We have Consumer Cellular and they are not a good option for use on a long trip abroad. I've been reading about the ESIM cards, and it sound like a great option. Anyone having experience on this topic, I would appreciate your input. In particular, I'm considering Airalo. Thank you.
I have used Airalo in Italy this past May and it worked well. A couple of things to note: (1) it is data only (2) just ensure your phone can accept the eSim (it is all on the Airalo site (3) only buy what you need, it is easy to add data to your Airalo plan if you get close to running out.
We used Orange France last year during the Paris and Heart of France tour. It worked very well for us. Just make sure your phone is unlocked before leaving the U.S. The website indicates it works in Italy as well.
We have T-Mobile and while we’ve used their “international service “ in the past, I came to realize, during our Puglia trip in 2022 that we’d be better off with eSIMs. So I researched and in the end bought the Ubigi eSIM for our phones and it worked much better than T-Mobile international ever did and we didn’t have to buy any of their extra international plans.
We now really like getting data-only Airalo eSims before we leave for Italy, then activate them on landing. You can’t make phone calls but you can use whatsapp, see Google Maps, etc. 15 days of the Airalo Mama Mia eSIM for Italy, for instance, with 2 GB is only $8, then easy to top off for a few more days if needed. It's not a card and can't be installed on old phones. You need to install it where you have good wifi, but it doesn't actually activate until you land in Italy.
Are there any e-sims where you ARE able to make actual calls and texts?
I may just stick to my usual removable sim from TIM.
My TIM card worked perfectly in April/May in Italy. Easier than an Esim card to have installed.
There are eSIMs that provide a local telephone number, giving you calling and texting capability. They are a bit mote expensive than data-only eSIMs. I've never used one of the calling/texting eSIMs.
We have Consumer Cellular and they are not a good option for use on a long trip abroad.
How long is "long"? I've recently done 2-week trips to Italy and Poland and used Consumer Cellular international roaming, with very good results. By judidiciously selecting airplane mode when data not needed, the roaming charges for each trip came to around $25. Photo backups, etc. were configured to wifi only.
Since you are charged by the minute/text/MB, charges can add up with heavy use, so I can see the advantage of an eSim for an extended duration. But for a more typical trip, no advance prep is needed once intl roaming is set up. Plus you're paying the low Consumer Cellular monthly plan fees.
Will you have to ask them to unlock your phone?
Recently returned from a 3-week trip. My iphone is esim compatible so before I left I purchased a 3GB data only esim (italy-esim) to use along with my US sim card. This cost less than $10 and I only used half of that data despite being on google maps and safari constantly. The esim setup was not working initially but fortunately I was able to contact 24hr support via Whatsapp to fix my settings.
I had no voice calling with my US plan, but I was able to text (imessage, SMS) and use Whatsapp chat and voice both locally and to the US. My existing email accounts also continued working fine. The use of Whatsapp is more common in Italy but not 100%. My lodgings all had WiFi which was important since stone walls will block cell reception.