I have a mobile phone which allows use of eSIM cards
I know I can buy an eSIM card online in the USA, but I am not sure which specific data/talk/message plan I should get.
So I would like to buy
the card at Heathrow airport so I can talk to a real person about options.
Has anyone purchased an eSIM ( not a physical SIM) at Heathrow?
Which carrier did you buy and were you happy with the service and performance you received?
Thanks
Ken
It would help to know some of the specific advantages of an eSIM over a normal SIM card so we can be of more help. Because my first inclination is just to advise you to get a normal SIM
The main advantage would be ease of changing from one esim to another: dont have to physically exchange
cards and no risk of losing a card.
I used an eSim card in New Zealand and it worked wonderfully!
Another major reason why I need an eSIM card is because my iPhone 14 does not accept physical SIM cards.
Ken
Ah OK, thanks for your reply. So it's both a convenience and a necessity. Unfortunately I have never used an eSIM before. It might be worth posting this in another forum as well. I won't tell anyone you posted twice :)
For our recent trip to London, my wife purchased an eSim for her phone from Vodafone. We installed it before our trip and then activated it upon landing at Heathrow. It performed flawlessly, with the caveat that the eSim provided data only (not talk or text). We used WhatsApp to allow her to talk and text using the eSim during our trip.
This thread came up the other day. We discussed buying an eSIM online for using in the UK.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/cell-phone-in-uk-totally-confused
We found that the major cellular service providers (O2, EE and Vodafone) generally refused to sell eSIM prepaid plans to US visitors. I strongly recommend you check out giffgaff before you leave the US.
