Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Travelers Are Switching To eSIM Technology, But Why?
Moneymagpie Team
22nd Jul 2026
Nearly 4 years after OpenAI jump-started the AI boom with ChatGPT, white-collar jobs are still standing strong through downturns, layoffs, and corporate restructurings, defying all odds. One industry that’s gotten rocked by the AI wave is travel…or more specifically, the tourism sector. Travelers no longer have to spend days on end scrolling through booking sites before they can actually choose a hotel because AI has got their back. But that’s not the only thing changing how we travel. eSIM technology is just as much of a game changer, and because no one talks about it, we’d like to change that, so please bear with us.
- eSIM 101: What Is It & Why You Should Even Care
- Some Phones Are eSIM Only – And Duh – Require An eSIM
- Travelers Fall Into One Or Two Camps, No Doubt About It
- Many Stop Bothering With Physical SIMs Altogether
- Even Airlines And Digital Nomads Prefer IT
- Wrapping It Up
eSIM 101: What Is It & Why You Should Even Care
Oh sure, your phone can work with no SIM card, and it can do almost anything a laptop can – like send emails, take notes, translate languages, or use social media – if it runs on WiFi. But you can’t make regular calls or send SMS messages, so without a SIM card, a phone is nothing more than a fancy paperweight. A traditional SIM ties you down to one network, and switching providers isn’t easy, especially if they raised the rate on your older plan, but with an eSIM, you don’t have to deal with any of that, thank goodness.
An eSIM is practically a digital SIM that you install on your phone. All the carrier information is programmed remotely via an app, so you don’t need a paperclip or a SIM card tray opener to switch from one cell company to another. Here’s a scenario that might sound familiar. You’ve just landed in Sydney, struggling to find your hotel, but you’re afraid to pull out your phone from your pocket because you can get extra charges. An eSIM lets you dodge the roaming fee fuss. A convenient solution for this is the Holafly eSIM for Australia because it’s super easy to set up – you have to scan a QR code or use a code received via SMS. Activate the eSIM just before the trip so you don’t get stuck without Internet at the airport.
Some Phones Are eSIM Only – And Duh – Require An eSIM
Most smartphones are OK with eSIM, and it’s easy to check if yours is ready to travel: if your phone was made after 2018, chances are good it is. Sorry to spill the beans, but even if your phone supports eSIM perfectly, it’ll only accept eSIM profiles if it’s not dependent on a specific carrier. iPhone 14 models, for instance, are eSIM only, which translates into the fact that they’re not WiFi-only devices. As far as Android phones are concerned, they have a physical SIM slot and support eSIM.
Travelers Fall Into One Or Two Camps, No Doubt About It
Travelers are knowledge seekers, relaxed, and open-minded, but this isn’t exactly new because the Internet is full of articles/posts dividing people into categories. When most people talk about a mobile plan, they mean a monthly one, but they have no clue what’s included when they travel abroad – in other words, whether it’s data, calls, texts, or even which countries are included in the selected destinations. To avoid slightly unpleasant surprises, some travelers use hotel WiFi, which can be vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, rogue APs, and traffic sniffing, to name just a few cyberthreats.
For travelers who are used to pay-as-you-go plans, grabbing a local SIM card as soon as the plane lands is a no-brainer. They can download WhatsApp and tell anyone they want to keep in touch with what they’re up to instead of popping into cafés during the day and ruining it for the rest who want to enjoy a nice meal. An eSIM comes in surprisingly handy, getting users connected before they even leave home. It guarantees they don’t end up off-grid (no matter what country they’re in).
Many Stop Bothering With Physical SIMs Altogether
If you’ve ever dreamed of visiting a region known for boasting an abundance of natural, mind-blowing sights and landscapes, chances are that Australia came to your mind several times. It has quite a reputation – it’s home to the world’s oldest tropical forest, it’s where you can swim with whale sharks, it has great coffee, and perhaps most importantly, more than half of the wildlife found in Australia doesn’t exist anywhere else. Now, some time ago, you had to start hunting for a SIM card kiosk the second your plane landed at Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport and switch your old SIM card for a local one, hoping that everything went OK. Now, there’s no reason to be locked like that. You can have multiple, different SIM profiles on the same phone and take advantage of different plans at the same time, no headache needed.
Even Airlines And Digital Nomads Prefer IT
Most countries don’t require pilots or cabin crew to have a visa, so they get in using a GenDec (General Declaration), which contains their names, passport numbers, nationality, and more. Genuine emergencies sometimes require them to pull out their phones. For example, if a passenger has unusual symptoms, they have to be documented so doctors on the ground can act quickly. Without an eSIM, the emergency response stalls. The crew has to wait until the plane parks at the gate to look for WiFi, which often requires an SMS verification code.
When it comes to traveling “everywhere”, that only works if you’re a freelancer, and another thing to keep in mind is connectivity. Most cities are pretty developed and enough for remote working needs, but if you’d like to wander off the beaten track, you need an eSIM – the rates are fair, and the carrier has its own towers. You don’t need to hunt down a local telecom operator, which is particularly helpful if you don’t speak the native language. Cheap roaming is becoming incredibly rare, so it pays to have unlimited data if you stay in any place for a considerable period of time.
Wrapping It Up
Perhaps more than anything else, eSIM technology has changed how we travel. The tiny chip is soldered directly onto the phone’s motherboard, so you can connect to any mobile network by downloading and activating the carrier’s profile…digitally, of course.
Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.
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