eSIM & Cell Phone Coverage

When deciding what kind of cell phone coverage you need when traveling to Mallorca, there’s one thing I wish I had considered before my trip: having access to Wi-Fi is not the same as having reliable cell service.

I had previously used an eSIM with Saily and had good luck relying primarily on Wi-Fi while traveling internationally. Since Mallorca has extensive Wi-Fi availability, I initially decided not to purchase international cell phone coverage.

In hindsight, I wish I had.

Here's why: Wi-Fi isn't always easily accessible!

On both my outbound and return trips, I had layovers at airports where I was unable to access Wi-Fi from the general passenger areas. I wasn't in airport lounges, and the public Wi-Fi simply wasn't available to me. 

That meant a couple of hours with essentially no internet access. On the way to Mallorca, I wanted to use that time to research and make plans for the trip. On the way home, the situation was much more urgent. My mother had experienced a medical emergency, and I needed to coordinate with my family to make sure the house was prepared for her arrival. She needed to stay on the main floor because she couldn't climb the stairs, so a bedroom had to be ready for her and I couldn't text or call anyone!

When I arrived in Mallorca, I tried the airport Wi-Fi and then local Wi-Fi at other locations. I expected connecting to be relatively easy.

It wasn't!

Every Wi-Fi network I tried, including the airport's, required me to create an account and provide personal information before I could connect instead of simply connecting to a public network. I'm not opposed to providing information, when necessary, but I wasn't comfortable signing up for every Wi-Fi network I encountered just to get online. 

The only Wi-Fi I ultimately used was at my resort, which meant I generally had connectivity only when I was there in the evenings. For the rest of the trip, I went old school. I navigated using maps, guidebooks, and information I had downloaded or printed before leaving. It worked, but it wasn't particularly convenient, and it meant I couldn't use my phone when I needed it.

That experience taught me something I hadn't considered when researching the trip:

Don't just research whether Wi-Fi is available. Research how you actually connect to it.

Is it open and available to anyone? Do you need to create an account? Are you required to provide personal information? Does it require a local phone number or another form of verification?

Those details can make the difference between "Wi-Fi is available" and "I can actually get online."

The real lesson came when my mother fell and needed to be taken to a hospital in Palma.

I had decided not to purchase cell service because my mother told me she would have it. I thought that was enough: if something happened, at least one of us would have a working phone. But when my mother was taken away to be examined by the hospital, I had her purse but didn't have the passcode to her phone. Her phone had cell service, but I couldn't use it. That meant I couldn't use her phone to call the insurance company or contact my husband to give him an update.

The hospital also didn't have Wi-Fi.

Fortunately, the staff were incredibly kind and allowed me to use their phones when I needed to make calls. The same thing happened earlier that evening when my husband and daughter needed to get back to the resort: the restaurant staff had to call a taxi for them because we couldn't.

My husband and daughter were then waiting at the resort while I was at the hospital with my mother. We had no reliable way to communicate with each other, and we were supposed to fly home in less than 12 hours.

Everything for our trip, including our airline reservations, was in my name. We had to figure out whether we needed to change our flights, extend our hotel stay, or make other arrangements. Without my phone, I couldn't easily access my airline app, contact the airline, communicate with the resort, or manage our reservations. I also couldn't reliably access my banking apps or other financial services when I needed them. The lack of connectivity turned what was already a frightening situation into a much more complicated logistical problem.

The eSIM I had researched was inexpensive and would have been an economical way to stay connected. My mistake wasn't choosing the wrong eSIM; it was deciding that I didn't need cellular service in the first place. I had focused on whether Wi-Fi would be available. 

Instead, I should have examined what Wi-Fi connectivity actually requires in the country I was visiting.

I assumed I would simply be able to connect to public Wi-Fi networks around the country and use a password-protected network at the resort.

That assumption was wrong.

If you're traveling internationally, especially with an older family member or anyone who may need assistance, I recommend having some form of cellular data available even if you don't expect to use it very often.

You may never need it, but when you do need to make a call, send a message, access your insurance information, order transportation, navigate somewhere, manage a reservation, contact your family, or deal with an unexpected emergency, having a working phone can go from being a convenience to being essential.

Also, don't assume that someone else or even multiple people in your traveling party having cell service means you're covered. Make sure you have access to a working phone yourself. You may not have access to your companions' phones when you need them or, as I learned, even if you do, you may not know the passcode to use them.