Tara Singh
So when to use what form of connectivity on your trip? There is a right choice for every kind of trip. I will tell you about my experiences on various kind of trips. For trips in 2024 and 2025 I have made a decision tree. Here is the result of my considerations about cost and use cases of all options for every kind of trip.
Trips under 5 days: roaming or eSIM
TIP: Travelers on short trips might find that roaming or even an eSIM is sufficient for their connection needs while on the road. Of course, there are several factors to keep in mind when it comes to connection choices for short trips – the length of course we’ll cover them below. For the US traveler, on T-Mobile for instance, they will find that they have sufficient slow data for casual use while traveling abroad as part of their included international package. Most of these slow data packages are in the form of 2G/3G data that will suffice for simple items such as messaging and checking maps; however they will NOT work for video calls or large downloads. While on AT&T or Verizon for instance, a daily roaming pass of $10-$12 per day can be sufficient for a 3-day trip for example, of course this would cost $30-$36 for the 3 days, yet would be far cheaper for the traveler than purchasing a local SIM in each country that they travel to and dealing with the initial simple process of purchasing a local SIM in each country for instance. This is perfect for the traveler that just needs connection while on the road for example. For the traveler on the road that needs full speed / real data for example – an eSIM would be the best way to go for them as well (Airalo, Holafly, Saily for example) which can cost as little as $4-$8 for 1GB of data prior to departure for example and as the traveler already has the eSIM in their phone for instance, there is no need for the traveler to stop at an airport for instance to purchase a SIM card – it’s already set up for them and ready for use upon arrival to their destination.
5-14 day trips: eSIM wins clearly
Next are 5 to 14 days. To give you an idea of pricing here, the Airalo eSIM that I have mentioned for short trips (7 days, 3GB of data) for about $10 to $15 works out fantastically for medium length trips. And here’s why: For example the 7 day 3GB package on Airalo for about $10 to $15 is a fantastic option. Firstly it’s going to be way faster than the carrier’s “unlimited” international data package that you get with your “unlimited” domestic data plan (128 Kbps to 256 Kbps on 2G/3G). Secondly, with an eSIM you have the flexibility of having your home number for incoming SMS for 2-factor authentication etc. with services such as Google Authenticator that use SMS as a secondary method for verification. With the carrier’s day pass you are looking at about $10 to $12 per day. That works out to about $70 to $84 for a 5 day to 7 day trip. This is 3 to 7 times more than the package that you would buy for an eSIM for the same amount of time and in this author’s opinion it just does not make sense to spend 3 to 7 times the price of an eSIM for data on a trip of 5 to 14 days. That is the reason why an eSIM wins hands down for medium length trips as well. The only catch here as with everything is the fact that eSIMs have limitations on certain phones. Specifically iPhone models from iPhone XS and later and many Android phones as well but not all so do a bit of research on that before you make the purchase online.
Trips of 15 to 30 days: local SIM if in one country.
When traveling within a country for an extended period, the local SIM card typically ends up being the cheapest option. On my latest trip to Thailand, for example, I picked upped my Thailand True Move H prepaid SIM to 30GB of 4G data for $20-$25 for a 30-day period. Were I to opt for an eSIM for similar amounts of data, it would set me back $40-$60. This means that, for extended trips within a single country, a local SIM card typically ends up being the cheaper option. The cost of switching SIMs can sometimes equal a temporary loss of your home number, typically for a few hours unless you have a means of receiving your home SMS over the internet (e.g. Google Voice forwarding, your carrier’s app, an authenticator app as opposed to SMS). Of course, for the traveler on the road from country to country, staying connected with an eSIM for regional or global plans often ends up being the better option – despite the often higher per day cost for the gigabytes of data transferred.
For more than 30 days on the road: it depends on your country pattern
For trips of longer than 30 days in which you will be returning to and staying in a single country, then your cheapest connectivity option will be for a local prepaid SIM with a 30 day reload which can be picked up in a shop on your first day in that country. For trips of longer than 30 days in which you will be crossing into and staying in multiple countries for 1-2 weeks each, then you will be best served by an eSIM with a global or regional plan – yes more expensive per Gigabyte of data, but your life will be so much simpler. And of course if you are on a long trip and are running a business or other activity that requires connectivity, then two SIMs would be the answer – a local prepaid for the cheapest fastest data, and an international roaming SIM for your home-number for continuity, and for the extra speed of data as well in case the local SIM wasn’t enough. That’s the rule, and it’s one that hasn’t failed me yet.
The gotchas that surprise even experienced travelers
However, in our on-going journeys to make traveling easier for everyone, we have to recognize that even as experienced travelers there are quite a number of connectivity choices’ pitfalls that we fall into – and many more that first-time tourists unwittingly miss – often to their chagrin. Specifically: First, your “unlimited data’ domestic-international cell plan” is probably going to throttle-down your speed big time to as slow as 2G while abroad. Next, your eSIM activation requires a cell or Internet connection initially (use Airport WiFi initially to activate your eSIM). Finally, some countries apparently have stricter SIM Registration regulations — more-so in Europe (e.g. Italy/Spanish mainland and most in Southest Asia). What these usually require is your local ID to fill out a form and submit your new purchased prepaid local-cellSIM within 5-15 minutes at a retailer’s shop and counter to officially activate (although an automatic, instantaneous online registration may also be simultaneously made for you from behind their retail-counter via their national operator’s back-end web portal).
Practical takeaways for your next trip
Test out your new gear, and new ways of doing things on short trips. For some reason, stuff that works for a couple of nights on end will break on you by the time you’re three weeks into a long trip, and it’s so much cheaper to find work-arounds for this sort of thing at home than on the road. Build a personal pre-departure checklist (your passport, your charger, your medications, scanned copies of important documents stored online, the address of where you’re staying the night before you leave written down on a piece of paper etc.) and go through it every time you travel. These lists don’t get bored or tired. While you’re at home, get tips from other travelers (not from travel bloggers) for how to get the best out of your gear and approaches on your next trip. For some reason, the most helpful tips are from fellow travelers you meet on the road, three weeks or so before you leave for your next long trip. They don’t know you, but they’re not writing from a desk either.
