A roaming plan extends your home carrier’s service abroad, and your carrier bills it by the day or by the pass; a travel eSIM is a separate data plan you install on your phone for the trip. Maya’s Global eSIM is the second kind: one eSIM installed once, unlimited data with a daily high-speed allowance across 165+ countries, and one flat price by trip length from USD 9.99.
Then there’s the carrier bill that keeps counting days after the trip is over. Nobody packs that.
A roaming plan is your carrier abroad; a travel eSIM is its own plan
A travel eSIM is a separate data plan you install on the phone for the trip. Maya’s Global eSIM installs once, stays on your phone, and covers 165+ countries on unlimited data.
A roaming plan runs on the day. AT&T’s International Day Pass charges $12 a day on land. The clock starts the first time you use data, send a text or make a call in an included destination, and it runs for 24 hours. T-Mobile’s 1 Day International Data Pass is $10 for 2GB, good for up to 24 hours (AT&T and T-Mobile pass pages).
Our eSIM is a one-time purchase for the trip. Install it once before you travel and it lives on your phone. Once you touch down, turn the Maya eSIM on and choose it as the line for Cellular Data. Your phone, your trip, no carrier line to extend.
What does a week abroad cost on a roaming pass or a travel eSIM?
Daily passes charge by the day, so the bill grows with the trip. Verizon’s TravelPass and AT&T’s International Day Pass are each $12 a day on land, which makes a week $84 (Phone Bill Tracker, 2026). Our 7-day Global plan is USD 19.99.
Stretch it to two weeks and those passes reach $168, according to Verizon’s and AT&T’s own sites. Our 14-day plan is USD 27.99, the one the app marks Most Popular. At 30 days of daily use, each pass comes to $360 by the same math. Our 30-day plan is USD 49.99, and the 3-day plan is USD 9.99.
T-Mobile prices by the pass. Its 10-day pass is $50 for 15GB and its 30-day pass is $75 for 30GB. Mint Mobile’s Minternational pass is $5 for one day with 1GB, or $10 for three days with 3GB of high-speed data.
Liddy compared it from the other side in a five-star Trustpilot review dated March 10, 2026: “I have used Maya mobile when I am out of my own country for 2 years now and I fing if easy yo use and far less than using my mobile data or paying for a roaming plan If I have a problem the support team reply promptly,sometimes within a minute”
Need more days? Pick another plan from the Maya app. Pay once for the trip and get back to the trip.
How much data do roaming passes and travel eSIMs give you?
Maya’s Global eSIM is unlimited data at one flat price by trip length, and our terms state the daily high-speed allowance. It runs at up to 4G LTE or 5G where local networks offer it. After you use the allowance, speed drops to LTE speeds with a maximum of 1Mbps upload and download for the rest of the day.
Carrier passes work the other way around. T-Mobile sells 2GB for one day at $10, 15GB for 10 days at $50 and 30GB for 30 days at $75. Mint sells 1GB for one day at $5 and 10GB of high-speed data for 10 days at $20. You guess your gigabytes before you fly.
Every Maya plan carries a daily high-speed allowance instead, so there’s no gigabyte math before you fly. Luis J. gave us five stars on Trustpilot on January 23, 2026: “My experience was great and never had a problem with my data or connection…easy pizza.”
Our plans are designed for individual travelers using data on the move, and no speed is guaranteed.
What happens to your number and calls with a travel eSIM?
A roaming plan runs calls, texts and data through your carrier’s line. A travel eSIM puts data on its own line, so your home SIM stays in the phone for the number you already use.
After you activate a Maya eSIM, you keep using your existing number for calls and texts. Our plans don’t include a local phone number. If your carrier supports Wi-Fi Calling and you’ve turned it on, your phone reaches your home carrier over the internet through the eSIM’s data connection. Calls and texts then run on your regular number. Same number, new data line.
Your phone can handle two lines at once. Apple says you can use Dual SIM with a physical SIM and an eSIM. Google says a Pixel 3a or later takes one physical SIM and one eSIM. On iPhone, only one cellular data network works at a time (Apple Support, 2026). On Pixel, the second SIM needs a carrier that supports Wi-Fi calling for both SIMs to take calls at once (Google Pixel Phone Help). Ask your carrier whether roaming fees apply to Wi-Fi Calling abroad.
Which countries and cruise ships do roaming passes and travel eSIMs cover?
Carrier passes cover a set list of destinations, and some price cruise ships separately. Maya’s Global plan covers 165+ countries on one eSIM, and the Global + Cruise plan covers 20+ cruise lines at its own price.
AT&T’s cruise rate is $20 a day, with unlimited talk and text and 500MB of its best available speed data per day (AT&T’s International Day Pass page). Our Global + Cruise plan is a separate purchase from the Global plan. It’s USD 49.99 for 3 days, USD 109.99 for 7 days and USD 299.99 for 30 days, which works out to USD 10.00 a day. The lines include Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruise connectivity runs over satellite and maritime networks and depends on vessel and route. Service in any one country isn’t guaranteed and can vary for reasons outside our control. Pick your plan, board, and let the sea be the only thing out of range.
What does your phone need to run a travel eSIM?
Your phone needs eSIM support, and any phone you use with a new carrier has to be SIM-unlocked. Apple lists iPhone XS, XS Max, XR or later, and Google says all Pixel 4 and later phones work with eSIM.
Apple adds that your carrier or worldwide service provider has to support eSIM (Apple Support, 2026). Google says a phone bought from a mobile provider can be SIM-locked for up to 2 years (Pixel Phone Help). Check yours before you buy a plan.
Installing a Maya eSIM adds a new secondary line for mobile data. We install one eSIM and it stays on the phone, as covered above. On iPhone, choose Primary for Voice/SMS and iMessage, and use the Maya eSIM for mobile data only. You can name the plan, for example “Maya eSIM” or the country you’re visiting. Your plan clock starts when you enable the Maya eSIM in phone settings.
Which travel eSIM plan fits your trip’s length, countries and data use?
Match the plan to how long you are away, which countries you cross and how it treats heavy data days. The table lists each provider’s own published statement on plans and data limits, and Maya is one plan priced by trip length instead of a catalog by country or gigabyte.
Five travel eSIMs, side by side on how they sell plans, what unlimited means and what happens to your number:
| Travel eSIM | How plans are sold | Unlimited plan allowance, as published | Calls, texts and phone number, as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maya Mobile | One Global eSIM for 165+ countries, unlimited data at a flat price by trip length: USD 9.99 for 3 days, USD 19.99 for 7 days, USD 27.99 for 14 days, USD 49.99 for 30 days | A daily high-speed data allowance (the Daily Quota) at up to 4G LTE or 5G where local networks offer it, reset every 24 hours; unlimited data at standard speed once the Daily Quota is used | Data only, with no local number; your own SIM stays in the phone for your calls and texts |
| Airalo | Per country, per region, or one global plan; priced in USD | Our unlimited data packages don’t have a fixed total data cap. However, to keep the network running fairly for everyone, when you use more than 3GB in a day, we’ll slow down (or “throttle”) your internet speed to 1 Mbps for the rest of that day. | We offer flexible data packages — some have calls and texts. |
| Holafly | Per country, per region (Europe, Latin America, Cruise plans), and unlimited monthly/annual global plans | Unlimited data means there is no fixed limit on the amount of data you can use. However, some network operators may temporarily reduce your speed after a certain amount of high-speed data usage, as explained above. | Unlimited Plans purchased on November 4, 2025, or later include a phone number for US, UK, or Canada. Please note that this service supports inbound SMS only and VOIP-based calling (traditional incoming cellular calls are not supported) |
| Saily | Per country and per region, plus one global plan; by the gigabyte, unlimited, or both | The Unlimited plan gives you 5 GB per day at full 4G/5G speed, then keeps you online at 1 Mbps for the rest of the day — fast enough for navigation, messaging, and standard browsing. | Yes, you can keep your own number while using a Saily eSIM plan. If you want to make calls and send SMS messages abroad without worrying about extra carrier fees, you can add a US phone number to your Saily eSIM plan. |
| Nomad | Per country, per region and global plans; by the gigabyte | How many GB of high-speed data you wish per day. You can continue to use your data at a throttled speed of 512kbps after you’ve used up your daily allocation. | Some of Nomad’s eSIMs include a local phone number. Check the plan details for more information of what your plan includes. |
Each rival’s cells are its own published words, or a short summary of what it states, read from its own site on October 9, 2026; the Maya Mobile cells are from maya.net.
Pick by trip length. The 3-day plan suits weekend trips and short getaways, the 7-day plan suits week-long trips and city breaks, and the 14-day plan suits holidays and two-week trips. The 30-day plan suits long trips and digital nomads. Business travelers get the shortest route: land, connect, go.
Catalogs mean homework. In a one-star Trustpilot review of aloSIM dated August 13, 2026, Osman D. wrote: “No Russian manuals available. I purchased aloSIM for my family while they were traveling, but none of them could set up the eSIM. As an experienced Windows and Android user, I could have probably figured it out by trial and error, but my family couldn’t. It’s way too complicated with English-only instructions. Plus, after my payment successfully processed, the app still asked me to buy the plan again. # update since you are planning to add Russian instructions, I’ll give aloSIM another try. My family is heading to Turkey at the end of August, and if everything goes well, I’ll update my review to 5 stars.”
Atlas, a small globe with a massive passport, shrugs that off like lost luggage. We install once, and you pick a trip length.
Maya Mobile swaps your roaming bill for one flat price per trip
We sell one Global eSIM with unlimited data across 165+ countries, priced flat by trip length from USD 9.99. That’s USD 9.99 for 3 days, USD 19.99 for 7, USD 27.99 for 14 and USD 49.99 for 30. Cruise coverage is the Global + Cruise plan, priced on its own, as laid out above.
You install it once and it stays on your phone. Each trip needs a plan, and nothing else. Need more days? Pick another plan from the app.
Auto Top-Up is opt-in and off by default. With it on, your plan renews automatically when it expires. You decide.
Stop shopping for data every trip. Own your connection.
FAQ
Does a travel eSIM renew on its own or bill you after the trip?
No. A Maya plan is a one-time purchase that ends when its days end, unless you turn on Auto Top-Up. Auto Top-Up is opt-in and off by default, and when it’s on, it automatically buys the same plan again when the current one expires. We also send data usage notifications by default when your eSIM is close to using all its available data.
Do you turn off data roaming on your home line when you use a travel eSIM?
Yes. Set the travel eSIM as your mobile data line and turn off data roaming for the home SIM, according to Simify’s help centre. On iPhone, also switch off Allow Cellular Data Switching so the phone can’t pick the home line for data (Choose Your eSIM Data Line, 2026). If your home line stays active, your carrier’s roaming, calls, SMS or Wi-Fi-calling terms can still apply, so ask that carrier about the services you plan to keep using.
What is the difference between a travel eSIM and a local SIM card?
A local SIM is a physical card tied to one carrier, and a travel eSIM is built into your phone. With Maya, you install one eSIM once instead of buying a SIM in each country. It stays on your phone for the next trip.
Which U.S. carrier plans include international texting or data without a day pass?
T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond, Experience More, Go5G, Magenta, ONE and Simple Choice plans include unlimited texting in 215+ countries and destinations. Experience Beyond and Go5G Next also carry up to 15GB of high-speed data there, then unlimited up to 256kbps. Verizon’s Unlimited Ultimate includes international data, talk and text in 210+ countries and destinations, so TravelPass can’t be added to it. Verizon’s page gives 15 GB a month of high-speed data on that plan, then 1.5 Mbps.
Can you reuse a travel eSIM on your next trip?
Yes. Our eSIM stays on your phone, and for each trip you only buy a new plan, with no reinstalling. You don’t delete it between trips, and your plan clock starts when you enable the Maya eSIM in phone settings. We currently offer only eSIM data plans and no physical SIM cards.
Maya gives you one Global eSIM, installed once, with unlimited data and a daily high-speed allowance across 165+ countries at one flat price by trip length.
