eSIM and travel insurance: two things to sort before you fly

You booked the flights. You booked the hotel. Two things travellers usually forget until it is too late: mobile data on arrival, and insurance if something goes wrong. Both are cheap to sort at home and expensive to sort at the airport.

eSIM: land connected

An eSIM is a digital SIM card. You buy a data plan online, install it on your phone before departure, and it activates the moment you land — no airport SIM hunt, no roaming bill shock, and your home SIM stays in place for calls and texts.

For a week in Mexico or Costa Rica, a local or regional eSIM usually costs less than a single day of carrier roaming. Check one thing first: your phone must support eSIM (most iPhones and Android phones from the last few years do).

Honest note: an eSIM is data only. It does not replace travel insurance, and it does not help if your phone is lost or stolen — that is what the next section is for.

Travel insurance: what actually matters for a family trip

For an all-inclusive family holiday, three things matter most:

• Emergency medical coverage. A hospital visit abroad can cost thousands per day. This is the coverage you never want to test, and the one you most want to have.
• Trip cancellation and interruption. If a child falls ill before departure, or a flight is cancelled, this is what gets your money back.
• Baggage delay. Not the biggest risk, but the most common annoyance — a day without suitcases with two kids is a story you only want to tell once.

Read the exclusions before you buy: adventure activities, pre-existing conditions and alcohol-related incidents are the usual gaps. Credit-card coverage helps, but it often caps trip length and medical limits — check the numbers, do not assume.

Before-you-fly checklist

• eSIM installed and tested before departure.
• Insurance bought before you leave — most policies do not cover trips already started.
• Policy documents saved offline on your phone, plus emergency numbers on paper.

Sort these two at home, and the holiday starts at the airport, not at a phone shop or a hospital desk.

Do you sort your eSIM and insurance before you fly — or figure it out on arrival?

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