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Before you fly: a travel eSIM checklist

What to check and set up at home, so your data works when you land.

A travel eSIM is easiest to set up at home, on Wi-Fi and with time to spare, rather than in an arrivals hall. Most of this list takes a few minutes. Go through it in the days before you leave.

Check your phone

  • Make sure it supports eSIM. On an iPhone, open Settings, General, About and look for an EID number. On Android, open Settings, then Network & internet or Connections, and look for SIMs or SIM manager with a way to add an eSIM. The names differ a little between phone makers.
  • Make sure it isn’t locked to the carrier that sold it. On an iPhone, the same About screen shows No SIM Restrictions next to Carrier Lock, or Network Provider Lock on some iPhones, when the phone is unlocked. On Android, or if you’re not sure, ask the carrier.

Choose the plan

  • Check that the plan covers every country on your route, including a stopover where you’ll want data.
  • Match its days to your trip, counting the day you arrive and the day you fly home.
  • See when it starts counting. Most plans start when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination. A plan that starts as soon as you buy it says so, and is best bought close to your trip.

Install it at home

  1. Connect the phone to Wi-Fi. Installing needs an internet connection.
  2. Open your order page on a second screen, such as a laptop or another phone. The QR code appears there once your eSIM is ready.
  3. Scan the code with the phone that will use the eSIM. A phone can’t scan a code shown on its own screen, so if you only have the one device, open the order page on it instead. On many recent phones it offers an Install on this phone button, which opens the phone’s own eSIM setup with the details filled in. If it doesn’t, or nothing opens, enter the SM-DP+ address and activation code from the same page by hand.
  4. If the phone asks you to name the new line, call it something you’ll recognise, such as Travel.
  5. Keep your usual SIM as the line for calls and messages.

Once it’s installed, leave it on the phone. The code on your order page works only once, so an eSIM you delete can’t be added again from it.

Before you leave

  • Write down your order number (it starts with EU) somewhere you can read it without a connection. It’s what to quote if you get in touch about the order.
  • Decide what your usual line does abroad. Calls and texts to your number go through your own carrier, at its prices for roaming, so ask it what they cost where you’re going. To stop that line using data abroad, turn data roaming off for it.

When you land

  1. Turn on data roaming for the travel line. To the local network the eSIM is a foreign line, so it needs roaming on.
  2. Choose the travel line for mobile data.
  3. Give it a few minutes to find a network. For most plans, this is when the days start counting.

If there’s still no data after a few minutes, check both settings again.

When you know where you’re going, the store shows each destination’s plans, with their data, days and price.

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