r/Airalo

I am looking into buying a local eSIM for my 2 week trip to South Africa, and I noticed that there is an option to buy a package that includes text and calls too. I may need to call the place I am staying upon arrival in South Africa, and they do not seem to have any WiFi calling options, so this package may be useful for me.

I have the following questions about the package, thanks in advance for any insight!

1. From what I understand, local eSims will provide the best coverage when visiting a single country. From googling about the data/text/calls option, a lot of results suggest that texts and calls are only included as part of global sims (Discover+). I just want to confirm whether my eSim would be still a local one if I opt for including text/calls?

2. Would text/calls cover calls made within South Africa only, or would they cover any global calls?

A previous poster advised to avoid Airalo at all costs.

Not sure I'd go that far, but they are deceptive in how they sell their eSIMs.

I purchased a 60-day data only eSIM in March, for our trip that started towards the end of April.

From the app, about how eSIMs work:

>You can buy your eSIM before your trip. The validity period doesn't start when you buy it. Note, some eSIMs need to be in use within a specific time period after purchase...

>Install as soon as you like...

There were no caveats I can find on the eSIM I purchased. I installed right away but didn't activate until the later part of April.

The eSIM expired 60 days after I installed it. Which was roughly 27 days after I activated it.

I didn't see the chat function in the app, so I tried to contact them through the website. The contact us info was extremely difficult to find. Finally found it. Filled in their form. Got a reply the next day, in Turkish, saying they were working on it. The day after that, told me that I had gotten the wrong place. No offer to forward to their other office. No explanation about how to contact them.

I put a review on the Play store. They told me of the chat function on the app.

After the chat bot went about a hundred rounds refusing to understand which of the three-four total eSIMs I'd purchased in the last few years I was talking about, they transferred me to a live person, who also refused to understand. Even though I had given both the order number and a copy of the email confirming the order.

In the end, she told me that the date of installation determines the expiration date, not the date of activation. No matter that their own store's page directly contradicts that.

So, if you buy, don't install until you're ready to activate. And know that the promises they make in the store are not things they take seriously.

Answer: True for most eSIM-compatible devices. Latest models of smartphones can store multiple profiles, but some devices allow only two active lines at once (which means you can install up to 5 eSIMs on your phone, but only 2 can be active at a time). Check your device settings—or ask us via DM.

Pro-tip: Label your eSIMs (e.g., “Home,” “Italy Trip,” “Work”) so you don’t accidentally activate the wrong one.

Been here for 7 hours now and can’t figure it out. My phone has connected to KT 5G but I can’t get anything working. Even the Airalo app won’t open so I’m relying on whatever wi-fi I can scrounge right now.

I’ve tried removing my regular SIM, turning off all SIMs except for the Airalo eSIM, putting my phone on roaming, turning my phone off for a few minutes then switching it back on, and toggling airplane mode and so far nothing.

Anyone got any ideas?

Edit: All sorted! Had to delete all my old eSIMs from my phone and activate a new eSIM provided by Airalo to replace the one I purchased. Not sure what the issue was but it seems the one I originally purchased didn’t activate properly for some reason.

Kudos to Airalo for being persistent with their troubleshooting.

I can’t find an eSIM for Monaco. Is this available in this country?

I will be in Europe and have used Airalo successfully before. I will be on a cruise ship with a wifi package but, of course, doing port days where Airalo will be used. My home carrier physical sim will be turned off.

My question is do I leave Airalo enabled (with data roaming on) and wifi enabled and simply put the phone into airplane mode while on the ship then turn off airplane mode while in port?

Anybody got an email or faster way to return my unactived e sim?

Thank you

Is this normal? Trying Aíralo for the first time (use Saily normally) and so far the experience has been terrible. Even loading google can take up to 30 seconds. Going to Italy soon so hoping it’s better there

So I’ve been in Barcelona this week and connection stopped working!!! The connection appears as 3G but no internet at all!!! I restarted my phone, switched between networks and nothing…. My wife’s phone has the same issue (she has an eSIM with plenty of data, almost 16GB)… anyone knows what can we do?

Hey guys, has anyone used Airalo in china? any issues, deciding to go with either airalo or a trip.com one but want to ensure the in built VPN works fine with it. thanks!

Have the 365 day 20g+200 minutes and 200 sms plan (global discover) with a USA number assigned. After having used 50 minutes i can no longer make calls to US while traveling….. some kind of bait and switch advertising 😡
So now I can go use the remaining 150 minutes on what ? Dial a us number when I am back home in the US ?
Also from the get go you cannot call toll free (800) numbers in the USA !
All in all terribly disappointed, and did not get what I thought I was purchasing.

I’ve been in Germany for 3 days now and it worked perfectly fine, I bought the unlimited data for the month of may, and today it randomly just shut off, it’s only showing E, even in places I had perfect connection before
What should I do

I had no issue at all with my eSim for the past 3 weeks, but since this morning I have no connection anymore.

What is happening? I tried to restart, to turn airplane mode on/off, nothing changed.

It is really disappointing, I need it

Hi I purchased a Turkey eSIM and i cannot seem to open the app to install my eSIM. I keep getting a TLS error. Can I get help from someone from customer support? Thanks

Is anyone else having issues using the eSIM in the US??

This is my first time using Airalo and it says the APN isn't installed but i checked and everything is correct.

Recent 2 days, the speed is so slow that it was not loading the browsers well. Anyone had this issue ?

If you travel to China, DONT USE this service. I bought an Asia unlimited plan for 15 days, payed US$ 43. My trip started in China, I went to Hong Kong, and on my way back to China, the e-SIM stopped working. I was without internet in Shanghai and couldn't even leave the airport because nothing works with the Wi-Fi in Chinese airports. After an hour I managed to leave the airport, but the e-sim still didn't work. I had to buy one from another operator, and when I spoke to AirAlo support in the middle of my vacation, the representative only asked for information and screenshots, even though it was clear that it wasn't working. I didn't need a solution, as I had already spent more money with another operator. The representative did nothing, just give me a measly five-dollar credit. Therefore, if you go to Asia, don't use AirAlo.

Hi!! This is so urgent but I'm wondering exactly what the title says. I need to access TikTok, Instagram, Youtube/Google for work in Hong Kong and China. I'm looking to get the Asia plan from Airalo because I will be in other countries too.

Does this by itself work, and if not, what VPN should i use thats affordable and sure to work?