Has anyone used this? We are currently paying T-mobile for a plan with international access year-round, but we do not travel internationally year-round. It looks simple, gets good reviews, is FAR less expansive than T-mobile, and covers the countries we would still like to visit.
I just wanted reviews from the forum, if possible. Thank you.
I haven't used Saily, but I've heard good things about it. I think it's like other eSIMs, and if the price is right and it covers the countries you want, then it's certainly a good option.
I've been using Bcengi, most recently on my last trip in Norway and like it a lot. It's a pay-as-you-go plan, which means you can keep it on your phone and use it whenever you travel. When you don't use it, you just turn it off, and so you only pay for the amount of data that you use at any given time.
The nice thing about it is that it covers all countries, rather than you having to purchase an eSIM for a particular area or country. The price for data varies depending on the country, but they publish the prices on their app and website, and as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the lowest-priced eSIMs there is. You give them an amount of money to keep in your account, ranging from a low of $10 (I keep $25 in my account), and then they use that. Once it starts to run out, they will pull more money from your credit card that you give them. I used it for 10 days when I was in Norway, since T-Mobile dropped the speed of my data, and the total cost was around $6.40, or something like that.
Another nice thing is that you can use it at home. Recently, our power went out, and when that happens, T-Mobile cell service just goes kaput. I turned on the eSIM and had internet access until the power was restored.
Yes, I used Saily for a two week trip to England this past April. Coverage was good in London and York, price was excellent. Purchasing and installing through the app was very easy. I was using it for data on the fly, not heavy map usage while driving. Would use them again.
Just to emphasize what was inferred in the other replies; you need to purchase the eSim
and load it on your phone. Then use the app to install and control the eSim. Just downloading
the app doesn't get you anything by itself.
When comparing Saily to Orange and Airalo etc. take note that the coverage periods are not quite the same -- two weeks is not 15 days, and so on. This might matter depending on the length of your trip. When my Sicily trip was unexpectedly extended I had to top up my Orange eSIM two times :-(
I'm sure Saily would work fine and be priced ok. But if you may be traveling a few times in future years, or if you may go to multiple countries, the Pay As You Go may save a lot of money. For example, Roamless or BCengi. Just give them $10 and add more if you need to.
The big weakness with all these esims, though, is if you want to text or call with your normal number. Then your "normal" carrier might be needed. My Tmobile account ($42/month) gives me unlimited texting internationally, which I use a lot. Tmobile includes 5 gb./month of data. If i run out of that, then I'll just use cheap Bcengi data. Been in Germany 2 weeks now, haven't needed much data, (1.43 gb. in 12 days) but some folks use a lot more data.
So the complicated question is, do you need/want to text or call with tbe number all your friends will recognize.
I should add that if your phone was provided by Tmobile, it's probably "locked" to Tmobile, and you can't use an esim.
Also note that Tmobile supports "wifi calling", so for no money, you can connect to hotel wifi and text friends for free. Calling may be free or $ .50/minute, depending on your specific plan.
I should add that if your phone was provided by Tmobile, it's probably "locked" to Tmobile, and you can't use an esim.
Not necessarily. I usually buy my phones directly from Apple, but when I bought my previous phone (iPhone 14) back in 2022, I wound up on a plan that I got with my daughter and her family, and it was easier to order them from T-Mobile. They were locked for the first couple of years, but once the bill credits were paid off, so to speak, T-Mobile automatically unlocked them.
