User’s Guide to eSIMs
If your home cell provider doesn’t have a good data plan for international travel, you might want to use an eSIM (“embedded SIM” card). Here’s a handy user’s guide to eSIMs to help you stay connected while you travel!
Quick Guide to Using eSims
Physical SIM cards used to be standard on cell phones. They’re the little chips that provided your phone number and enabled internet access using your phone’s data. If you wanted to access the internet while abroad, you would have to get an international data plan from your home cell provider or else buy a physical SIM card to swap out with your own. SIM cards got smaller, and you needed that little metal poker to get it out of the drawer (or a paperclip!). Most new phones don’t even have physical SIM cards anymore (in the U.S., anyway; some countries continue to use them), so the newest way to use the internet like a local is with an eSIM.
There are dozens of eSIM providers nowadays so it’s hard to know where to begin or which one to choose. We at Wild Sage have personally used Airalo, Jetpac and Saily, and all three continue to show up in the surveys of recommended eSIM providers, so we will focus on our latest acquisition — an eSIM for Turkey — and proceed from there.
STEP 1: Install the eSIM Provider’s App and Search for your Desired Country or Region
You can research the various eSIM providers online to see who has the best fit for your needs. In our case, the Airalo app had the best choices for Turkey, so we decided to go with that. Download the app, create your account, and then select which plan you need: choose one country, a whole region, or the whole world! After that, choose how much data you want and how many days.
Step 2: Choose your Data Plan
We use our phones a lot when we travel (checking email, scanning the forecast, chatting on WhatsApp, doing social media, and navigating with Google Maps) so we went with 3 GB. If you use your phone sparingly when you’re away from the hotel WiFi and only want data for basic use (the occasional message or email), you’ll be fine with 1 GB. If you plan on streaming movies on Netflix or sending a lot of videos and photos, you may need more.
Step 3: Install the eSIM
Follow the instructions to install the eSIM. It won’t interfere with your phone’s normal function since: a) you have to turn it on in your data settings; and b) it won’t start working until you get to your destination and it connects to their internet. To install the eSIM you need to be connected to the internet, which is why you want to do it before you get to your destination. This way you can activate it right when your plane lands: turn off Airplane Mode and switch from your home data to the eSIM. Here below are some screenshots of the data page: U.S. iPhones call it “cellular” while European phones call it “mobile data.” Android phones also use both terms.
Step 4: Turn on the eSIM upon Arrival at your Destination
Go to the Cellular or Mobile Data settings, and see where you can toggle between data providers. As per the right-side screen above, our main SIM is called “Primary” while the new one we labled “Turkey 2026.” We can still see an old one from international travels in February but that will just lie dormant for now.
- turn OFF data for your primary line
- turn ON the data for the new eSIM
- scroll down and click on “Data Roaming” for the eSim
- go back to Cellular/Mobile and go to the list of apps that you want to be active with data; you can save data by turning off apps that you don’t need unless you have WiFi
Once you turn your home number OFF and the new eSIM ON you will connect to the internet provider of your local destination. You can monitor your data usage by checking the app, and if you run out of data you can just top it up as you go. Easy peasy!
Step 5: Choose the Apps you want to use on your Data Plan
Note: by switching SIM cards, you will NOT be able to chat or text using apps that link directly to your number, like iMessage or FaceTime, but you can freely use internet-based apps like WhatsApp, which will continue to work with your existing number. Three of our must-have travel apps are:
- Google Maps: find the best way to walk from the Blue Mosque to Santa Sofia in Istanbul when you join us on our Istanbul & the Turqouise Coast tour
- Weather: choose your favorite weather app (we like Italy’s Il Meteo) and see how much sunscreen you’ll need in Amalfi on our Naples, Ischia & Amalfi Coast tour
- WhatsApp: send pics, voice messages, text, videos, and share memoriesl via WhatsApp. You can also set up a group chat so you can stay in touch with family & friends as you go. Manu has been using it to share pics from her trip to the Greek Islands.
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Frequently Asked Questions about eSIMs
1. What is an eSIM?
An eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module) is a virtual SIM card that is embedded directly into your phone via software. It allows you to connect to and change mobile networks without the need to physically change SIM cards. Most devices can hold as many as 20 eSIM plans, with 1 or 2 active at the same time. The plans usually only cover data but you can also buy a local number and use it for regular phone calls.
2. Which phones can use an eSIM?
Recent iPhones (since the X model) are compatible with eSIMs while Androids are a bit more complicated. See this chart to see how your phone rates.
3. Which is the best eSIM?
For us, the “best” eSIM is whatever gives you the best solution for your travels. Do a quick comparison of the big names, check the reviews (here’s one from 2026), and see what appeals to you. We used Airalo recently and found it really easy to use, so we went with that, but there are lots out there!
4. How much does an eSIM cost?
The beauty of eSIMs is that you can choose your data plan, and they tend to be quite cheap! Ten euros/dollars will get you a handful of GB in destinations around the world. If you want to use the eSIM for local phone calls you might have to pay a bit more, but if you’re happy to make calls using WhatsApp you won’t even need a local phone number.
5. Does an eSIM have a phone number?
If you just buy a data package you won’t have a local phone number, which is usually fine. You can call friends and family using a data-based app like WhatsApp, and if you have to make an actual telephone call you could ask your hotel to do it for you or just use your own phone and pay a bit more. If you’ll be traveling for a longer period of time and you’d like to make more phone calls, you can buy a plan that includes a local number so you can call like a local.
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Hassle-Free Travel with Wild Sage
When you travel with us you can relax and leave the planning and execution to us. That’s the beauty of a fully-guided tour: everything is taken care of for you! We offer tours around southern Europe and beyond (see our full list of tours here), so you can choose your own destination, activity level, and dates. We specialize in personalized tours for small groups, and love creating the perfect tour. Contact us to set up something special for you!