Hi guys, what am I missing - Why are eSIM's on Trip.com so much cheaper compared to elsewhere?
Initially I was thinking of getting something from Airalo, Ubigi, or Klook. But then checked on Trip.com and its less than 1/2 the price.
The network used is pretty much the same providers also.
PS - I am looking at Japan eSIMs.
Trip might be using esims as a loss leader to attract people to their other products. Companies like Airalo don't have that luxury.
trip.com gave me a free esim after I used it for a couple of hotel bookings in China. Is that a loss trailer?
It's not that Trip is cheap, the other brands you mention are all usually expensive.
As @HardQuiz mentioned above, I always use esimdb.com to compare plans before I travel anywhere.
They have over 8000 plans list just for Japan.
The current cheapest for 10GB @5G is $7.18 for 30 days via ESIM.DOG and using Softbank in Japan.
I have used multiple providers even just for Japan trips and never had any issues with any of them.
Trip.com has a 5G eSIM 15 days 10GB for as low as $7.56 (KDDI + Softbank).
because Trip.com Group Limited is a multinational travel agency headquartered in Shanghai, China. It is the largest online travel service provider in the world.
I've been using microesim.com for recent trips to Japan. Good to know there are even cheaper alternatives.
Anyone used the esims on ShopBack yet? They seem ridiculously low priced also
Our recent trip to china and Japan, we bought esim from https://chillaxsim.com. Very happy with the speed. They are having sale now and we bought esim from them for our coming Italy trip.
Two weeks ago in Shenzhen China, my 2 x trip.com eSIM suddenly couldn't attach to the network, were showing "Emergency Calls Only".
They still didn't work even a few days later when we left China and travelled to HK.
I used esims from various companies from esimdb.com which appears to be an aggregator for cheap esims. Most were less than $2 for 7 days so I would just buy one for each country just before I got on the plane. No issues, it wasnt the fastest service, but will try the Trip.com ones which seem good.
Aliexpress is cheaper. If you know you know.
how ?
Loss leader / they get to harvest all your private data and communications since it's all being routed through China :/
via Singapore in fact - Singapore IP used.
I meant because trip is a China company in general, so it's probably something to do with the info they can get overall, not just the exact carrier.
I know a LOT of eSims go via Hong Kong roaming though, even one I used in Thailand was a Hong Kong one once which made little sense (and the speed/reliability was about as good as 2G on top of Ayers Rock).
No idea why it's so much cheaper. However I've used eSIMs from Trip for Japan, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand and they have all worked well. They seem to be more like a market place for the eSIMs — had different SM DP address for the same destination (Hong Kong) when I purchase them a few months apart.