When you travel overseas, how do you ensure you can continue to get online with your phone? In the past, that often meant buying a local SIM card and popping it into your device. In more recent years, you could buy an eSIM data package for a different country or region and install it onto your phone, if your device is eSIM-compatible.
The team behind ExpressVPN has launched an eSIM service, housed on an associated website, holiday.com. This complements our efforts to enhance your travels with the security and convenience of VPNs, including our Aircove Go portable VPN router.
With our VPN app, we’ve long given travelers and expats freedom of access by allowing them to appear to be in a different country via IP address. We hope the holiday.com eSIM—a service separate from the ExpressVPN app—will empower you to take greater control of your internet experience, especially when abroad.
What is an eSIM?
Popular smartphone brands began to include eSIM, or embedded SIM, in their devices in 2016. And in 2022, iPhone 14 became the first device to only use eSIM, without the additional option of using a physical SIM card.
These chips are built directly into the motherboard of the device, and you can’t remove them or change them. An eSIM has the same functionality as a physical SIM card, but with the benefit of being rewritable and programmable. This means you can switch your network operator without swapping anything out. Everything is handled electronically.
How do holiday.com eSIMs work?
Travelers arriving in a different country have several options: They can use separate SIM cards, rely on public Wi-Fi, carry a pocket-sized router with prepaid data, use data roaming—or buy an eSIM plan for the trip. If your phone supports eSIM, it’s easily the most convenient, reliable, and affordable method of staying connected.
Every time you’re about to go overseas, just launch the holiday.com app or site, choose the country or region you’re heading to and the amount of data you need, pay for the plan online, and install your eSIM. Once you arrive at your destination, your phone will automatically connect to the local mobile carrier.
There are more than 200 countries to choose from, as well as regional and global plans. You can install multiple eSIMs on your device, so you’re fully prepared for every destination on your itinerary before leaving home. You’ll also have the peace of mind of using internet data from a trusted source rather than relying on unfamiliar, potentially unsecured public Wi-Fi.
How to know if your device supports eSIM
Most smartphones now have eSIM compatibility.
Apple’s iPhones started offering eSIM with the iPhone XS (first released in 2018). Every model after that supports eSIM (except phones purchased in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau). The best way to check if an Android device is eSIM compatible is by checking the specs of your model online.
Note that your phone cannot be carrier locked—meaning you can only use a specific mobile carrier—to use a holiday.com eSIM.
How to get a holiday.com eSIM
holiday.com eSIMs are available for purchase now at holiday.com. Besides that, anyone can head to the holiday.com site or app to buy eSIMs and top up existing ones.
ExpressVPN users will be eligible for special offers on holiday.com eSIMs, with promotions soon to be announced.
Note: You do not need an ExpressVPN subscription or app to use a holiday.com eSIM.
Ready to experience extraordinary? Learn more about holiday.com here, or download the app for iOS or Android.
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