3 ms·

I’ll endorse one - been using Airalo for a few years, works great. I prefer using that app to finding someone at the airport to buy a SIM card from.

zarzavat 3y ago
It’s very expensive though, compared to a local SIM. It’s not really a replacement for local SIMs, it’s more like a good international roaming plan from your home country, more convenience at a higher cost.
- ericpauley 3y ago
  Airalo is $5 for Europe for a week. I can’t imagine any savings over that that would outweigh the convenience…
  - Vibgyor5 3y ago
    Its all relative — I paid $10 for a month in Germany as a resident (comes with full EU roaming). Prices in other EU countries are even cheaper. It took 1 minute to plug it in. Also, travelers from Western countries might not really be ecstatic about paying for paying $$ for something that comes with zero upside to physical SIM.
    - adeelk93 3y ago
      People pay more for digital media than physical media in other contexts for the convenience. I'm not going to buy a DVD on amazon to save a few dollars. It's subjective, I'm sure there's still people buying DVDs, but you can't say that there's "zero upside"
  - laurencerowe 3y ago
    The $5 plan only gets you 1GB of data. I usually get through much more than that while travelling. Last time I was in the UK ended up walking into a Vodafone shop and got a physical SIM and 30 day 20GB pay as you go plan for £10. That would cost $74 on Airalo. I'm looking forward to eSIM being more widely supported as its definitely more convenient. In the last year most US carriers have started offering it on their PAYG plans.
  - zarzavat 3y ago
    If you are a tourist for a few days then I understand completely not wanting to waste time looking for a local SIM. On the other hand, if you are a regular visitor to a country, or you are meeting a local who can hook you up, or you are staying for a while, then it may be worth getting a local SIM. Some countries make it easy, others make it difficult. In UK for example it’s very easy to get a SIM and the local prices are about half of Airalo (which doesn’t seem to offer an unlimited data plan).
  - msh 3y ago
    If you want a lot of data arialo is not really competitive.
- gorbypark 3y ago
  I’ve always assumed this, too. I am currently in Andorra and the biggest prepaid plan from Andorra Telecom (the only mobile operator) is 19€ for 3gb of data (and 60 minutes of talk, which I don’t need). It was simple to get using their website and an eSIM. Just checked Airalo and they have 3gb for $10.50 usd! That’s like 9.50€ or something and Airalo always seems to have a 15% off coupon (maybe first order only?). They also have larger plans. I am going to switch over as soon as I run out of data on my Andorra Telecom plan.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

zarzavat 3y ago

It’s very expensive though, compared to a local SIM. It’s not really a replacement for local SIMs, it’s more like a good international roaming plan from your home country, more convenience at a higher cost.

ericpauley 3y ago
Airalo is $5 for Europe for a week. I can’t imagine any savings over that that would outweigh the convenience…
- Vibgyor5 3y ago
  Its all relative — I paid $10 for a month in Germany as a resident (comes with full EU roaming). Prices in other EU countries are even cheaper. It took 1 minute to plug it in. Also, travelers from Western countries might not really be ecstatic about paying for paying $$ for something that comes with zero upside to physical SIM.
  - adeelk93 3y ago
    People pay more for digital media than physical media in other contexts for the convenience. I'm not going to buy a DVD on amazon to save a few dollars. It's subjective, I'm sure there's still people buying DVDs, but you can't say that there's "zero upside"
- laurencerowe 3y ago
  The $5 plan only gets you 1GB of data. I usually get through much more than that while travelling. Last time I was in the UK ended up walking into a Vodafone shop and got a physical SIM and 30 day 20GB pay as you go plan for £10. That would cost $74 on Airalo. I'm looking forward to eSIM being more widely supported as its definitely more convenient. In the last year most US carriers have started offering it on their PAYG plans.
- zarzavat 3y ago
  If you are a tourist for a few days then I understand completely not wanting to waste time looking for a local SIM. On the other hand, if you are a regular visitor to a country, or you are meeting a local who can hook you up, or you are staying for a while, then it may be worth getting a local SIM. Some countries make it easy, others make it difficult. In UK for example it’s very easy to get a SIM and the local prices are about half of Airalo (which doesn’t seem to offer an unlimited data plan).
- msh 3y ago
  If you want a lot of data arialo is not really competitive.
gorbypark 3y ago
I’ve always assumed this, too. I am currently in Andorra and the biggest prepaid plan from Andorra Telecom (the only mobile operator) is 19€ for 3gb of data (and 60 minutes of talk, which I don’t need). It was simple to get using their website and an eSIM. Just checked Airalo and they have 3gb for $10.50 usd! That’s like 9.50€ or something and Airalo always seems to have a 15% off coupon (maybe first order only?). They also have larger plans. I am going to switch over as soon as I run out of data on my Andorra Telecom plan.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]