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Carrier eSIM not great for international travel!
- Thread starter TurboJobo
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And… America is all there is, right?
Not all of us live in the "Home of the Brave, Land of the Free…"
Some of us live in the real world.
Some people on here just cannot see beyond their borders.
If it works in America then that's all that matters.
Yes, I saw that. To be honest (I'm showing my ignorance here) I had to look up what 3 lines meant as I've never seen that before.
Makes sense why AT&T, T Mobile ect offer it and why people go for it...it was just something I haven't seen before. Learn something new everyday!
As mentioned, that's three lines. Though same price for two lines since there's presently a promotion for a free third line.
Also note that is the all-in price inclusive of all fees and taxes. With autopay that's exactly what you really pay. Not something higher after ~$15/line in taxes and fees per line like I remember with AT&T. Of course if you finance a phone or buy insurance on your phone those will be extra.
There are also lower priced plans (with same features) for military, first responders, and those aged 55+.
You live in the United Kingdom where iPhones are sold with SIM card slots. I don’t understand your derision of Apple here?
Again: this might affect maybe 1% of iPhone users. Probably much less than that. Companies don’t make decisions for the 1%.
You are posting on a US Forum, about a US company, in a thread/topic which only impacts phones sold in the United States.
It stands to reason that the context for this post is for people who are traveling internationally FROM the US with these newfangled e-sim-only iPhone 14 models.
I totally get that. Which is why I've tried to caveat my posts with duration and nature of travel. For ME, someone who travels literally all over the world for work + 2x-3x per year personal international travel (all <1 month)... local phone numbers are not required.
If you have friends and family in Thailand and Korea who for whatever reason don't use app based messengers for calling (Line, Viber, WhatsApp, KaKaoTalk, etc) then sure, you need a physical sim for now. I never meant to imply that my experience or type of travel is all that is out there, if I came across that way...I apologize.
Always been jealous of you guy’s in the states getting your phones cheaper than everywhere else , serves you right this time that you get a plastic spacer instead of a physical sim tray 🙂
Americans are among the MOST global travel heavy people in the world. It would be prudent for countries that rely on tourism to get on the eSIM bandwagon and whoever does it first, is gonna get the most market share. I believe those carriers will start offering eSIM sooner rather than later. IMHO
Yeah I’d like a local sim when I travel to the UK so locals can call me directly. Only choice I have now is esim dot net which uses O2 so not the end of the world for me. But has greatly reduced my choices.
My reply wasn’t directed towards you. It was directed towards those on this thread who chose to remain in a small narrow bubble.😊
both your post from these countries and mexico are over priced compared to local sims. I thought the whole reason of getting local sims was to get cheaper and better prices. Having a temporary number and cheaper data will always be better than only getting data from a esim company it is going to be a lot less of a hassle getting call backs or trying to make calls.
Absolutely correct. The least expensive sim I have is my Thai sim, 200฿/$6 a month for 200 gb. My Korean and US sim’s don’t even come close to being as good of a deal. The tourist internet esims are a complete worthless joke, a TurboJokebo joke for someone such as myself😀😀😀😀
I see.
I'm not american, so the concept of listing the price of a product (not just phone bills, but other small scale purchases like food, consumer electronics etc) without including the fees and taxes is...bizarre to say the least.
Yes, appreciate taxes vary from county to county, region to region, state to state. Wouldn't it be easier to be like most other countries and list the price of an item inclusive of all fees and taxes? So the price you see listed is the actual price of the product, and not "price + 0-10% depending on where you buy it".
Ultimately it depends on what you need and what you value.
If you need a local number, eSim (based off what sites such as Airalo, Mogo etc offer) isn't great at present. You'll need to get a local sim. Hopefully eSim offers will improve in the future...
If you need data only, eSim works...but you're paying a premium for the service. At present, it's generally better value (data wise) to purchase a local sim. eSim works for people who value convenience and are willing to spend more money to avoid the time and (potential) hassle of gaining a local sim...
There's no right or wrong answer; it just comes down to the individual and what they need and value.
Exactly, I wonder why so many here try to tell me I’m wrong. Presumptuous ignorance I suppose.
A great person once said to me…”If you don’t have profound knowledge about something, then don’t talk like you everything about it.”
Yes, it would be nice if the prices advertised were the total price paid.
Unfortunately, as you note, tax rates vary. States have their base, then counties add a rate, and then cities may add to that. Specifics of the rates are up to the individual governments and voters. Some states have no sales tax.
Where I live, outside any city limits, sales tax (akin to VAT) is 6%. A few miles away (~10km) is a different county and the sales tax is 7.5%. A short distance further (~5km) I cross into a city and the total rate is 8.9%.
Imagine the difficulty advertising product prices even locally for retailers with multiple locations or who deliver the product? (tax rate is generally based on where the buyer takes possession, so the rate may be different whether you pick up the product or have it delivered)
Now to add to the fun, local governments are able to set other taxes/fees on things like cable television and telephone lines such as a tax/fee to fund the 911 emergency services and franchise fees and so forth. Those are the sorts of stuff cell companies and cable-tv companies add on to the lines.
Worse, both are bad for using that as a way to "hide" additional charges that aren't mandated by the governments. Allows them to advertise one rate when the real rate is something else.
T-Mobile decided to change that paradigm a while back and for most of their plans they do manage to include taxes/fees in the advertised rate. (Note that in many US states, services such as internet or streaming or cell service plans are not subject to sales tax, although the individual lines may be subject to local/county taxes like those mentioned) They're still a little squirrely in that they advertise the rate "after autopay discount" - for example the $5 watch add on is really $10, but I get $5 off because my account is set to autopay from a credit card.
Perhaps someday AT&T and Verizon (the other two major carriers here) will follow suit, but I've not seen it yet.
As an ex-German, I initially had that same impression. "Vhy not just display ze full price up front!?!" (Germlish spelling added for emphasis)
Over the years, I've come to appreciate it. Sales tax being added at point of sale is a fantastic way to make taxation transparent. If I ask many of my family members in Germany what the current VAT tax rate is, they have no clue. Anyone in my city in the US can tell you exactly what rate is charged in their county as well as surrounding counties and sometimes states.
This kind of transparency holds politicians more accountable and leads to healthy competition between counties and states in the US (which is how the US was designed - the competition part, not so much the accountability part).
The other big difference (even more significant) is that VAT is NOT the same as a Sales tax. Sales tax is applied at the point where a consumer purchases the final product, nowhere else. VAT is applied at every step along the supply chain.
What is the difference between sales tax and VAT?
Sales tax and value-added tax are types of indirect tax. To compare, let’s outline the definitions, similarities, and differences between the two.
tax.thomsonreuters.com
Long story short, I prefer to do a little mental math and add 6.75% to my purchase price, to having a 20%+ VAT tax built right into the price.
Short story even shorter: I loathe any multi tiered tax that states impose on their populations. Sales vat, income, fuel, electricity, water and on and on. It’s a mental weakness of those running the lefty states under the delusion that if they swipe as much money to maintain exuberant spending habits where a lot of it gets scammed by those in power, as opposed letting the population keep their money so more is circulated and taxed on the sales level which actually generates more money in tax revenue because people spend a lot more. Basic economics. Look at what’s happening in the US, the biggest scam operation in global history. And what’s even worse is that most of you probably condone it even though you’re poorer. As for what affects it has in the US , I can care less. But when I see what has happened to countries like Laos because of your scammer donkey brained idiots you have there running things in the US and what they done to the global economy, it really freaking annoys me and causes resentment for those that support. Americans are typically easily miss guided, yet they think they know everything. Well sorry for getting under the skin of some of you and the long winded rambling of my short story, I most certainly hope you get over it and enjoy your time😀As an ex-German, I initially had that same impression. "Vhy not just display ze full price up front!?!" (Germlish spelling added for emphasis)
Over the years, I've come to appreciate it. Sales tax being added at point of sale is a fantastic way to make taxation transparent. If I ask many of my family members in Germany what the current VAT tax rate is, they have no clue. Anyone in my city in the US can tell you exactly what rate is charged in their county as well as surrounding counties and sometimes states.
This kind of transparency holds politicians more accountable and leads to healthy competition between counties and states in the US (which is how the US was designed - the competition part, not so much the accountability part).
The other big difference (even more significant) is that VAT is NOT the same as a Sales tax. Sales tax is applied at the point where a consumer purchases the final product, nowhere else. VAT is applied at every step along the supply chain.
What is the difference between sales tax and VAT?
Sales tax and value-added tax are types of indirect tax. To compare, let’s outline the definitions, similarities, and differences between the two.
Long story short, I prefer to do a little mental math and add 6.75% to my purchase price, to having a 20%+ VAT tax built right into the price.
I don’t believe in floppy drives - the best thing for secure, portable storage is punch cards.
After all, everyone carries cards with them still, just don’t use a hole-punch to file them away.
SIM cards on the ground floor at Narita when you exit immigration. Look for the kiosks. I don’t know anything about esims though.
If one wants a dual physical sim iPhone, then only get the Hong Kong model. They are available at expansys in Hong Kong and the ship globally
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This is a US Forum?
Oh ****. I am not welcome here then with my 2 nano-SIMS dual China model. Bye!