eSIM activated in UK vs EU

It depends on which one you buy. I seem to get the most use from this one https://www.airalo.com/europe-esim, which does include most of Europe (but not BiH) as well as the UK. Note that it is data only. No phone number.

Airalo does have the option of a Global plan which will give you a phone number. It is more expensive but has a nice choice of days for validity.

Cost depends upon the number of gigs of data you choose, as well as how long you want the plan to be for.

I agree with TexasTravelmom about Airalo. In order to use it, you download the Airalo app, pick the eSIM you want, and then install it. You would then activate it once you arrive at your destination. It's very easy. You can find more info about activating and using it here: https://www.airalo.com/help

Thanks for the replies. To drill down further on my question, I see that for most EU eSIMs they do not list England as a country that is covered in their network (I assume because of BREXIT). When I look at eSIM for the UK it says that EU roaming is included. So my real question is, does it matter if I buy an UK eSIM or can I buy an EU eSIM and activate it in the UK? Thanks for all your help on this.

Yes, I just pulled up the Airalo app and looked at the Europe regional SIM, and the UK is included in the 39 countries it covers. You can also see it on the web. Just go to https://www.airalo.com/europe-esim and click on the "39 Countries" box next to Coverage.

ETA: And btw, none of them will offer just England alone. It will always be listed as the United Kingdom.

And a bit further, with this particular eSim, you set it up at home, and turn it on when you land. Because it covers the UK and most of Europe (39 countries), it doesn’t matter where you are when you turn it on - just has to be one of those 39 countries.

Some UK carriers like Lyca provide eSim and EU roaming. But you have to activate it within UK.

£10 should give you 10-15GB and 1000 or unlimited minutes.

The following article should give you some good ideas.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/what-is-an-esim/

Thanks for the feedback. I went with the UK eSIM. I got a great early Black Friday deal - 20gb for £3.

£3 ?? That's almost too good to be true. Did you get it from the actual phone company?

That really is quite cheap. I'm waiting for the OP to come back and tell us about it. I followed the link jeff posted above and I couldn't see anything that cheap at all.

GiffGaff get a good name and their basic sim only package includes EU roaming. £10 per month gets you 15GB of data on pay as you go or 20GB on a 1 month rolling contract. [edit: EU roaming is capped at 5GB for free]

I also would love to know about the Black Friday sale!

I can see a UK only data only eSim for 7 days for $5 for 1G. from Airalo. The Eurolink plan is the same price for that amount. And I can get the UK only plan for 2G for $7.50 for 15 days. $3 for 20G would be far more than I need but I wouldn’t mind the $3 part!

Getting an eSim from Lyca from the U.S. seemed possible but difficult and about $25.

Lyca and Lebara are quite popular in London with those who are making long distance calls to India, Pakistan, Türkiye etc. I think their deals on calls suit a lot of people.

I've used the BNESIM esim data only, non expiring plan for the Europe region. I used it in Italy and Portugal so far, and family have used the same plan in France. If you choose the regional plan, for Europe, pay as you go, you can get data for fairly cheap and you can use coupon codes for discounts. I haven't used it in the UK yet, but according to their list of 30 countries covered by the Europe regional plan it is covered. I'm going in December, so I'll find out! If it doesn't work then I'll probably add the UK local plan, but I'm hoping that it should work just fine.
Here's a link to an article about several different esim providers. If you scroll to BNESIM, there's a discount code that can be used for your first purchase. As of September it was still valid. I got 3gb non expiring data for ~$7, then later using another discount code they sent me I added another 5gb for less than $12. I'm going to be watching for Black Friday sales for my family members to top off.
https://abrokenbackpack.com/best-europe-esim-providers/

Gerry

The link I posted is a comparison of Esim options in UK.

I suppose OP found Lyca the best fit. Lyca, Lebara and other mvno often has promo for new customers, which explains the competitive tariff.

The link I posted is a comparison of Esim options in UK.
I suppose OP found Lyca the best fit. Lyca, Lebara and other mvno often has promo for new customers, which explains the competitive tariff.

Yes. I had a look. Did you see any as cheap as three quid? I don't think we know for sure that the OP went with Lyca. The venerable Texastravelmom mentioned them and my post was just an aside as to how they are promoted here as the carrier for international calls.
ETA: My assumption with GiffGaff is that they do they same deals on eSIM as they do on a physical sim. Haven't checked that admittedly.

Well I appreciate the links and info, @jeff and @Gerry - there are some inexpensive UK-only data-only eSim plans for travelers out there (and obviously more, but that is what I am in the market for at this moment) that I didn’t know about. A couple of the links had very useful plan comparisons.

I am going to sift through and maybe experiment with a new company just for fun - this is a short week-long trip and I do see 1G/7 days for as low as $2.50. While I usually average about 1.5G/week, I can always top up or use less - OR use my Airalo eSim if I get there and the new one doesn’t work - $2.50 is an acceptable risk. LOL.

But 20G for £3? Would still like to know how to find that even though I don’t need it.

The cheap services are most likely going to be just as good. As Jeff said above, they're mvno's - they buy bandwidth in bulk from the main providers and sell it off cheap. They all piggyback off the same network infrastructure provided by EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. What you don't get is verified reliable customer service, but hopefully you shouldn't need that with a "burner" eSIM you're using for a week.

Ok, just experimented with a MOGO eSim chosen from this list over others - based on price and the fact I was guaranteed to be able to set activation date in the future. So far it is still trying to activate - it may be in this state till I land. If not, and it doesn’t work quickly enough when I land, I am only out $2. (OK, it won’t activate - I will try again when I arrive, since maybe as @jeff said, I have to be in the UK).

However I also, in perusing this list, found a link for an eSim with a UK telephone number (and minutes) with 10 G data, good for 30 days and for UK & most of Europe, for just under $30. (There are lesser plans but this looks good for my spring and/or fall trip.) If it works, it is cheaper and with more data than Airalo plans.
https://etravelsim.com/products/europe-esim?variant=43144090190005

Just to follow up on GiffGaff that I mentioned earlier, they do have their sim only deals on eSIM too. They always supply a physical sim. You can order one on their website and they'll mail it to anywhere in the world. There's then a small process in their app to convert to an eSIM, which doesn't require even putting the physical sim in your phone.

It's a low cost provider that I'd be confident in recommending in the UK, plus you have 5GB of free EU roaming data per month. The OP and TexasTravelmom may be sorted at this point, but GiffGaff may be worth considering by other visitors.

I might try one of these next year. I will have my T-Mobile free international plan, but after 5G, I lose the high-speed data until the next billing cycle. When I was in Scotland in May, I didn't run out till 3 days before I left (so about 2 1/2 weeks after I got there).

I'm thinking I will want a back up for next year in England, since I will be there for 5 weeks, and will only have 3 weeks left on my billing cycle when I first get there. I will be using GPS a lot, so will probably run out of high-speed data, so it might be nice to activate an eSIM for when that happens.

So TTM, let use know how your eSIM works! And Gerry, I will also check out GiffGaff, although I do not understand the concept of having a physical SIM card mailed to you for the purpose of activating an eSIM.

Mardee, I will.

And it is interesting about being able to switch to the eSim from the physical sim. Giffgaff is a very economical solution - but the hold up for me to this point has been having to use a physical sim, which I have given up using. Will research. Thanks again, Gerry!

I do not understand the concept of having a physical SIM card mailed to you for the purpose of activating and eSIM.

It does seem slightly redundant, yes. I think in practice, once you've bought the sim and installed the app it may be ready to change straight to an eSIM, without waiting for the physical sim to find its way across the Atlantic. I'm not 100% on how it works.

If you're spending almost $30, you'd get unlimited data in the UK on pay as you go for that if you shop around.

Here's a couple of links to UK consumer sites for comparing prices. Money Saving Expert is fronted by the dapper and charming Martin Lewis, who pops up on TV a lot over here. USwitch helps navigate the competitive UK market for phones, broadband, energy etc and is a good source of info.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only-filters/
https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/pay_as_you_go_sim_deals/

Interesting, Gerry. I might head to the Giffgaff website to see what's it's about.

Mardee, if I was out for the length of trip you're doing, I'd probably pick up a PAYG eSIM with unlimited data. I maybe burn data quicker than you, but it takes some worry away. It's a bit of a bargain compared to the US I think. There were some very good deals on unlimited data on those two comparison sites that surprised me too.

5G coverage is very good in London. Some very fast speeds if your device supports it. My perception is that the Vodafone network is best in London, but it's probably marginal. I don't remember the last time I had less than 4G anywhere in the UK.

Gerry, most of it will be covered by my T-Mobile int'l plan, so I really just need a back-up eSIM for the week or so at the end of a billing cycle (but also maybe during the 2nd billing cycle), so I can continue to get high-speed overage. So maybe a pay-as-you-go eSIM makes sense. That way I could use it just when I needed it. Thanks for the info!

And yes, my device does support 5G coverage. I used it extensively in Scotland last year, as I mentioned, and had 5G a lot of the time.

FWIW, I finally found info about eSIMs on the Lycamobile website but it was like pulling teeth to find it. At any rate, here's the link to anyone who is interested. I'm going to check it out, once I get my other trip planning done. https://www.lycamobile.ie/en/help/esim/

Ah! That's not so bad you have some coverage from your plan in the US. I just scrolled back and I see now where you told us this. I wonder what network T-Mobile phones join in the UK these days. They don't have any presence at all in the UK market now.

I just realised it was exactly the same link that Jeff posted I posted again later last night. I'm definitely paying too much for my phone at the moment!

I guess we won't hear how the OP got a 20GB for £3 deal....