We are planning to travel Schengen & some UK this October to January.
Is Airalo the best option for us?
For those who have actually used it, which package was a better value? Specific country or "European Union and United Kingdom" package?
In the USA, we have T-Mobile & iPhones, fyi.
Thanks so much,
- Ronda
I've used nomad https://www.nomadesim.com/ in the past, worked well for me.
I would work out how much data you think you might need, but even if you need more you can easily top up.
We have T-Mobile and have used it in the UK, France and Norway with no issues. We can even add their International Pass if we need more data
It's true that T-Mobile has an international plan for free that you can use, but it depends on the TM plan that you have. I don't think it's offered to all of T-Mobile customers. That said, you can pay for an international plan if you aren't entitled to a free one.
However, in the past I have used Airalo, and sometimes it's a good idea to have an eSIM in addition to your international plan just in case. For example, when I was in London last year, I had a lot of trouble with the carrier that was providing service for T-Mobile and was stuck without service for a lot of my stay. It was extremely frustrating, and I wish I would have just gone ahead and gotten an eSIM that I could have used to supplement the plan.
With regards to your question about which package is a better value, it really depends on what you need. If I was traveling to Schengen countries and the UK, I would get the EU and UK package. Otherwise, you might get stuck. For example, I had an Airalo eSIM when I went to Germany back in 2022. I bought just the Germany package; however, while I was there, I decided to head to Copenhagen for several days. Unfortunately, my Germany plan wouldn't work there, so I had to buy an extra five days of service for Denmark with Airalo. It wasn't expensive at all, and it worked fine, but I'm just saying it's probably a better value to get the package so you don't have to change eSims when you switch countries.
I no longer use Airalo as T-Mobile is great in Europe for us. I use Whatsapp and wifi calling if actual calls are necessary, which is rare.
Ronda, it depends on just what is included with your Tmobile plan. There are many plans, some new, some old, and plans vary a lot on what International Roaming is included. You need to log into a Tmobile website, or use the T-Life app, and see what applies to you. My plan is an old Magenta plan which is not listed on a Tmobile website, but I get unlimited texting in 214 countries, with 5 gb. of high speed data in 11 countries. In the other countries I still get unlimited slow data (256 kbps), which works well enough for me.
Edit: I see now that Tmobile has changed the "11 countries with 5 gb. high speed International Data", to be "214 countries with 5 gb. high speed International Data". So Tmobile folks here might re-check their plan benefits.
To those evaluating travel SIM options, I strongly recommend visiting esimdb.com. It's a brand-agnostic site that lists a variety of availability eSIMs with their associated pricing.
