another recommendation from me and will gladly use them again in the future.