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A travel eSIM is a prepaid data plan that you download to your phone as a second line. You install it at home over Wi-Fi; it stays idle until you land, then activates on its own when it connects to a supported local network. Your usual SIM keeps your number for calls and texts while the eSIM carries your data.
Key takeaways
- The eSIM is a profile written to a chip already inside your phone, so nothing is shipped or swapped
- Installing and activating are two steps: install at home on Wi-Fi, and the plan starts when it first connects at your destination
- Since iOS 26, iPhone can offer to turn on a travel eSIM when you arrive and switch back to your home line when you return
- Travel eSIMs are data-only: your home line stays on the phone for calls, texts and bank codes
- The phone must support eSIM and be carrier-unlocked
What sits inside your phone: the eUICC and its profiles
eSIM stands for embedded SIM. Instead of a removable card, the phone has a reprogrammable chip soldered to its board, the eUICC, which can store several SIM profiles at once. A profile is the data a plastic SIM would carry: the subscriber identity, the authentication keys and the operator settings. Installing an eSIM downloads that profile from the provider's server and writes it to the chip. To the network, the result looks like any other SIM; an iPhone can store eight or more of them (Apple Support).
Install at home, activate on arrival
Installing writes the profile to your phone. You do it before you leave, on Wi-Fi, by scanning a QR code or tapping a link such as Simsima's Smart Link. The eSIM then sits on the phone without using its plan. Activation happens at the destination: when you turn off airplane mode after landing, the phone finds a supported network, the eSIM registers on it, and the plan's validity starts counting from that first connection.
Installing on iPhone
- Open the email from your provider on the iPhone. On iOS 17.4 or later, tap the link, or touch and hold the QR code and choose Add eSIM; you can also scan the QR code with the Camera app from another screen.
- Tap Continue, then Add Cellular Plan, and follow the prompts.
- Give the line a label you will recognize, such as Travel.
- Keep your home line as the default for calls and messages, and choose the travel eSIM for Cellular Data when you arrive (Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data).
Installing on a Pixel or a Galaxy
- Pixel: open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, tap Add SIM, then Set up an eSIM, and scan the QR code or follow the link.
- Samsung Galaxy: open Settings > Connections > SIM manager, tap Add eSIM, then Scan QR code, or Enter activation code if your provider gave you one.
- On both, set the travel eSIM as the SIM for mobile data once you arrive, and keep calls and texts on your home SIM.
- Turn off data roaming on the home SIM so it cannot run up roaming charges in the background.
What iOS 26 does with a travel eSIM
Since iOS 26, iPhone handles travel eSIMs as a separate case (Apple Support). When you install one before leaving, iOS may ask whether you will use it at home or while traveling. On arrival, a Turn On Travel eSIM notification can appear: you then choose Travel eSIM Only, or Travel eSIM and Current eSIM, in which case the travel eSIM carries data and your home line stays reachable, with possible roaming fees from your home carrier. iOS also offers to turn on Low Data Mode.
On the way back, iOS 26 can turn the travel eSIM off and your home SIM back on automatically, depending on your country. If no notification appears, check under Settings > Cellular that Turn On This Line is enabled for your home line.
Which network you land on, and why
A travel eSIM provider does not run its own towers in the country you visit. Its plans use partner networks there, and when you land your phone attaches to whichever supported network has the best signal, as your home line would when roaming. The networks a plan can use are listed in its details; some plans have access to more than one network per country, so the phone can switch if one is weak.
The trade-off is that you do not choose the operator yourself, and features that depend on a direct relationship with the network, such as Wi-Fi calling or VoLTE on the eSIM line, are generally not part of a data-only plan.
Your number, calls and SMS codes
The travel eSIM handles data; your home line keeps your number. With both lines on, calls and SMS to your usual number still reach you, including two-factor codes from your bank, and data goes through the eSIM. If you choose to use only the travel eSIM, Apple notes that FaceTime and iMessage keep working on your home number. Internet-based apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage, banking apps and maps do not care which line provides the data.
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What does not work is a phone number on the eSIM itself: Simsima's travel eSIMs come without one, so nobody can call or text the eSIM line, and a service that will only text a number from that country cannot reach you on it. For calls, use WhatsApp, FaceTime Audio or another app over data.
When the data runs out
Plans come in two main shapes. Fixed plans give you a total amount, say 5 or 10 GB, to use at any pace within the validity. Unlimited plans give you full speed up to a daily quota, then reduced speed until the next day. When a fixed plan runs out, you top up the eSIM already on your phone rather than buying and installing a new one; the line keeps working as soon as the top-up is added.
Travel eSIM or your carrier's day pass
Carrier day passes are the simplest option for very short trips: AT&T and Verizon both charge $12 a day in most countries (October 2026) and keep your number fully active. For a weekend, that can be enough. Over a week or more, the daily fees add up per line, and a prepaid travel eSIM sized to your use usually costs less. A travel eSIM also helps when your carrier does not offer roaming in a destination at all.
After the trip
Back home, switch your home line back to mobile data if iOS has not done it for you, and turn the travel line off. A switched-off eSIM uses no data. You can delete it under Settings > Cellular, but keep in mind that a deleted Simsima eSIM can't be reinstalled on your own: if you may top it up for a later trip to the same destination, leave it installed and off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Travel eSIMs are data-only, so there is no phone number on the eSIM line. Your phone has to support eSIM and be carrier-unlocked. And a deleted eSIM usually has to be replaced by the provider rather than reinstalled; with Simsima, you contact support.
Yes. That is what travel eSIMs are built for: you install one before you leave and it connects to a supported network at your destination, alongside your home SIM. Apple's own support pages describe using a travel eSIM as a second line abroad.
A travel eSIM does not carry your number. Your number stays on your home SIM or eSIM, which can remain active next to the travel eSIM for calls and texts.
The one that covers every country on your route, with a validity longer than your trip and enough data for how you use your phone. Check the country list and the supported networks in the plan details, the hotspot rules if you need them, and how top-ups work.
Yes, as long as your home line stays on. SMS to your usual number arrive as normal; turn off data roaming on that line so it does not use data abroad.
Only on phones with eSIM support: on iPhone, the XS and XR or later; on Android, Google Pixel 4 and later, Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, and other recent models depending on the country of sale.
You can't reinstall it yourself from the QR code or Smart Link. With Simsima, contact support with your order details; the team usually replies within 24 hours.
eSIM for international travel: full overview — Broader context on choosing a travel eSIM by region and trip type
How to activate an eSIM on iPhone — Step-by-step iPhone activation walkthrough with screenshots
Browse Simsima eSIM plans by country — Compare plans for your specific destination
#eSIM#Travel#How It Works#Guide
Dimitri MorvanFounder
Founder of Simsima. A passionate traveler based in Barcelona, he helps travelers stay connected without breaking the bank on roaming fees.
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