There was a time when using your mobile phone overseas required a fair bit of planning – or a willingness to come home to a frightening phone bill.
Fortunately, things have become easier.
I’ve used all three, and for me there is now a pretty clear winner.
This means simply allowing roaming on your existing phone, using the same SIM card, the same service and keeping the same phone number.
It has one big advantage (just one): convenience.
You don’t have to muck around with another supplier or set anything up. Depending on your telco and plan, you simply activate international roaming and continue using your phone much as you would at home.
Of course, you pay for that convenience.
Depending on your provider and destination, international roaming can potentially cost $5, $10, $15 or even $20 a day. Over a three-week holiday, that can become a reasonable chunk of money. Some plans also have relatively modest daily data allowances, so it is worth checking exactly what you’re getting.
That said, if you’re nipping overseas for three or four days and can’t be bothered doing anything else, paying a few dollars a day for the convenience might be perfectly reasonable.
I would argue this is still a reasonable option, particularly if you don’t use your phone very much.
Wi-Fi is now readily available in hotels, airports, cafés, restaurants and many other public places. I visited Tokyo last year and pretty much the whole city had free wi-fi.
Once connected, you can use email, browse the internet and make calls through apps such as WhatsApp without using mobile data.
There are, however, two problems.
Public Wi-Fi networks aren’t something I’d want to rely upon for sensitive activities such as online banking, particularly if the network is open or you’re not certain it’s legitimate. In particular, airport wi-fi is notoriously attractive to scammers and hackers.
It’s all very well having Wi-Fi in your hotel room. But when you’re standing on a street corner in Brighton trying to work out which direction Google Maps wants you to walk, hotel Wi-Fi isn’t much help (this was me on my last UK trip!)
I’ve tried to be cheap with this in the past and ended up massively inconveniencing myself.
eSIMs have been a complete game changer over the last few years and, for most travellers, I think they’re now by far the best option.
So, what exactly is an eSIM?
The easiest way to think about it is this:
An eSIM is simply a second, digital SIM card that you install on your phone. There is no physical card to put in or take out.
Before travelling, you buy an eSIM online for the country or region you’re visiting. You’re then normally given a QR code or instructions to install it on your phone. Your phone stores this new SIM electronically, ready for you to use when you arrive.
The clever bit is that your normal Australian SIM can stay exactly where it is.
You simply tell your phone something along the lines of:
“Keep my Australian SIM for my normal phone number, but use this new eSIM for internet data.”
That’s basically it.
When you land overseas, your phone connects to a local mobile network using the eSIM, giving you mobile data just as if you’d bought a SIM card from a local phone shop.
There are dozens of eSIM providers, and you can buy plans covering a single country, a region such as Europe, or even multiple countries around the world. You might buy 5GB, 10GB, 20GB or an unlimited-data package depending on how long you’re away and how heavily you use your phone.
And compared with traditional roaming, they can be remarkably inexpensive.
There are a few things worth knowing.
Firstly, your phone needs to support eSIMs, although most reasonably recent iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones and Google Pixels do.
Secondly, many travel eSIMs are data-only. You don’t necessarily receive a local phone number. For most travellers that doesn’t matter very much because WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger and similar services all work over data.
You can also usually leave your Australian SIM active so that calls and text messages to your normal number can still come through. Just be careful with how your Australian telco charges for receiving or making calls overseas, and make sure your phone isn’t accidentally using your Australian SIM for mobile data.
One particularly useful benefit is receiving SMS verification codes. If your bank sends a security code to your Australian mobile number, for example, keeping your normal SIM active may allow you to continue receiving those messages while using the eSIM for your everyday internet connection. Again, check your telco’s overseas charges before relying on this.
It sounds more complicated than it actually is. In most cases, you can have an eSIM organised before you leave home in just a few minutes.
Most newer smartphones do, but it’s worth checking before you buy one. Your phone also generally needs to be unlocked from your mobile provider.
Choose the country or region you’re travelling to and how much data you think you’ll need. If you’re visiting several countries (Europe, for example) a regional eSIM is often easier than buying one for each country.
Your eSim provider will give you instructions, usually involving a QR code, an app or a simple installation link. Do this while you’re still at home with reliable Wi-Fi. You can install the eSim without actually starting to use it.
This is the important bit.
Keep your Australian SIM as your normal phone number, but select your new eSIM for mobile data.
I also turn data roaming OFF on my Australian SIM. This helps prevent the phone quietly using expensive Australian roaming data in the background.
Depending on the eSIM provider, you may actually need to turn data roaming ON for the eSIM itself. That sounds contradictory, but many travel eSIMs work by roaming across local partner networks. Your provider’s instructions should tell you.
Once you land, activate the eSIM if necessary and make sure it’s selected for mobile data. Within a few minutes, your phone should connect to a local network.
That’s it.
You haven’t removed your Australian SIM. You haven’t changed your normal phone number. You’ve simply told your phone to get its internet from a cheaper local or regional service while you’re overseas.
One final tip: take a screenshot of your eSim provider’s installation and activation instructions before you leave home. It’s much easier than trying to find the instructions online when you’ve just landed and, ironically, don’t yet have internet access.
For a very short trip, using your normal telco’s roaming may be worth paying for simply because it’s easy.
If you barely use your phone, relying on hotel and café Wi-Fi can work too.
You can have it installed before you leave Australia, switch it on when you arrive and have internet access almost immediately. Google Maps works. WhatsApp works. Uber works. Your emails work. You can look up restaurant reviews, check train times or translate a menu without having to hunt around for a Wi-Fi password.
And importantly, you know roughly what it’s going to cost before you leave.
For me, that’s the sweet spot: the convenience of roaming, without the roaming bill.
Expedition Partners (formerly Flower Travel) specialise in expedition style travel by small ship cruise and private rail journeys.
PH: 1300 654 861
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