Airalo App

For people who travel a lot, to many different places, the Airalo App may just be what you are looking for. It is an eSIM App with many things going for it. Do you want $3 off your first purchase? Use referral code TANDY4186 when you sign up.

Airalo App

Relatively new to the market, I stumbled across the Airalo App when looking for a working solution to our European travels. When we went to visit Mark in 2021 I ended up spending a small fortune on a SIM Card that offered too much data, and ended up being used once. As both my cell phones are eSIM compatible I decided to look into how this works, and if it would work for me.

ESIM capacity

To check if your phone has an unlocked eSIM go into your network settings and see if it is provider locked. For an iPhone go to:

Settings | General | About | Network Provider Lock

If there are no restrictions then you can install the Airolo eSIM.

What is a physical SIM vs an eSIM

The physical SIM is the little plastic card that you use from your Network provider. In your settings you will see the name of the Network for example Vodafone. And the Network Provider, which in my case is GiffGaff. The eSIM will show as an available SIM with an IMEI2 number.

Making sure the eSIM works

To check how the eSIM worked, I took my UK Cell Phone and installed the Airalo App. I chose a local eSIM for South Africa, and for testing purposes spent $5 on 1GB for 7 days. The validity period for most of the eSIMs starts when it connects to any supported network in the country you have selected. It is recommended that you install the eSIM before you  travel while you have WiFi, and it will activate as soon as you arrive in the country. For Italy I chose a 2GB package for 15 days as that is how long we are travelling for. The cost for this package was $8. In my opinion, this is extremely well priced. And I knew if I ran out of data that I could easily top up for a discounted rate.

How to install an eSIM

An eSIM can only be installed once! Once you have completed the purchase click the link go to eSIM details and then install eSIM to activate the eSIM in order to access the data. Do not disrupt this process as it can take a while, depending on your WiFi speed.

What to do next

Select Travel as your default line, as well as for iMessage and FaceTime (on an iPhone) and for mobile data. Do not select mobile data switching as this will use your primary number for data which could cost you a lot! Use Travel as the preferred line for people in your contact lists.

Naming your eSIM and Mobile Data

Go to the mobile data setting on your phone and under SIM’s select TRAVEL. You will then be able to rename the label. I have used ITALY for my Italian eSIM. You will then need to turn on this line and ensure that the network selection is on automatic. Turn on data roaming and for my preference I have low data mode turned on. Make sure that your data roaming is turned off for your Primary SIM. All that is left to do now is enjoy your holiday!

View the previous posts on April 29:

• 2022: Spinach Egg Dough
• 2020: Bosh Healthy Vegan
• 2019: Orange Curd Ice Cream
• 2018: The Chalk Man
• 2015: Sense Of Taste 
• 2013: Rye Crispbread | Knackerbröd

Tomorrow we leave for Italy and today will be spent getting organized for our holiday. I will not be replying to comments or reading blog posts until the 16th of May. You can follow our trip by taking a look at our holiday blog.

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