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hofnar

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 12, 2006
212
68
Brooklyn, NY
Airalo, Holafly, Mint, so many retailers. So many reviews. Macrumours family, which have you had bad experiences with and which would you recomend?

Personally I'm headed to Finland in 2 weeks and am looking for a data plan. I feel anything on youtube is a paid sponsorship, and a lot of negative reviews are from people who were not patient enough to follow directions. Suggestions greatly appreciated!
 

beach bum

macrumors demi-goddess
Oct 6, 2011
8,786
30,920
Philly
I’m seeing that Airalo might be your best low-cost option for international travel. I’ve attached the below website for reference… I’m also seeing Airalo praised on other sites as well. Previously, I used GigSky, but may switch over after reading this guide.

 
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EDH667

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,035
279
Northern California
Airalo, Holafly, Mint, so many retailers. So many reviews. Macrumours family, which have you had bad experiences with and which would you recomend?

Personally I'm headed to Finland in 2 weeks and am looking for a data plan. I feel anything on youtube is a paid sponsorship, and a lot of negative reviews are from people who were not patient enough to follow directions. Suggestions greatly appreciated!
I used Airalo for a month last fall through Norway and the United Kingdom and was very impressed. I purchased data plans for two phones and it was very simple to setup the eSIMS. I will be using them again next year for a couple more trips. I highly recommend Airalo.
 
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PeteBurgh

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2014
289
663
Another recommendation for Airalo. I've used it on recent trips to South Africa and the US, and it's been an extremely straightforward process. The pricing was reasonable, and everything was clear up front, no hidden charges etc.
 
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Cruncher

macrumors 6502a
Aug 9, 2010
554
278
I can definitely reccommend Airalo. I tried also umdigi adn gigsky.
From the simplicity and everything I would always choose Airalo and it was also almost everytime the cheapest.

I saw a few reviews and I see a lot of Videos of Holafly sponsored Videos on YT. They are too complicated and much more expensive and are making a lot of agressive ads.

If you want you can use my Code in Airalo. You get 3$ off an me also. Code: M0252
 
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clueless88

macrumors regular
Aug 23, 2020
247
153
Used Airalo to purchase a country specific and an EU ESIM (for two different phones). Both worked well. The EU esim activated while still in the US, the country specific one activated once in country. Nice to avoid international data roaming fees. The cost of the eSIMs was less than addition international roaming to my SIM account. In the back of my mind I wonder if it would have been cheaper to purchase once I was in country--probably worth the extra few bucks to get what I needed before arrival.

The instructions that came with the eSIM from Airalo were very straightforward.
 
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Lyn2012

macrumors 6502a
Dec 26, 2007
693
272
Do you get any local minutes or texts included when using Airalo or Gigsky? I need these as well as data, the same as if you get a local SIM card. European pay as you go sims don’t seem to be available as eSim unfortunately.
 

EDH667

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,035
279
Northern California
Do you get any local minutes or texts included when using Airalo or Gigsky? I need these as well as data, the same as if you get a local SIM card. European pay as you go sims don’t seem to be available as eSim unfortunately.
Both Airalo and GigSky only offer eSIM data plans so you would not be getting a phone number to use for local calls and texts.
 

Cruncher

macrumors 6502a
Aug 9, 2010
554
278
Do you get any local minutes or texts included when using Airalo or Gigsky? I need these as well as data, the same as if you get a local SIM card. European pay as you go sims don’t seem to be available as eSim unfortunately.

It depends on the Country. For Thailand you get a phone number and can top it up for calls and you can also send and receive text messages.

Just for Information: If you choose a regional SIM-Card (EU, Asia) or even a Global one, don`t forget to activate Data Roaming for that eSIM. Otherwise you will not get Data.
 

minimo3

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2010
830
1,027
I’ve found that Nomad provides slightly lower prices/more data than Airalo at least in the several countries (Asia) that I tried it in. I think it’s because they’re an aggregator rather than providing their own Esim plans.
 

Allograft

macrumors 6502
Oct 19, 2014
335
238
I prefer Airalo to Ubigi or Nomad. Both Ubigi and Nomad have bottom tier data prioritization from my experience and basically slow. Airalo is pretty good, TMUS roaming is the best though.
 
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