Airalo eSIM Review

One of the most asked question for travelers when going overseas is how do we get internet connectivity on our destination country that won’t cost us an arm and a leg due to data roaming charges. While there are several solutions such as checking with your phone network carrier on your home country whether or not they have a plan that supports network connectivity at your destination country or getting a sim card when you arrive there, it may not be the best option for you and your family.

Ideally you would want something that is convenient and does not break the bank. Two of the most common method that are being used are getting a wifi pocket (portable hotspot) or getting an eSim on your phone and this time we will discuss on using eSim.

There are many companies that offer eSIMs for your phone whether it is an Android or an iPhone and we will share our experience using Airalo while we were away in Indonesia and Singapore, this review is solely based on our experience and our experience alone, you may have different experience than us.

What is an eSIM?

eSIM is basically a digital version of a physical SIM card that allows you to activate cellular plans without needing a physical SIM card

What is Airalo?

Airalo is a company that provides a service for travelers to access digital SIM cards or eSIMs for data connectivity in many countries and regions (Just like many others, our focus this time is Airalo)

How it works?

Basically you will need to download the app either from Google Pay or Apple Store, register than purchase an eSIM.

OK so now that we got the basics out of the way, here is what you need to know before using Airalo.

First is to check your phone whether or not it supports dual SIM cards or not. If it does not then you will need to turn off your primary SIM, if your phone does support dual SIM cards then you should be able to get an eSIM.

After purchasing a plan you will need to install it on your phone, this is where it becomes tricky at least our experience was. I had no issue installing it on my phone (Samsung Galaxy S20 Note Ultra), the process was very easy and smooth however this was not the case on my wife’s phone (Samsung Galaxy S20). Her phone gave an error stating that her phone is Network locked and when we tried to get a customer support it took a while before we get a response and by that time we already figured out how to fix it.

After installing it you will need to activate it, the instruction does give you steps on what to do but it was a bit confusing at first but basically you will need to make your eSIM as the primary SIM card, make sure that your phone Network lock is unlocked and you will need to be at the destination country (if your carrier cannot unlock your phone then you should NOT use Airalo). Data roaming for your eSIM should be turned on while your primary SIM data roaming is turned off (while the latter is not mandatory, it is advisable to do so to avoid any data roaming charges. I had mine both active and only set the eSIM as the primary network), also the app might not show Active until it already uses a certain amount of data at the destination country. Some people suggested to get it before your travel but we got ours when we were there, although what they suggest is better because when you arrive you will already have access to the network while getting it at the destination country you will need to connect to a network first which you may not have right after landing.

One thing that you will need to keep in mind is that Airalo only provides access to Data and not voice or text messages (except for a few plans) but you can circumvent this by using app like WhatsApp or others.

If all are done properly then you should have access to data without any issue.

How fast is the connectivity?

The speed will vary depending on where you are, below are the speed when we were in Indonesia and Singapore:

Indonesia

Singapore

As you can see, the speed is pretty good on one but not as good on the other but it will do just fine for maps or text and calls via Whatsapp

The Pros

Here are the pros:

Convenient

It is very convenient to use unlike wifi pocket or portable hotspot, you do not need an extra device to carry around and there is no need to return it. Just install, activate and use and remove once you are done using it

Lots of destination supported

There are over 200 countries and regions that are supported with many options that will fit your needs, you can also top up at any given time on most plans. One thing that we really like is that we can get a regional plan (they also have global plan) that covers many countries within that region, so if you’re traveling to a couple countries or more during your trip then it is a very handy option to have. We did get the Asia plan since we were in Singapore and Indonesia when our first plan (Indonesia) expired and it work wonders

Video will be posted here soon!

Cashback

It has a tiered cashback program, when you start you get 5% back as Airmoney which you can use to purchase a plan once you have enough. Do keep in mind this Airmoney has 1 year expiration date, while this is the case it will get extended for another year if you made another purchase so this will be beneficial if you travel at least once every 12 months. Using your Airmoney will also extend the expiration date which is plus.

If you like to try you can use our referral code below:

ARNOLD3351

You will get $3 credit on your first purchase

The Cons

Installation can be confusing

While the product works great once everything is installed and activated, the instruction can be confusing as it may very by each devices that you use and support is not really quick to respond (although it may be due to time differences but you would expect a quicker turn around especially when you are abroad)

No Credit Given Back On Unused Data

This probably true for all the apps that provides the same service, you do not get any credit back for any unused data so if you over purchase the data plan then you will lose money

One Time Install on Most of the eSIMs

Most of their eSIMs are one time install only so if you accidentally removed it then you may not be able to reinstall them again

Not All Packages have Top Up Option

It is always good to have the option to Top Up but unfortunately not all packages or plans have this option, when we were in Indonesia they have unlimited plan for $35 which is good for 10 days but there is no top up option which means that after 10 days we have to get another and go through the installation process again which is a bummer

The Verdict

At this moment I think we are on the fence, will we use it again? Yes most likely since we have quite some Airmoney left over but thinking about what we had to go through to figure out stuff when it doesn’t work initially really making us hesitant. If you are traveling with families then you pretty much have to get more than 1 plan and that cost does add up, the only way to go around this issue is by going in teams and turn on the mobile spots and have others who do not have the plan connect to it but this will burn your data plan much faster so plan accordingly since you do not want to over purchase the plan. At times it feels like the data plan gets depleted faster than you expect, I know we don’t really have concrete evidence but it does feel that way to us.

It was more positive experience for us when we tried it, it was much better when we were in Singapore than Indonesia probably because of better infrastructure. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding before you decide to try or skip Airalo on your travel but if you do decide to try don’t forget to use our referral code to get $3 credit when registering using: ARNOLD3351