Saily: eSIM Data for Travel

The app itself is simple to use and setting the eSIM on my phone was a breeze. The service itself is good while I was in Cancun, Mexico. Only thing I’d say is… don’t overdo it with the data plan. I was on a 5 night trip and I thought… 10 gigs should cover things. Ended up coming back and used only 25% of the data. I think choosing 5 gig with the option of adding more, if needed would have been a better idea. If I needed to add, it would have only cost a little more than the 10 gig plan and chances are I wouldn’t have used all the data… which brings me to the other thing you should do… Make sure to activate the eSIM and plan BEFORE traveling… because if you activate it when you get to your destination… you’ll either have to find public WiFi or use your regular data plan using international roaming to set up the eSIM because it needs to connect/contact Saily to get it working. In my case, my international roaming from my carrier said their partnered carrier would charge me $2.84 per MEGABYTE… not per gigabyte… per MEGABYTE, which is absolutely insane. So ended up having to get to the resort and activate the eSIM over the public WiFi there. Also… my data usage would have been more than 25% of the 10 GB, if I had realized that I needed to turn on Data Roaming on the eSIM. Otherwise, you essentially may have no data service when you move from one place to another. Didn’t realize this until maybe… 2/3 of the way through my trip. But all in all a simple service to use and a simple app to use…

As a first time eSIM user I had a bit of trepidation but this app worked flawlessly for me. I guess if you need a local phone number this isn’t the way to go, but I just mostly wanted Maps and email and the ability to send iMessages (only Blue works), use FaceTime, WhatsApp, and generally feel connected. Being on an unlimited data plan at home I didn’t really have a sense of how much data I’d need. Bought 1gb for 3 days in London and 10gb for 30 days in Spain (was only there for 14 days but that wasn’t an option). Left each country with data to spare. So I spent a total of about $21. My carrier’s International Plan would have cost $170. Easy to set up. I just followed their instructions to the letter. I guess my only slight complaint is in the wording of the installation instructions - which at one point say something like Activate your SIM (which can be done anytime up to 30 days before you actually touch down in your new country) but that is different than the actual Activation - which shouldn’t happen until just before you arrive at your destination (while you still have internet access) as that begins your clock. Another thing I noticed - that wasn’t a problem - is that in the UK my eSIM didn’t work with my VPN active, but it did in Spain. Different rules for different carriers I suppose. Bottom line it was easy to use, did exactly what I needed it to do and saved me a bunch of dough.

I am traveling throughout Europe and had some difficulty switching plans between countries. I should’ve opted for a regional/global plan from the start; and I recommend to anyone going between 3-4 countries in a week should look into this. Other than that I am very thankful for this service. My provider would’ve charged me 4x as much if not more for as often as I’ve had to use GPS, or message people while on the go. I said it’s a little tricky in my title, but that’s only because it’s my first time using an ESim, and I think I over complicated things looking back by trying to use individual plans for each country I was in. I’m sure next time I need to use an ESIM it’ll be much easier, as it’s designed to be foolproof. I am just a bigger fool than I thought.