esim for US travel

BraveDonut · 10-03-2026 04:20PM #1

Can anyone recommend an esim for US travel for Data roaming.
Does it mean you use a different phone number?
How does it work?

Irish Halo · 10-03-2026 04:41PM

I have used Holafly and the eSim.me marketplace

Recent iPhones can have multiple eSIMs installed at one time so you can have your Irish sim installed to get calls and texts on that and have another SIM you can assign to data, when installing one the iPhone leads you through the process, even my 75+ year old father can do it.

Despite being an Android user I do not know how "normal" eSIMs work as mine does not support them but I have a a physical eSim.me SIM card that goes in my second SIM slot and can have eSIMss loaded on it. I assume loading one on Android is the same as iPhone, you can have a few installed and you just tell the phone which to use for data and which to use for calls and texts

From experience most eSIMs are just data and you do not get a phone number but I think you can get ones that have this option.

You can have a look online and buy a 24 hour Irish SIM for like €4 and se how it works

Kalimah · 10-03-2026 06:38PM

I was in the US a week or two ago and got an eSIM from Maya. I think it was about 10.99 - can’t remember how much data but it was fine for the 9 days we were there.

fieldofsheep · 10-03-2026 06:47PM

I was there in February and purchased a eSIM through Revolut (data only) - It can be purchased in-app, and you can also set it to auto renew when you run out of data.

Prices start at €3.50 for 1GB of data (valid for 7 days), up to €54.50 for 100GB (valid for 60 days)

Janey Mack · 10-03-2026 08:47PM

I used Vodafone Travel eSIM without issue - it is Data only but everyone calls on WhatsApp.

There is a buy one get one free offer at the moment on some of the options.

https://travel.vodafone.com/our-destinations/usa

I had a small allowance on my primary SIM and both had different preferred local network handy as I was in areas with patchy coverage. My iPhone allowed me to fail back to primary SIM if the signal on the other wasn’t available but I disabled the auto switching cos the Primary allowance was so small.

Tip: If you have WiFi Calling enabled - I do because there is terrible mobile signal in my house - some providers charge international call rate as it isn’t covered by their roaming packages.

Garfin · 10-03-2026 08:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058362473/esim-north-america#latest

eronayne · 10-03-2026 08:54PM

I normally go for a t mobile pre pay SIM card when I get out there. They used to advertise it as a traveler SIM card. Unlimited calls and5g data was about 20 bucks last time I was there.

BraveDonut · 11-03-2026 11:50AM

Thanks All - extremely helpful.
I guess the piece I was missing was "Irish sim installed to get calls and texts on that and have another SIM you can assign to data" - thanks @Irish Halo

KNO3 · 24-03-2026 12:53AM

You should check out Maaltalk for a US trip since they have solid 5G coverage on the major networks there. It doesn’t usually change your phone number, it just adds a secondary data plan to your settings so you don't get hit with roaming fees

Samson1 · 24-03-2026 02:29AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124303694#Comment_124303694

Then a Revolut Esim seems perfect for you. I used it in December in USA and it worked flawlessly.

€9 for 3Gb, and it is valid for a month !

The Nal · 24-03-2026 01:52PM

If youre using Google maps you'll burn through a few GBs very quickly.

The TMobile still seems the best option. Unlimited data and phone calls.

25-03-2026 10:25AM

Last time we travelled, my husband used the revolut esim and found it totally fine, no issues at all. I got a TMobile sim from a store, super easy and quick to get done.

Red Silurian · 25-03-2026 04:05PM

Last time we were there we used an old fashioned sim card from 3UK. We got 12GB of data for £20 which including WiFi everywhere it was more than enough. Might be worth checking to see if that offer is available now on esim

BraveDonut · 26-03-2026 06:29PM

Just to follow up on this, I went with Maya based on @kalimah's recommendation above.
$6 for 5gb and it worked out perfect

esim for US travel

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