E-sims

[crewmeal]

Has anyone using a UK phone line used an e-sim at all. I’ve been onto EE and they will charge you for data and calls if you use it. The current cost for a call to the UK is £2.50 a minute.

Are there any Egyptian e-sims available? If o why re the costs for data?

[HEPZIBAH]

I know nothing about E-sims, and not sure if this is going to answer your question in a helpful way but...

I follow a number of vlogs from people residing in different countries and are also regular world travellers. One of the subjects (promotions) that seems to be repeated quite a bit recently has been about being able to buy one scheme that allows you to use it in whatever country you are visiting, without the constant need to keep buying and topping up the sim card. There have been two or three of these schemes mentioned but I can only remember the name of one of them - Airalo. It may (or may not) be worth looking in to one of these.

[crewmeal]

Thank you Hepzibah I’ve looked at Airalo and come up with this:

https://www.airalo.com/egypt-esim

Now I need to know how it all works

[DJKeefy]

Has anyone using a UK phone line used an e-sim at all. I’ve been onto EE and they will charge you for data and calls if you use it. The current cost for a call to the UK is £2.50 a minute.

Are there any Egyptian e-sims available? If o why re the costs for data?

Don't EE do a 7 or 15 day roaming plan, Vodafone does....

Vodafone offers a 15-day Around the World Extra roaming pass for £27 that includes 200 minutes, 200 SMS, and 4 GB of data.

The 7 day plan is £17

[Gordon292]

For many years I used to get an Egyptian sim card from Vodaphone in Television Street. At that time you could use that sim card as long as you wanted and as long as you topped up the credit on a regular basis. I even used to get a friend in Luxor to top up for me while I was in the UK. Then about 5 years ago I found all the credit I had was gone and the sim card was cancelled. The next time I was in the Voda shop I asked if that credit could be transferred to a new sim card but was told no. So Voda made a lot of money out of me. The last time I was in Luxor I went to the Voda shop and got a sim card. I was interested by the fact that not only was a copy taken on the main page but also a copy was taken of the Visa. I then received a text in English letting me know that the sim card was only valid for 1 month. If I wanted to keep using it I would have to get an extension of my visa. That was not the only thing that disappointed me on that visit was the fact that you also had to produce your passport at the money exchange bureau on Sharia el Karnak street. Things certainly had changed but not for the better.

[crewmeal]

Don't EE do a 7 or 15 day roaming plan, Vodafone does

EE do an add on for calls worldwide - £14.05 for 60 minutes which I’ve used before. Data is expensive so I’ll be using my Wi-Fi box from WE network. It’s about the best of a bad bunch. The downside to that is you have to carry the phone and box together.

[HEPZIBAH]

Thank you Hepzibah I’ve looked at Airalo and come up with this:

https://www.airalo.com/egypt-esim

Now I need to know how it all works

This is just one of the vloggers that I've seen promote Airalo. They are based in Portugal but regularly travel to destinations far and wide and often for a number of weeks. (I've checked and it is in this particular vlog, but not sure at which point.

(If link doesn't work, look up The Newbys on Youtube.)