Traveling abroad usually means flying to one country and then using roaming or a local SIM card to transfer data to your phone and tablet. If you're a frequent traveler around the world, Holafly wants you to try something completely new: an eSIM with a “subscription” that always lives on your phone.
The idea isn't hard to understand: if you've been traveling in a country like Japan, you can buy a physical SIM card from your local provider that replaces your own, or insert it into the second SIM slot on a dual-SIM phone. However, eSIMs can replace SIM cards as a downloadable authentication token that allows your existing phone to connect to a local network without roaming.
The disadvantage of both approaches is that one SIM card or eSIM usually only works in one country. (Take the bullet train from England to France and Switzerland and you may have to change SIM cards at each destination, as even regional SIM cards won't always work in non-EU countries.) Holafly, the Irish provider, wants you to sign up for an eSIM that always lives on your phone or computer and automatically switches to the new country's data plan when you connect.
Holafly's plans aren't cheap: $49.90 per month gets you 25GB of data in over 160 countries, or $64.90 per month for unlimited data. companies plans page It also doesn't indicate whether you'll be roaming on a 5G or 4G network, or whether your connection will be deprioritized over a local connection. If you sign up for the unlimited plan, you'll also get a local “phone number” from the US, UK or Canada. But this “phone number” will only receive SMS messages, for example for financial transaction authentication or WhatsApp confirmation.
However, there's another interesting side benefit: sign up for one of the paid plans and you can “keep” your eSIM active on your phone if you cancel at any time. (Monthly subscription renews after 30 days; annual plans available.)
This optional “Always On” plan is free and valid “indefinitely”, but in a small group of 70 countries. However, the Always On plan will only give you one gigabyte of data per month and will expire after three months if you don't use it, which may mean travelers who travel once or twice a year won't see much benefit. Holafly has listed on its website 70 countries that the Always On service will connect to. Terms and Conditions pagewhich caters to Europeans: for example, Canada is not included, and from the Americas only the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Brazil are included.
However, for frequent fliers, the added convenience of an always-on eSIM may be worth it – or at least invite competition from other carriers looking to offer even better deals. Gadget Blog notes that one Australian company, Simify, is doing the same thing, offering a 90-day eSIM that travels across 111 countries.
