Why You Shouldn't Buy a Holafly eSIM for Travel (My Alternatives)

Everywhere on travel blogs and social media, frequent travelers advertise that Holafly is the best eSIM for travel. Is that true? 99% of the time, no. The most cost-effective recommendation is always to buy a local SIM card on-site. That's significantly cheaper. However, sometimes I too am a bit lazy to buy a SIM card right at the airport upon arrival. Here are my solutions and how I find the best offers. However, you need to know one thing beforehand: There are no plans for calls and text messages; it is truly just data packages.

eSIM (Embedded SIM) are virtual SIM cards that you can use without a physical card. Internationally, they are also called Travel eSIM. This means you no longer have to insert a card into your phone on-site. Perfect, right? For some countries, major providers already offer tourist eSIMs, which are cheap and convenient. One example is T-Mobile USA. Before every trip, I book my appropriate data package and can activate the eSIM right after landing, check emails, and order a taxi via an app. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

This is exactly how eSIM providers such as Holafly, Airolo, Nomad, or Ubigi operate. Since I always cringe when travelers recommend Holafly, I had to write this text. Please do not buy an eSIM from Holafly just because others recommend it. I compare which eSIM provider is the cheapest before every trip to a new country. Holafly is not it. They are ALWAYS among the most expensive.

To use an eSIM, your smartphone must be eSIM-compatible. Although the eSIM has been available for almost 10 years, it is still not compatible with every smartphone today. In the long run, the eSIM will prevail as physical SIM cards have become increasingly smaller in recent years. Additionally, it is more environmentally friendly to avoid plastic cards. If you plan to buy a new phone soon, you can use the eSIM for your future travels. On newer iPhones, you can install up to eight or more eSIMs and use two phone numbers simultaneously.

Unfortunately, there is no way around it, but before every trip you need to compare the major eSIM providers for data packages for your next destination. You can purchase different data packages depending on how much internet you will use while on the go. I save Google Maps offline on my phone so that I only need to use data for navigation in the car. This is helpful for getting real-time traffic updates. If I travel by bus or train, I don't need live navigation.

In the current case, I check whether an eSIM for India is worth it. I've compared the offers from Nomad, Airolo, and Holafly. Since I upload videos on Instagram, need to check emails (as a freelancer, it's just the way it is), and research where to get food, I always need a good amount of data. You can't rely on good Wi-Fi connections in hotels.

I've often had no reception in the hotel room (only at the reception) and when I did, the internet was super slow. Therefore, I often relied on the mobile data of my eSIM.

If you need a fast connection, you should pay attention. Not everywhere does 5G coverage exist. If 4G is sufficient for you, you can overlook this note. Not all eSIM card providers tell you which local provider you can use on-site.

For India, Jetpac and Nomad are the best providers (read my article on the best eSIM cards in India). I tested Jetpac for the first time in India. The connection was great, of course, slower than with a "real" SIM card from Jio. However, a local Indian friend confirmed that it's not easy to quickly get a local SIM card at the airport after arriving as a tourist. Therefore, the choice was perfect.

In other countries, Airolo is cheaper. On my last trip to South Africa, I first purchased a small credit of 1 GB, and later in Cape Town, I bought an eSIM from Vodacom (the best network). Unfortunately, there is no eSIM available to order before the trip. It exists, but I still have to wait in line at the Vodacom counter in Cape Town or Johannesburg. The queues are always quite long.

We like to use Airalo, as we can conveniently order data volumes through the app and then go online immediately with the eSIM. With the code VU10, you get a 10% discount on all eSIM packages.

There are many other eSIM providers. With Saily, who are currently shaking up the market, I cannot figure out which provider (network) I am buying the eSIM from. That's not good since I like to check the network coverage. I ignored Airolo for India due to the unknown Indian network. However, Airolo worked super well in Uzbekistan and South Africa.

For both South Africa and Uzbekistan, I can recommend Airalo as an eSIM provider. Here, too, Holafly was significantly more expensive.

Read here in detail my tips and recommendations for the best SIM cards in South Africa.

Okay, there's one exception in my many travels: Australia. Here, the eSIM from Holafly was worth it. Well, at least concerning the internet and data: Good network from the best providers: Telstra and Optus. It worked exceptionally well. In Queensland, I was perfectly equipped.

If it weren't for the many tour operators, campsites, and problems with the campervan, for which I had to call the hotline (with a German number - ouch, that was costly), which kept sending me SMS (!) with information. In Australia, it is truly helpful to use a local SIM card. My problem: We arrived in Cairns, and there was no option to buy SIM cards at the airport.

We went directly to Port Douglas. Here, too, we had no option at first since we had a full schedule and the very next morning we departed for the Great Barrier Reef. Sometimes, it is indeed not easy to get a SIM card. Later, we didn't care anymore.

Regardless of which provider you ultimately decide to buy an eSIM from: activation is done everywhere in the same way. Download the app, log into your account (or register anew), and activate the eSIM. It's best to do this before departure in the USA or in reliable Wi-Fi. You'll also receive a step-by-step guide for activating your eSIM or see it directly in the app. What's important is that you have an internet connection so that the eSIM installation works.

Once the eSIM is activated, you just need to enable the line on your smartphone. You can set on the iPhone that you want to receive calls with your regular number while using all data through the eSIM provider's data package. In the respective app, you can find out how much GB you have already used.

Do you want to use your smartphone as a hotspot to provide internet access to your laptop? I work on the go and often use the hotspot function on my phone because Wi-Fi in accommodations is often slow. Many providers have limited this feature. Jetpac and Airolo do not fall into this category.

In India, I was able to open a hotspot on my phone without any problems to check my emails on my laptop.

One of the main disadvantages is that you do not get a local phone number (but this is changing with some eSIM providers). However, you can make calls over WhatsApp, which is, in our opinion, the best way to communicate abroad. In India, a lot of contact with locals took place via WhatsApp.

With many phones, dual SIM is also possible, which means you can switch to your regular phone for calls and back to the eSIM for data. On my iPhone (this also works with Samsung), I can even allocate my calls to my own SIM card and my data to my eSIM card, which is perfect and uncomplicated!

What are your experiences with the eSIM from Holafly: Is it worth it? Let us know your alternatives.

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