E Sim for USA?

Bradmax57 · Friday at 18:30

My Son is going on a school trip next month for 5 days to New York, were all with Tesco mobile and they don't offer a add on package for Roaming just inclusive EU roaming, so thinking about an E Sim package that I can buy before he goes, he's unlikely to make or receive many calls more so for data just wondering where to start and any suggestions for a package that I can buy and setup before he goes?

The1nonly1 · Friday at 21:31

Airalo. Used it when I was in Florida and never had an issue. It's only data but you can make calls using Whatsapp etc as they are over data.

Bradmax57 · Friday at 22:25

The1nonly1 said:
Airalo. Used it when I was in Florida and never had an issue. It's only data but you can make calls using Whatsapp etc as they are over data.

Thanks I'll take a look

The1nonly1 · Friday at 22:34

Bradmax57 said:
Thanks I'll take a look

You can usually find discount codes online also for a couple £ off.

tamzzy · Friday at 23:16

I use breeze esim whenever I visit my old folks in the USA. I've had no issues with breeze

Ben Cole · Saturday at 02:43

Used Holafly a couple of months ago in New York. No problems.

Efour · Saturday at 04:39

I used Airlalo on a Google pixel 7 to my trip to NYC and it was absolutely crap.

Would take a good minute to connect.
Frequently extremely slow data transfer making it next to useless for even Google maps.

For me at least a horrible experience when you're so used to being always on with 5G.
I acknowledge it could be just me ....

Cadder · Saturday at 06:23

We bought two from Saily when we went to New York in September 2024. Prices were reasonable and the service was spot on.

Orcvader · Sunday at 11:25

Efour said:
I used Airlalo on a Google pixel 7 to my trip to NYC and it was absolutely crap.

Would take a good minute to connect.
Frequently extremely slow data transfer making it next to useless for even Google maps.

For me at least a horrible experience when you're so used to being always on with 5G.
I acknowledge it could be just me ....

Could also be the Pixel 7, I heard the early Pixels with the Exynos modems don't do well in the USA for some reason. 9 and 10 seems more stable.

Was in Canada few years back with the Pixel 6 Pro and noticed my signal wasn't as great compared to family members who were using iPhones/Qualcomm based Androids, but also using Airalo.

Bradmax57 · Sunday at 16:59

Thanks for the suggestions will hopefully have a bit of time to look into them this week

Itc · Sunday at 17:16

Another option

https://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/prepaid-phones/1105910_4527935_1072335?facet=cellular_service_plan_filter_v0%3APrepaid

Bradmax57 · Sunday at 17:24

Itc said:
Another option

https://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/prepaid-phones/1105910_4527935_1072335?facet=cellular_service_plan_filter_v0%3APrepaid

not sure that will work for him tbh or if he'll have time to even get one, need to sort it before he goes really

Itc · Sunday at 18:04

Bradmax57 said:
not sure that will work for him tbh or if he'll have time to even get one, need to sort it before he goes really

fair enough. You can pick up sim cards at the airport and also vending machines in the US

Bradmax57 · Sunday at 21:36

Itc said:
fair enough. You can pick up sim cards at the airport and also vending machines in the US

Yeah hes a typical 16year old who has done and still gets his parents to do pretty much everything for him

lewism · Sunday at 21:56

I can highly recommend bytesim and T-Mobile. Worked perfectly for data only when I went to Florida.

Jokester · Sunday at 21:58

Used Airalo a few times over there and in Europe and worked a treat.

Bradmax57 · 2026-01-19T20:20:39+0000

Jokester said:
Used Airalo a few times over there and in Europe and worked a treat.

Looks pretty decent and I can buy it and get it setup before he goes, does it auto activate when it finds the network or do you need to manually enable it, also do you have to disable primary sim?

Jokester · 2026-01-19T20:55:13+0000

Bradmax57 said:
Looks pretty decent and I can buy it and get it setup before he goes, does it auto activate when it finds the network or do you need to manually enable it, also do you have to disable primary sim?

I install it before I leave and turn it off (though shouldn't need to do this). Once landed in the US, I just enable it and then set my Mobile Data to the esim. I have data roaming turned off on my primary.

Bradmax57 · 2026-01-19T21:04:16+0000

Jokester said:
I install it before I leave and turn it off (though shouldn't need to do this). Once landed in the US, I just enable it and then set my Mobile Data to the esim. I have data roaming turned off on my primary.

Thanks for confirming