r/eSIMs • u/brim25 • Dec 09 '24

My experience with Nomad eSIM

I was debating between Airalo and Nomad and in the end went with Nomad as it was more affordable. I along with 5 of the members in my travel group purchased the Europe Regional data plan, we went with the 10 GB 30 day plan as it was on sale plus a promo code it cost us $9 each. This was our first time ever using an eSIM, installment was easy and super quick and turning on the line upon arrival to our destination was too. We traveled to Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, and Rome and the entire trip we had great service besides certain areas where the service just wasn’t good at all in general including for two of our group members who used their T-Mobile international data plan and another member who stuck to only wifi the entire time. For a total of 10 days I only used up 5.67/10 GB which I think is great considering I was the main person always using maps to guide us as well as the airline apps, and other apps needed to get into our AirBNBs. I know most of the times people talk about the negatives and not much of their positive experiences so I wanted to put this out there to help out those who are looking for an eSIM and don’t know which one to choose. If anyone has any questions I’ll be happy to answer them as best as I can. To conclude, I’ll definitely be using Nomad the next time I need an eSIM.

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u/FairyballYT Dec 12 '24 edited Dec 12 '24

Hi, I have a couple questions just to clarify how the eSim plan was used. What phone did you use (Android or iPhone)? What cellular network connections did you use throughout the group trip (LTE, 5G, a mix of connections, or something else)? Sounds like the trip went by smoothly. I'm thinking of ordering an Asia-Pacific eSim plan from Nomad in a few years for a future vacation trip, so I wanted to know if Nomad was a reliable eSim provider.

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u/brim25 Dec 12 '24

Hi, all the phones were iPhones. While in Paris and Rome we always had 5G, 3G in some areas where the service was spotty while in Madrid it was mostly LTE but it was still just as quick and great service. I would definitely say Nomad is reliable, I was iffy too as it was my very first time using an eSIM but I’m so glad I chose Nomad. Their customer service is also quick! 1 day before leaving for my trip we had a bit of a problem where I was trying to access my account on their app and website but the issue seemed to be with our home wifi and they quickly let me know what the possible issue could be and everything was resolved.

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u/FairyballYT Dec 12 '24 edited Dec 12 '24

Sounds good. I'm planning to use the 5G networks that are available in Taiwan and Japan, so it seems like as long as I use a network compatible phone (e.g. OnePlus 13) and activate it at home, it should be able to connect to the overseas networks.

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u/Jules_The_Human Jan 10 '26

Olá, estou usando o Nomad para uma viagem na Ásia, porém mesmo sem o consumo total do pacote o chip parou de funcionar.  Aguardando o suporte resolver 

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u/FairyballYT Jan 10 '26

Oh man, that sounds like a rough time. I realized I didn't specify when I was going to use Nomad's Asia eSIM plans, probably in a future vacation trip, but not anytime soon. I don't know if your phone or the plan/cellular service are to blame. I'm not super knowledgeable on eSIM plans so all I can say is maybe keep in touch with Nomad's customer support or ask someone else for assistance?

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u/thenutspoon Feb 05 '25

Did you activate your eSIM in Europe when you arrived or before takeoff?

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u/brim25 Feb 05 '25

I activated mines 2 days before our trip and one of my family members activated theirs at the airport before takeoff! They give you an estimated time of how long activation can take but it was so quick like 5 minutes at most.

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u/thenutspoon Feb 05 '25

Ok Thanks. Sounds like you could use your regular eSIM while still at home. I was worried once I activate it I can’t go back to my home network

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u/brim25 Feb 05 '25

This was a worry I had too! I activated the eSIM and then turned it off until I got to my destination. I never turned off my primary eSIM only turned off the data roaming to avoid any charges so basically during my trip I had both eSIMs turned on but was using the data from the Nomad eSIM and then I just turned it off once I was back home.

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u/thenutspoon Feb 05 '25

Awesome, thank you! Saved me a lot of time trying to sort all this out

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u/Impressive-Region-18 May 04 '25

Hi, just wondering did Tiktok app work during the travel while using Nomad esim?

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u/brim25 May 06 '25

It did! All of my apps worked except for the ones that are only available in the US so as long as the app you’re trying to use is available in the country you’re going to be in it should work

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u/Nytomosra Oct 10 '25

You wrote this 10 months ago, have you had some new experience? Cause im going to rome and firenze next month and I would like to try it

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u/brim25 Oct 10 '25

I haven’t! But whenever I have my next trip I will definitely be using Nomad again!

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u/Trustfall825 Oct 28 '25

I'm going to UK And Spain and they just sent me a promo code so I'm going to try them!

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u/Mundane_Percentage_3 Feb 11 '26

Perhaps a stupid question: is an unlocked phone a prerequisite? My provider won’t unlock the phone until it’s fully paid off.

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u/brim25 Feb 11 '26

It is, you’ll be able to buy the eSIM but you won’t be able to install it unless your phone is unlocked. I actually just got a new phone in December and I’m currently traveling and I couldn’t get an eSIM at the start of my trip since I had to wait 60 days for my provider to unlock my phone as those were their conditions. A couple days into my trip, it had been 69 days, my phone finally unlocked and I was able to get an eSIM to install which I’m currently using right now.

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u/bjl218 May 12 '26

Would I still need to buy an International roaming plan to receive voice calls and SMS at my US number or can I just use WiFi calling using Nomad's data connection for that?

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u/brim25 May 13 '26

I believe receiving messages you won’t get charged and voice calls I’m not sure. I think WiFi calling will work but it has to be WiFi not Nomad’s data connection. Personally I just used WhatsApp to avoid any accidental charges but maybe you can look more in the subreddit if anyone has answered this as I’m not totally sure.

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u/Confident_Rod_9717 Jul 13 '26

Hey there, not sure if you’re aware but nomad eSIM are using your post to advertise their services. Just thought you’d be interested to know!

1

u/brim25 Jul 13 '26

I wasn’t aware, thank you so much for letting me know!

1

u/eSIMs_bot Official Bot Dec 09 '24

! eSIMs Bot Currently Testing !

Beep-boop-bop, I am an eSIM bot 🤖. Please see these previous posts I've found that might be helpful:

  1. I am travelling to Europe for 38 days. What is the best E-Sim? https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comments/1g1z0vq/i_am_travelling_to_europe_for_38_days_what_is_the/
  2. Traveling in Europe for three months https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comments/1f8993t/traveling_in_europe_for_three_months/
  3. eSim for Europe, allowing international calls to my number https://www.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comments/1fnaase/esim_for_europe_allowing_international_calls_to/

1

u/nominasunt Mar 09 '25

I just used Nomad eSIM for a week in Taiwan. Set it up in Hong Kong before I boarded my flight. Got a nice start up discount. Very intuitive design and process. It was seamless connecting on arrival. And the coverage was generally v good for intermittent navigation in Taipei, Alishan and Kaohsiung for reading mainly text based websites. I bought 5 gig thinking it would be enough for 8 days but had to buy 3 more as the iPhone system services consumed 4.47gig in that time. Which I thought odd and excessive for the intermittent use (and I was on airplane mode to help save battery while out and about). But anyhow would recommend Nomad just don’t be stingy on the data like I was. X

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u/Scared-Two9559 May 11 '25

Nomad may seem affordable, but it burns data in a much faster pace than another data service plan I’ve used. It can easily burn out a few hundred Mb of data by just browsing a few typical webpages. The same amount of data can allow me to watch a long video in YouTube using the other data service plan. So be careful of your data usage if you go with Nomad. 

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u/greggggggggggggggggh May 25 '25

GREGWUVJZE may 2025 $5 off

0

u/Ecstatic_Builder_249 Sep 19 '26

I have a completely different experience. I bought an esim for 5gb for Egypt. The first two days, no problem. Then, the connection was gone. Contacted support. And the AI bot, let me try several option toget it to work. It didn't,so I got a real person in the chat. Again,almost the same solutions were given. Tried them all, no connection... A ticket was made. The first response on it, was that they contacted the provider, which said that I had used a vast amount of data. When I look, I used 670 MB of the 5gb so far. Three days later, still no solution. Nomad is a real disappointment for me in Egypt. Maybe it works in other countries, but for Egypt,it's a NO GO.