Picture this: you’ve just landed in a new country. You’ve cleared immigration and grabbed your bag off the luggage carousel, but before you can message anyone, order a taxi, or even pull up a map, you have one more errand to handle — finding the nearest SIM card kiosk. For years, that was part of the routine. Some travelers even kept their growing pile of plastic SIMs as a kind of badge of honor, right alongside the stamps in their passport.
But these days, this ritual is fading. The rise of eSIMs has changed how travelers connect, and the industry overall is moving away from physical cards toward a system that is more flexible for travelers and more profitable for carriers.
What Changed?
In 2022, Apple released the iPhone 14 in the U.S., the first iPhone model with no physical SIM slot at all. That decision forced many travelers to figure out eSIMs for the first time — a system built into the phone’s hardware that can be activated digitally. Instead of swapping out a plastic card, you scan a QR code or download a plan through an app like Airalo or Holafly, and your service is up and running almost instantly.
The Benefit for Travelers
The biggest advantage is speed and convenience. Using an eSIM means you can activate cell service within minutes, without having to track down a kiosk or fiddle with a paperclip to open the SIM tray on your phone. For frequent travelers, eSIMs make it much easier to switch between local data plans, top up data during a trip, or keep a second number active without carrying multiple phones.
Sometimes, you can even purchase a plan before your flight so that your phone will be working the moment you land, and so that you don’t have to fork over your passport at a random airport kiosk. All of this saves time, cuts down on hassle, and makes staying connected abroad far more straightforward than it used to be.
Things to Watch Out For
As convenient as eSIMs are, there are a few traps to watch out for. Many eSIM providers try to push extremely large quantities of data — 100GB might be overkill for your three-day weekend trip. Another pitfall is compatibility. Not every phone supports eSIMs yet, and even if yours does, some carriers still require your phone to be completely paid off in order to use them. Also, many eSIM plans only give you temporary data — not a fixed local phone number — so you will not be able to make regular calls or send SMS texts unless you buy a real plan.
Pricing can also be sneaky. Some travel eSIM apps advertise “local rates” that end up being higher than what you would pay by just buying a short-term plan directly from a carrier once you arrive. And while swapping an eSIM between devices is possible, it is not always straightforward, which can be frustrating if you lose your phone during a trip.
How to Avoid These Traps
The easiest way to sidestep most eSIM issues is to plan ahead. Pick a data plan size that actually fits your data needs instead of grabbing the oversized bundles many apps promote, keeping in mind that you can always top up if you run out. If you are unsure how much data you’ll need, check your phone settings to see how much you used last month as a reference point.
Also, confirm that your phone supports eSIMs in the first place. For iPhone users, it’s common to be paying off a device in monthly installments, which means your phone will be “locked” and blocked from using eSIMs abroad — though in many cases you can pay it off early if needed. And finally, to prepare for the worst, make sure you know the steps for re-activating an eSIM on a new device just in case your phone is lost or stolen. It’s a few minutes of effort that you’ll be thankful for if you find yourself abroad and without a phone.
The Bottom Line
eSIMs have already taken a lot of the hassle out of staying connected abroad, and Apple’s decision to entirely remove the SIM tray has pushed widespread adoption among Americans. Still, the shift is not yet complete. As of mid-2025, Samsung and Google continue to offer Android phones with both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support, since many regions around the world are not ready to give up the plastic card completely. For many travelers, that means you still have a choice: visit a kiosk at the airport or download an app and get set up before your trip.
But make no mistake, the direction is set. Between the convenience for travelers and the efficiency for carriers, eSIMs are on track to become the default. Physical SIM cards may stick around for a few more years, but mobile connectivity is definitely moving fully digital.
Emily is a freelance writer who has been traveling full-time for over five years She has visited dozens of countries but can often be found in Spain and Mexico. In her Substack, Extracurricular Pursuits, she shares personal essays and travel stories that document the quirks, chaos and realities of living abroad.