Use of eSIM in Australia and New Zealand

[1958]

Hello. I will be in Australia and New Zealand in December and January – and I’m interested in using an eSIM in my iPhone. It seems easier and cheaper than buying a local SIM and inserting one.
Do HFPers have experience or advice?
Many thanks

[Reney]

I’ve written a longer post on the mobile thread before. In short on my last US trip, I opted for one esim and one normal sim. esim worked very well BUT only works on the newer phones and also did not include call only data. if you think there is a chance you will need to make calls and skype was not an option (i.e. in area with poor network coverage) then data only is not great.

On pricing, I landed in Auckland last week brought a sim at the airport from Vodafone (recommended by a Kiwi friend for good coverage). 40gb, unlimited nz minutes and text plus 200 mins to selected countries for 60 days for i think 60 NZD there were cheaper plans with less data and days available. (I brought one 10GB and one 40 GB for the two of us, together costs just over 100 NZD) Was told it was cheaper than what you can buy outside the airport and looking at the website it is indeed true. You can I believe top up if you need more. I’m not popping over to Oz so no idea if the plans can be used over there or pricing etc. Hope useful, the coverage has been great so far but I’m only traveling within north island.

Yes it is a pain to switch sim esp if I need to log onto something that needs to text me a code and I have to switch my sims back. But that only happen twice and I did 2 verification at once to save switching.

[Tracey]

I used an eSIM in Kenya. It worked seamlessly once set up. I had to switch my phone off and on on arrival and one other occasion.

I have a referral if the HfP team don’t have one of their own. Provider is Airalo.

Hey, have you tried an eSIM? Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code TANIA5345 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/d4AT

[Lyn]

I’m afraid I don’t know anything about e-sims.

If you do end up choosing a normal SIM, we find Aldi Mobile Pay As You Go SIM cards very useful in Australia. The initial SIM costs $5, lasts a year, and has various inexpensive call and data plans that can be added for 30 days. We use ours mainly for calls, with occasional data. The drawback is that it probably has to be bought in an Aldi store in Australia. I wish Aldi had these available for travelling in Europe.

[Mayfield]

Hi,
I used an eSim in Mauritius recently and although it took a while to set up as the original settings didn’t work, it worked perfectly once I added the new setting provided over chat support. Airalo customer service was great but a little slow to respond. I’d definitely use again.

My referral code is below if you’d like to give them a try.

Hey, have you tried an eSIM? Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code SIMON7954 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/T8mx

[memesweeper]

I have a 365 day global esim package from 3 Hong Kong with a huge data bundle, no calls. I use VOIP for calls.

If you travel to more than one non-EU country per year it’s a low-hassle low-cost option.

Ironically as I’ve not registered my ID with the authorities it won’t work *in* Hong Kong!