E-sim or roaming to use data in USA?

[xsquared]

I'm going from Friday evening to Tuesday evening, so I will need sufficient data for 5 days. I would be paying £25 with EE for roaming, but I'd like to hear from people who have had positive experiences with using a similar or esim.

I expect there is an app for an esim? I don't know ow much about them, but if they are a cheaper option, then I'd consider that.

TIA.

I used Airalo eSIM for the USA last month - you’ll need to download the app, buy the eSIM and install before you leave. Straightforward to do, all worked fine.

Data only 3GB is £9, or 60 mins of calls / 30 texts / 3GB data is £13.00. Other combinations are available.

Thank you.

DD has looked into this and eSIM is definitely cheaper.

Oh, forget it. My phone doesn't support esim!

Thanks for your replies.

Airolo esim is great but a bolt on is better as you keep your own number.

Hi, how does it work? Does it affect your actual sim/phone number etc? I’m going in summer for 2.5 weeks on a road trip and would like Google maps. Last time i paid the monthly EE roam abroad pass but they’ve changed it to only be 7 days for the same price 😡

You keep your own UK SIM but turn it off and switch on the US eSIM. You get a US number but still get WhatsApp through your UK number. I couldn’t work out how to keep my UK SIM on but with mobile data off but suspect that’s possible.

We did 2500 miles over 15 days, using Google maps plus looking stuff up, and I didn’t get close to using 10GB.

I used a bolt on with EE for a couple of days and the other couple of days I connected to WiFi wherever I went.

Ah that's a shame!

We have just come back from New Zealand. Before we went away we were looking in to the roaming / mobile data issue and DH read about eSims. Turned out his phone didn't support them but my newer mobile did. I got a Jetpac one that worked in both NZ and Singapore, where we had a stopover. Very good and cheaper than EE roaming, which I have used in Europe.

Does your phone accommodate dual SIMs? DH bought a prepaid SIM just for data when we arrived and used that.

When I went to NY last year the advice was to buy a pre-loaded 3 sim. It cost £10, gave a set amount of roaming data (more than enough for our 4 day trip) and calls.

Thank you for the tip. I ordered a 3 sim last night with a £10 data pack which includes 12GB for roaming which is plenty for the duration of my stay.