Country or regional eSIM for a multi-country trip
By Andalu team · · 2 min read
For a trip through several countries, a regional plan covers all of them on one eSIM and switches networks for you at every border, while a country plan covers one destination. Check that every country on your route is in a regional plan's coverage, then compare it with a plan for each stop.
How a regional plan works
- One plan covers a list of countries, and the plan's page lists every one of them.
- You install it once, before you leave. Your eSIM connects wherever its plan works, so it joins a local network in each covered country as you arrive.
- Its days start counting the first time the eSIM connects to a network in any country the plan covers.
Check the coverage, stop by stop
Plans with similar names can cover different lists of countries, so open the plan and check every stop on your route, including the one you land in first. The region pages put each part of the world's plans side by side: Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
When a plan per country makes sense
If a stop isn't in any regional plan, or most of your trip is in one country, a country plan for it can be the simpler buy. Many phones hold more than one eSIM: iPhone 13 and later can use two, and so can Pixel 7 and later when the carrier allows it. Your phone uses one line for mobile data at a time, so you switch to the next eSIM when you cross over.
Crossing continents
For a trip across several parts of the world, a global plan covers the most countries on one eSIM, and its page lists them all. They sit at the foot of the eSIM page.
The rest works the same
Whichever you choose, it's eSIM data paid once, installed from a QR code, ideally on Wi-Fi shortly before you leave. The travel eSIM checklist has the steps in order.