Using a travel eSIM alongside your normal SIM
This is the setup nearly everyone should run abroad: both SIMs on at the same time. Your home SIM handles calls and texts on your own number. The travel eSIM handles every byte of data. Two settings make it work, and they take under a minute.
The two settings
First, make the eSIM your data line. On iPhone: Settings, Cellular, Cellular Data, pick the eSIM. On Android: Settings, Network & Internet (or Connections), SIMs, set the eSIM for mobile data.
Second, set roaming per line. Data Roaming ON for the eSIM — that is how travel eSIMs connect, and it does not cost extra. Data Roaming OFF for your home SIM, so your carrier cannot bill you for data.
What happens day to day
Maps, messages, photos, rides, and hotspot all use the eSIM's data. Calls and texts to your normal number still ring through on the home SIM.
WhatsApp keeps working on your own number, because it follows the number, not the SIM carrying the data.
Answering a call on your home number abroad may be charged by your home carrier at its roaming rates. If that matters, let calls go to voicemail and call back over WhatsApp.
Common worries, answered
Battery: running two lines uses slightly more power, but not enough to change how you travel.
Mix-ups: phones label each line, so you can name one Home and one Travel. Once the two settings above are made, there is nothing to manage.
When you get home, flip data back to your home SIM. The eSIM can be deleted or left installed — it does nothing once the plan ends.
Set it up before you fly
Forward your trip confirmation to trips@get.esimion.com and plan options come back by email. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi, make the two settings changes at the gate, and land with everything working.
Related
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