Is Holafly Worth It for Travel? My Honest Review

I’ve been traveling full-time since 2018, and for most of that time, I’ve been buying local SIM cards as soon as I land in a new destination.

To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of eSIMs when they first came out—why pay more for something that might not work when you could grab a local SIM at the airport for a fraction of the price?

But times have changed, and I have to admit, so have eSIMs. Over the past two years, I’ve dipped my toes in the eSIM world with options like Airalo and Truely, and they’ve been pretty convenient and almost identical to local SIMs, without the hassle of airport lines and passport bureaucracy.

So, when I recently stumbled across Holafly’s “regional” eSIMs while planning a trip through Europe, I was intrigued. Holafly claims to offer unlimited data packages that work across the entire continent—SIM to rule them all?

On paper, it sounded like a game-changer, but I wanted to put it to the test. Below, you’ll find my hands-on Holafly review for international travel. I’ll share my honest experience using it, break down how it works, and let you know whether it’s the new best eSIM for international travel— or just another overhyped product.

How I Tested Holafly's eSIM

This review is based on my experience using Holafly on my iPhone 15 Pro and Macbook Pro via the eSIM hotspot (crucial for me as I make a living from my laptop) during a 30-day international road trip across Europe.

During this trip, I traveled through multiple countries, including Greece, Italy, Montenegro, and Croatia, crossing borders both by air and by land. It felt like the perfect opportunity to put Holafly’s “regional” eSIMs to the test.

I was crossing borders via air and by land, so I thought this would be the perfect test to see if Holafly's "Regional" eSIMs truly would be what they claimed– that is, unlimited internet on my phone (with hotspot to my laptop) in any country I'd travel to, without having to worry about switching plans, buying new sims, or setting up new eSIMS for each country.

Below, I’ll break down my experience, including the setup process, connection reliability, the typical speeds I experienced, and any issues I ran into along the way.

Current Holafly Pricing, Plans, & Where It Works

Holafly claims to offer eSIM plans for over 220 destinations worldwide, and their pricing structure is admittedly very straightforward and simple, usually starting at $6.90 per day with discounts for longer plans.

They offer “unlimited” data in over 200 destinations, so there’s no need to navigate through confusing GB tiers or worry about running out of data You simply pay a flat rate based on the number of days you want coverage, and you’re good to go.

Holafly esim price for europe unlimited sim — Screenshot of Holafly's eSIM checkout page

But what really interested me most were Holafly’s “regional” eSIMs.

These plans are designed to work across multiple countries within a region, making them ideal for trips that span several borders. Like the standard plans, they also come with unlimited data, but the main difference is their ability to provide connectivity across multiple countries without needing to switch SIMs or adjust your plan.

Here’s a quick look at the regions covered by Holafly’s regional eSIMs:

Europe: Covers most of Europe, including popular destinations like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, and Croatia. This is perfect for travelers exploring the EU or Schengen area.
Asia: Includes major travel hubs such as Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, catering to diverse travel itineraries in Southeast and East Asia.
North America: Works across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, providing uninterrupted coverage for trips through North America, whether you’re visiting New York, Toronto, or Cancun.
Latin America: Covers top destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica, making it ideal for exploring South and Central America.
United Kingdom: Focuses exclusively on the UK, with coverage across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for travelers staying within the British Isles.
Caribbean: Covers popular island destinations such as Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico, ensuring connectivity for tropical getaways.
Middle East: Includes key destinations like the UAE (Dubai), Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and Qatar, making it a solid choice for travel across this region.
Africa: Covers popular countries like South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, and Tanzania, providing options for both safari trips and city explorations.

Chart showing the different regions of holafly esim coverage — Holafly's Regional Plans

How Do Holafly's eSIMs work?

Setting up Holafly is pretty straightforward, but there are a few steps you’ll need to take before your trip to make sure everything works smoothly. Here’s what to expect:

Check if Your Phone Supports eSIMs
Not every phone is eSIM-compatible, so the first thing you’ll need to do is confirm your device works with eSIMs. Most newer models—like iPhones from the XR onwards or high-end Androids like the Samsung Galaxy S21—are compatible. Once you know your phone is good to go, you can head to Holafly’s website, choose the region or destination for your trip, and buy a plan that suits your needs.
Receive Your Setup Instructions
After purchasing, Holafly will email you instructions to install the eSIM. This includes a QR code that you’ll need to scan to add the eSIM to your phone. But there is also the manual installation method and a "one click install" on some iPhone models. The setup process is pretty simple, but I recommend doing it before your trip so you’re not fumbling with settings when you arrive.
Activate the eSIM Before You Go
Once installed, the eSIM sits on your phone but doesn’t use any data until it’s activated. You won’t need to do anything extra—activation happens automatically as soon as your phone connects to the network in your destination.
Stay Connected from the Moment You Land
When you arrive, your phone should automatically connect to the local network, and you’ll be online.

But why use them? - eSIMs are all about convenience—you can set them up before your trip, skip airport lines, avoid haggling for local SIMs, and skip handing over your passport. For me, Holafly’s “regional” eSIMs are the convenience game-changer for connectivity across multiple countries without switching SIMs at every border.

Screenshot showing the process of seeting up a holafly esim

Holafly Review: Setup Process

Setting up Holafly’s eSIM was simple, but here’s exactly how it went for me, step by step:

1. Choosing a Destination
I picked the Europe eSIM on their website. They have a "compatibility tester" that checks if your phone supports eSIMs by selecting your model. This saved me the hassle of researching compatibility myself, which was a nice touch.

Phone compatibility screen on holafly — Screenshot of Holafly's phone compatibility tool before checkout

2. Payment Process
The payment screen was straightforward, with options like card, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. However, I wasn’t a fan of having to provide so much personal information (name, address, etc.), but that seems standard for online purchases these days.

Checkout page for holafly esims — Holafly payment screen

3. Discount Code
On the next page, I entered the discount code WESEEKTRAVEL for 5% off and got the order confirmation. An email with setup instructions arrived immediately after.

4. Installing the eSIM
The email contained a QR code for installation. You can either scan this with any of your devices, or opt for a manual install. Since I was using an iPhone, I could just press and hold the QR code in the email (one click install) and select “Add eSIM”—this was super quick and easy. For devices without this feature, they offer the option to install via their app or via the manual install process in the email (still sounds pretty straightforward). Personally, I avoid downloading extra apps when possible, but I did try it later for review purposes.

5. Configuring the eSIM
Here’s how I set it up on my iPhone:

Added the eSIM, which activated in about 2 minutes.

Screenshot showing the holafly add esim screen — Screenshot showing the Holafly add eSIM screen

Screenshot showing esim confirmation page on iphone — Done

Labeled the eSIM “Holafly Europe” so I could easily switch between it and my regular SIM.

Mobile data label page on iphone when setting up an esim for travel — Labeling makes it easy to know which sim you are using

Set my personal number as the default line for calls and texts, and used Holafly for data only.

Default line page on iphone esim setup page — I keep my Default line as my regular personal number, I only want to use the Holafly eSIM for data

Ensured “Allow Mobile Data Switching” is off to avoid accidental roaming on my main plan.

Mobile data page setup for holafly esims

6. Confirming It Worked
To make sure everything was working, I went into Settings > Mobile > Mobile Data, switched to Holafly, and loaded a webpage. It connected instantly.

Final Thoughts on Setup: The setup process was quick and easy, especially with the QR code method. It’s not groundbreaking, but it works smoothly, and I didn’t run into any issues. I also preferred not needing an app to manage the eSIM, which keeps things simpler. Overall, no complaints here—the process does what it needs to without overcomplicating things.

Reviewing Holafly eSIM Connectivity for International Travel

When I landed in Athens, coming from Turkey, I activated my Holafly eSIM while still on the plane. While I could have set it up earlier, I’ve used eSIMs enough to know the process is quick and easy. In fact, I installed it while waiting for the doors to open and had connectivity before stepping off the plane—a convenient start.

This kind of setup is especially useful in countries where airport arrivals can be hectic, like India, Indonesia, or Morocco. With an eSIM, you can skip the touts, arrange your Uber or Grab, and move on without the hassle of haggling or finding a SIM vendor after a long flight.

Performance Across Destinations

The eSIM worked flawlessly throughout Greece, including at the Athens airport and later in Santorini. I relied on it heavily during transit, not just for scrolling memes but also for work. The hotspot feature worked as expected, just like any physical SIM.

In terms of reliability, it’s hard to fault Holafly’s Europe regional eSIM. It worked everywhere I traveled, with consistent connectivity. Haylea, who was using local SIMs throughout the trip, experienced the same speeds and coverage since both rely on the same telecom towers. Even when crossing borders, the eSIM transitioned seamlessly. For instance, near the Montenegro-Croatia border, I connected to Croatian towers without any hiccups.

That said, there were a few patches—like rural Tuscany—where connectivity wasn’t great. But this seemed more about the local network coverage than the eSIM itself, as Haylea had similar issues in those areas.

This was the second time I'd used eSIMs from Holafly. In the past, I used their Pakistan package on the K2 Base Camp Trek since getting a SIM card in Pakistan is almost impossible without a lot of paperwork. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well in the Karakoram mountains since there are no cell towers there but it worked in Islamabad.

Travelers looking at a phone in the mountains

Holafly eSIM Speeds

The speeds I experienced were solid for real-world use. Across the countries I visited, I generally saw download speeds of 20-50 Mbps and uploads of 1-15 Mbps. Occasionally, I hit over 100 Mbps on strong 5G signals in cities, which was impressive. For typical travel tasks like booking trains, using Google Maps, or researching restaurants, the speeds were more than sufficient.

For work, the connection held up well, even while tethering via hotspot. While the speeds could be faster, it’s hard to say if the limitations came from the eSIM or just the local networks. When we tested, Haylea’s local SIMs usually matched my speeds, so I’d say Holafly is on par with physical SIMs in terms of performance.

Speed test result page from holafly's esims — This was one of the slower speeds i experienced and was still good enough for real-world applications.

Final Thoughts on Connectivity

Holafly’s Europe eSIM delivered exactly what I needed: seamless connectivity across borders, reliable performance, and speeds sufficient for both work and travel. It’s not perfect, but for general international travel, it’s hard to find fault. If you’re after convenience and hassle-free connectivity, it’s definitely worth considering.

Review: Is Holafly Worth it?

These days, eSIMs are becoming as essential as long-term travel insurance for digital nomads and frequent travelers. From my experience, Holafly is a great option for travelers who value convenience and hassle-free connectivity.

If you’re someone who wants to land in a new country and be connected immediately—without lining up for a local SIM or dealing with touts—this is an excellent solution.

What drew me to Holafly was their regional plans, which make it so much easier to stay connected across multiple countries without constantly switching SIM cards. For shorter trips, it’s much cheaper than paying for roaming through your home country’s plan, and the unlimited data removes any guesswork.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend it for someone spending an extended period in just one country, as buying a local SIM on arrival will likely save you money. While I can’t speak for every destination, my experience using Holafly in Europe and Pakistan was seamless—connectivity was reliable, speeds were solid, and setup was simple.

Ready to try Holafly? Grab yours now and save 5% with code WESEEKTRAVEL for 5% off any plan. Use the link above to stay connected easily while you explore the world.