From SIM card counters to apps: why travellers are moving to new digital technologies
After a long flight, all a traveller wants to do is text home, get to the hotel, and take a shower.
This feeling is well known to people from South Africa, as Johannesburg and Cape Town are many hours away from Europe, Asia, and North America.
But the old travel scenario usually unfolds differently — a SIM card counter, a queue, a passport, an unclear tariff, and an attempt to communicate with a salesperson after an overnight flight.
In the era of banking apps, online bookings, and digital boarding passes, buying a local SIM card looks like a tiring relic of offline tourism.
The problem is being solved by next-generation eSIM providers, for example, one of the pioneers in the industry — the Swiss company Yesim, which allows users to set up mobile internet in advance and get connected immediately upon arrival.
Local SIM as a weak link in the digital travel chain
Once, buying a local SIM card seemed like the obvious way to get internet abroad.
Today, this option is increasingly in a losing position when it comes to cost, speed, transparency, and convenience.
Documents, registration, and queues
According to a Comparitech study, more than 160 countries require mandatory registration when purchasing a SIM card, and more than 35 additionally collect biometric data such as fingerprints or facial scans.
In India, activation of a SIM card after submitting documents can take up to 24 hours. An airport SIM counter is not the beginning of a trip, but the first quest.
Tourist markup
At airports, operators work with a captive audience and price accordingly.
At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the cheapest T-Mobile SIM costs $82 and offers only 10 GB of data.
In comparison, an unlimited 30-day United States eSIM from Yesim is almost twice as cheap with a discount.
Language barriers and non-transparent pricing
In countries where English is not the primary service language, choosing a plan becomes guesswork: which package is needed, how long it lasts, and what happens after the data limit is reached.
For business trips, this is especially critical — connectivity is needed not only for navigation, but also for work email, video calls, and banking confirmations.
Risk of personal data exposure
Registration data that a buyer leaves when purchasing a SIM card ties their identity to a specific device: authorities gain the ability to track location, movement, and online activity.
In countries without personal data protection legislation, information from registration forms may be shared with third parties — without notification and without the ability to opt out.
Loss of flexibility on multi-country routes
A local SIM still works to some extent for travel within a single country, but it is not suitable for routes with layovers across multiple destinations.
If a South African traveller flies to Malaysia via Singapore, buying a SIM becomes a repetitive task: each new country means a new operator, a new tariff, and a new queue.
Primary number at risk
Opting for a physical SIM often requires replacing the home card or the main eSIM (if available) in the device.
For South Africans, where banking services are tied to the primary number through SMS verification and two-factor authentication, temporary loss of access to it is a real problem — especially if it happens in the first hour of the trip.
eSIM — the new standard of travel connectivity
eSIM changes the very moment of decision-making: connectivity is not arranged at the airport after landing, but planned in advance — like buying a ticket, insurance, or booking a hotel.
This is the fundamental difference between the old and the new logic of connection setup.
How eSIM works
An eSIM is a microchip embedded in a smartphone or other compatible device, onto which mobile operator profiles are remotely downloaded and activated.
The user simply downloads an eSIM provider app, selects a package for a country or region, and everything else is intuitive.
The home number does not disappear: on compatible devices, multiple profiles can be stored and switched at any time.
eSIM vs traditional SIM: three practical advantages
First, there is no need to buy physical SIM cards — which means no queues, no handing over a passport to a vendor, and no manual activation.
For long-haul flights and family trips, this is especially significant. Second, the cost and data allowance are visible before payment — airport markups and unpredictable post-trip bills are eliminated.
Third, for multi-country trips, regional and global packages are available: there is no need to find a new operator and buy new plans at every point along the route.
Yesim — when connectivity abroad stops being a gamble
The Swiss company Yesim entered the market in 2019 — at a time when most travellers had not yet heard the term “eSIM.”
Over seven years, the service has grown into one of the leading players in the segment and now provides reliable connectivity to more than three million users worldwide.
The entire product logic is built around one idea: getting internet access abroad should take as much time as booking a taxi — just a few taps in an app, with no queues and no SIM card counters.
Tariff lineup for different travel formats
Yesim offers plans tailored to different travel styles and covers more than 200 destinations.
Local and regional plans meet the needs of those travelling to a specific country or region and looking for an optimal price for a particular route.
For a cruise or a multi-country business trip, a single global package is far more convenient than managing separate SIM cards for each country.
In this case, the Global Package (80+ countries) or the Global Plus Package (more than 140 countries) are suitable.
Finally, the Pay & Fly tariff with a pay-as-you-go model is ideal for irregular trips where it is difficult to predict data usage in advance.
It will also appeal to those who do not want to deal with complexity at all — one eSIM for the whole world, and you pay only for the data you use.
Automatic network selection
Yesim works with more than 800 partner operators worldwide and automatically connects in each location to the network with the best signal.
For travellers, this removes a typical limitation of local SIM cards: there is no need to figure out in advance which operator provides the best coverage in a specific region.
In crowded places where signal is often unstable (stadiums, airports, concert halls), this also helps avoid drops in data speed.
MultiSIM. A unique feature most competitors do not offer
The Multiple eSIMs feature allows users to store, activate, and manage several eSIM profiles within a single account, as well as share them with other users — even if they do not have the app installed. No reinstallation or reactivation is required. This is something many large competitors still do not offer.
Low entry barrier
A risk-free way to test connection quality is a trial package: 500 MB for R9.85. New users also receive a 15% discount with the promo code GETYESIM15.
Why buying SIM cards at airport counters is becoming a thing of the past
Airport SIM card counters are disappearing for the same reason printed city maps did.
Modern travel is planned, paid for, and managed through smartphone apps, and until recently the only exception was connectivity itself — it still required a SIM counter, registration, a passport, and luck with language barriers.
Next-generation eSIM providers such as Yesim remove this contradiction: connectivity is set up at home, the main number remains available, pricing is fixed before the trip, and a flexible tariff lineup allows one package to cover the entire route — without needing to find a new operator in every country.
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