Hi. I am a UK citizen and have been living in Australia for the last 30 years. I have been with THS for 2 years and have enjoyed many wonderful sits. I’m planning on returning to the UK for 2 years and house sitting around the country, catching up with family in between sits. I like to be well organised so have a few queries with which I would like assistance but I’ll post each separately. First, has anyone had experience of using esims with a mobile phone as I need to have access to my Australian mobile no in order to receive codes for apps that require 2 way authentication. I’m getting conflicting information from providers and would really like to hear from someone who is actually using them. How do they work when I also want to sign up with a UK provider and a UK no? Thanks very much for your help.
We haven’t done this yet, but how we are thinking it would work is we would use an esim with our home provider so leaving the SIM slot available for your travel SIM.
Esims for travel appear to be very convenient, but not the cheapest option (a holiday SIM for a month in Sri Lanka cost about £3, while the esim I looked at was a lot more than that) As you are planning a long visit a PAYG UK SIM would seem to make more sense.
If anyone would like to correct me that would be great.
We travel extensively and have done the following. My Australian bank allows me to use my Portuguese phone number to receive 2FA codes. I then use my Portuguese number to roam. If I’m in the Uk and or non EU countries (I’m currently in Turkey) I use Airalo esim for that country with my Portuguese sim as a hard sim so allowing both to be turned in at the same time. When using the ESIM I turn off data for the hard sim, just calls and txts. Hope that helps.
My latest phone allows only eSIMs and can handle multiples, but I carry an older phone as backup when traveling. On trips abroad, I’ve kept my main phone on my usual number, which I use for 2FA via wifi. (I work remotely for companies that routinely use 2FA, so I might do that multiple times daily.) Then I get a local SIM or an eSIM on my backup phone.
On my latest trip abroad, I skipped all that and instead used my existing carrier’s international plan, which retained my U.S. number. It was more expensive, but I didn’t need to do anything extra — just used my phone as usual. That might be worth exploring as well with your provider. I’m guessing that they have that in various countries.
Hi @Rascal, Aussie here. I totally understand what you mean by needing to get your verification codes whilst in the UK. The verification issue is an absolute nightmare, always caused me headaches. You can actually have more than one eSim set up on your phone at any one time or you can use a physical Sim in the UK and still use an eSim/s at the same time.
@Oztravels I will have to try and figure out what all that means 
Happy to help
2FA = Two factor authentication
airalo = Online app to purchase esim for any country which auto registers the esim assuming the phone is compatible.
Hard Sim = Traditional SIM card
My bank NAB allowed me to change number
Hope that helps.
Following this thread, as we’re also interested in getting an eSIM. Usually we simply get a local SIM and then have to change the number for notifications which is a nightmare and not always possible to do. I’ve been watching various YouTubers who are full time slow traveller retirement nomads using various eSIMS to learn about this as an option.
Now that so many cafes have WiFi this next big trip we’ll only go for one SIM as hubby can always contact me if we’re separated for any reason by hopping into a cafe.
Are eSIMS global products though? Does it matter where your home location is, as we’ll be doing the reverse to you so UK to Australia.
I live in the UK and have no idea what an esim is? However I take my phone with me all over to various countries. I always have roaming etc. turned permenantly off when not in the uk, due to exorbitant charges. I always connect to a home
wi-fi, only at whatevere accommodation I am staying, or in cafe’s etc. I then contact friends and family on WhatsApp only. If doing any online banking I use my laptop, as feel much safer than using a mobile. I have a card reader that I use for Nationwide Banking, but have had no problems with other authentication codes that are sent by text to my mobile, which has always been, in whatever country I am in. Hope that helps?
We’re ESim kids too @BonnyinBrighton and also use Airalo. So far so good all over SE, Morocco & West Asia. Just download the app onto your phone, your location is irrelevant and you can top up data with Apple pay as you go along. Just screenshot the instructions when you first install it so you can swap back to what you’re doing! It’s been a life saver and much easier than a PAYG or two phones (we do have an emergency one in case of theft). You just swap between the ESim & your main number on your settings as you want to and still use WiFi whenever it’s available. The saving bit is when you have no WiFi, have been separated or want to google something & you have that option. The data lasts for a month usually so flexible. #loveanesim
Using an eSim this trip for the first time and I must say it’s fantastic! Only has data though, didn’t choose plan with phone number and texts. eSim’s are definitely not a cheap option and you need to choose a regional or global plan and you need to choose whether to have a phone number and texts with your plan which really boosts the cost. Physical sims are far cheaper. @BonnyinBrighton in Oz, I recommend a local physical eSim from Aldi for example or Woolworths as another example, both PAYG, like a 30 day Sim which you can top up, cheap and easy. I used to host international language students and they all used these for short stays for internet, phone and text coverage.
Hi @Rascal We are usually based in Australia and lived nomadically in Europe/UK during 2022/2023. I’m a bookkeeper, so I had a LOT of authentication codes coming my way. Unfortunately, the only way that worked, was to shift to an authenticator app, we used Authy, and set up your accounts on Authy, to generate codes through there. I had to spend a good deal of time, deactivating or changing all my 2FA’s, as although I kept my Aussie phone number with a cheap Aldi mobile 365 day subscription, I couldn’t receive codes or texts. The only way to receive texts are if you have roaming, which are charged per day and would be way too expensive for 1-2 years. So go through all your accounts systematically and manage your 2FA. Banking are especially important. You may have to wait until you are overseas and have a UK phone number, to call your Aussie banks and change your phone number…banking was the worst and it took hours on the phone to resolve. Good luck!
Hi, we are Australians in the UK. We can’t use eSims on our phones unfortunately so we have a Lebara UK Sim in one phone for phone calls and mobile data and the other phone with our main +61 number can still get the 2FA codes and receive phone calls while on flight mode with international roaming turned off. Seems like voodoo witchcraft to me that it can still receive text messages and phone calls! It might only be while it’s hooked into WiFi but I’m not sure about that.
Good point on phone types @Crookie, you need at least an iPhone 11 @BonnyinBrighton or a pretty current android to upload an ESim. Tells you which on the Airalo app. 
BTW, you might want to check your company’s perks if you work for a business. With various employers, I’ve enjoyed discounts and such. Like with a company I recently joined, we get discounts on Airalo eSIMs, probably because so many of us work remotely and travel a lot and we need 2FA wherever we go.