Travel eSIMs: The roaming check to make before a winter break

Heading off on holiday? A quick check before you fly could spare you a surprise on your mobile bill and save you from battling for airport Wi-Fi.

Imagine landing after dark and finding the email with your apartment door code won’t load. It’s a lousy start to any trip, especially when you could have sorted out your mobile data before leaving home.

Before you jet off to Prague or the Canaries, check what your mobile provider charges for data abroad. Some UK plans include European roaming, but if yours charges by the day, a travel eSIM gives you another price to compare.

An eSIM is a digital SIM, so there’s nothing to swap out. If your phone is unlocked and supports eSIMs, you can add a second line for data and keep your usual SIM and WhatsApp number.

The time to set up your travel eSIM is at home, when you’ve got reliable Wi-Fi and nobody’s waiting for you to find the hotel. Holafly lets you choose a plan for the length of your trip, and there are regional eSIMs if you’re visiting Christmas markets in more than one country.

There’s a useful extra if your plans change. Leave the eSIM installed after your plan ends and Holafly’s Always On feature gives you 1GB of backup data every 30 days at no extra cost in supported destinations. It could come in handy if a flight delay takes you past the end of your plan. Just check where it works before relying on it.

The easiest way to see if it’s worth buying is to enter your destination and trip length, then compare the total with what your network would charge. Five minutes on the sofa beats working it all out at arrivals.