Cookies keep you signed in. Analytics cookies tell us which pages people use.

Read the cookie policy

Getting started

Land already connected

Less than twenty minutes at home and there is nothing left to do at the other end. Check that your phone supports eSIM, install the eSIM once using a QR code, name your eSIM, and turn Data Roaming on. That’s all. Land and connect instantly.

Check my phoneInstall my eSIMBuild your plan

Will my phone work?

Two things have to be true, and both take a minute to check.

  • The phone supports eSIM

    Most phones sold since 2018 do — but not all of them. The same model is sometimes released without an eSIM in particular countries.

  • The phone is not locked by your carrier

    A locked phone will install the plan and then refuse to use it. Your carrier can tell you whether yours is locked, and they can unlock it if it is.

Three ways to check

  1. Dial *#06#

    Type it into the keypad like a phone number. If a line called EID comes back next to your IMEI, the phone has an eSIM.

  2. Look up your model

    Search your exact model on GSMArena and read the SIM line under Body. If it says eSIM, that model has one.

    Search on GSMArena

  3. Look in Settings

    On iPhone, open Settings then Cellular and look for Add eSIM. On Samsung, open Settings, then Connections, then SIM manager. If the option is there, it means that eSIM is supported on your phone.

Or

Let us check it

Send us the model — iPhone 15 Pro, Galaxy S24, anything you know. We’ll tell you whether it takes an eSIM. A person answers, 24/7.

Send us the model

Install your eSIM

Three sittings, spread across the trip. Do the first one at home the day your order arrives, while you still have Wi-Fi.

  1. Install it at home

    The day your order arrives, using a Wi-Fi network.

    1. Open Settings, then Cellular.
    2. Tap Add eSIM, then Use QR code.
    3. Scan the QR code from your order confirmation, then tap Continue. It is recommended to view the QR code on a different device so you can scan it using your phone. Note: iPhone users can press and hold the QR code to install it rather than scanning it.
    4. Activation takes a few minutes. When it finishes, tap Done.
    5. Label the line "HOAM_your name", so you can differentiate it from your primary line, then tap Continue.
    6. Choose the line for calls and texts — keep your primary line. Tap Continue.
    7. Choose the line for iMessage and FaceTime — keep your primary line again. Tap Continue.
    8. Choose the line for cellular data. Select your primary line, for now.
    9. Check that Allow Cellular Data Switching is off. Left on, your phone can quietly fall back to your primary line and roam at your carrier’s rates.
    10. Tap Done.
    1. Open Settings, then Connections.
    2. Tap SIM manager.
    3. Tap Add eSIM, or Add mobile plan.
    4. Choose Scan code.
    5. Scan the QR code from your order confirmation. If you saved the code to your phone, tap the gallery icon and pick the image instead.
    6. Tap Done, or Continue, and wait for the install to finish.
    7. Name the line "HOAM_your name". It is optional, and it makes the next two sittings much easier to follow.

    Menu names move around between manufacturers. The path above is the Samsung one; elsewhere, look for eSIM under Network or SIM settings.

  2. Before you fly

    The evening before you travel, still on Wi-Fi.

    1. Open Settings, then Cellular, then tap your HOAM line.
    2. Switch Turn on this line on.
    3. Switch Data roaming on. This is the HOAM line, and roaming is how it reaches a network abroad.
    4. Go back to Cellular and tap your primary line.
    5. Switch Data roaming off. This is the switch that stops a bill arriving from your own carrier.
    6. Turn the HOAM line off again until you land — there is nothing for it to connect to yet.
    1. Open Settings, then Connections, then Mobile networks.
    2. Switch Data roaming on for the HOAM line.
    3. Go back to SIM manager and open your primary line.
    4. Switch Data roaming off for it. This is the switch that stops a bill arriving from your own carrier.
    5. Leave the HOAM line switched off until you land.

  3. When you land

    Wheels down, before you leave the aircraft.

    1. Open Settings, then Cellular.
    2. Turn the HOAM line on.
    3. Tap Cellular data and choose the HOAM line.
    4. Turn your primary line off, so nothing can roam on your carrier’s rates.
    5. Give it a minute. The plan finds a local network by itself — there is no APN to type and no app to open.
    1. Open Settings, then Connections, then SIM manager.
    2. Turn the HOAM line on, if it is not already on.
    3. Tap Mobile data and choose the HOAM line.
    4. Turn your primary line off, so nothing can roam on your carrier’s rates.
    5. Give it a minute. The plan finds a local network by itself — there is no APN to type and no app to open.

Your own SIM stays where it is

A HOAM plan is a second line, not a replacement. Your number keeps working, your contacts see nothing different. What changes is where your data comes from.

That is also the one thing worth getting right. Left free to roam, your own carrier will sell you data at its own rates while a paid plan sits unused beside it. Two switches prevent it:

  • Data roaming off on your primary line — before you fly.
  • Your primary line off entirely — once you have landed and the HOAM line has a signal.

Turning your primary line off also stops calls and texts on your own number. If you need to stay reachable there, leave the line on with data roaming off — and check what your carrier charges for incoming calls abroad.

Buy now, fly later

A plan does not start when you pay for it. It starts the first time it connects to a network at your destination, and runs 30 days from there.

So buying weeks ahead costs nothing, and installing at home on Wi-Fi beats installing in an arrivals hall. Between trips the eSIM stays on your phone and costs nothing — next time there is nothing to install at all.

Adding data, or a next trip

  1. Open Reload.
  2. Pick your destinations and how much data you want.
  3. Give your departure date.
  4. Choose which eSIM to load, and pay.

The data is added to that eSIM automatically, and its 30 days start the same way — on the first connection at your destination.

Where are you going?

Pick your destinations and we build one plan for the whole trip, across 200+ destinations.

Build your plan

Questions

Short answers here. Each one links to the full article in the help center, where it stays up to date.

Something else — contact our live support