How Many GB do We Need? Unlimited Worth It? And Other eSim Questions.

For a recent 16-day trip to Greece, I purchased a 5GB data-only plan from Airalo and I ended up using less than 2GB. I mostly use data for Google Maps and WhatsApp. I do almost all of my social media scrolling and internet searching in the evenings on the hotel wifi. And I download the background maps for the areas I visited prior to the start of the trip, so this reduced the amount of data used each time I looked up directions. I saved coppies of all of my important documents on Google Drive, and made them available offline on my phone so I don't need data to access them. Also, I was on a group trip, so if I was traveling on my own I might have used some more data, but I doubt I would have gone over the 5GB.

I’ve used Airalo on two trips now and really like it. It’s really easy to check on the app how much data you have left, and it looks simple enough to top up (add more data) if you are running low (although I have never had to do that).

I should also note that I am a very low-data user. At home, I usually use around 1GB per month. So maybe look at what your data usage is at home and double or triple that amount for your trip.

On a 30-day trip to Sicily this spring with lots of driving and navigating I got close to using 10GB of my Airalo eSim, but that was mostly because our apartment for the final 5 days did not have wifi and I had a bad cold and watched a lot of videos. I'd be surprised if you'd use more than 5GB, but it's really easy to top up if you need more.

Yes, Verizon just stores all your texts. I think, but am not sure, that between two iPhones you can use iMessage.

I love Airalo and have used it several times. You install and activate it, but it doesn't start doing its thing until you land and you turn your phone to using eSim.

We used Vodaphone last Fall in Portugal and France and we're happy. A 30 day plan came with 30gb which we wouldn't use in 5 months at home. As an example you could send and receive 1000 emails for about 1 gb. You can use Google Maps for about 200 hours and use up only 1gb. Streaming and online betting is what sucks up your data.

If someone calls or texts my US number while the esim is on, does
Verizon just store it all until I turn off the eSim and then flood my
phone?

Yes. However if you have an Iphone I think you'll still receive texts from other IPhone users. I think. My wife has an Iphone and I think she was still receiving her texts from her Iphone friends, I don't recall but it may have been when she was on wifi.

I don’t stream movies or tv or videos when I travel, but otherwise I use data when I travel just like I do at home. I used about 1.5 G/week. Airalo has worked for me for nearly 4 years of travels. I generally buy based on the length of. Y trip, but as mentioned it is extremely simple to top up the eSIM if I either need more data or more days.

And, I find I use more data when I travel, so close to 10 GB a month. In most cases though the cost of a few GB and 10GB is minimal, no harm in spending a couple extra bucks to get more than you think you need.

One thing to check are the settings you have available, and what your plan would provide in Europe.

I have a later generation Pixel (android), capable of having one physical and one eSIM, or two eSiIMs. My carrier (Google FI) uses one eSIM spot. So on my recent trip to Spain for a month, I bought an Airalo eSIM, then set my phone to allow calls and texts on Google Fi, and data on the Airalo SIM. In that way, I do not have a "different" number, and am reachable if someone calls or texts, but using cheap data.

One way to reduce your data usage is to set your cloud photo backup to wifi only.

Thanks everyone for all your input!
I never would have thought to set my icloud to backup pnly while on wifi.