USA eSIM

United States eSIM

Prepaid SIMs makes it easy to stay connected across the United States. Choose from plans with unlimited data and calls, data-only options or anything in between. There's a plan for every type of traveller and trip. Install before you leave Australia and connect when you land.

Coverage across America's regions

The US is vast and the connectivity experience varies across its different regions. Whether you're hitting the big cities, driving the national parks or island-hopping in Hawaii, here's what to expect from your eSIM.

The East Coast: New York, Washington DC and Florida

New York City is one of the most data-intensive cities you'll visit. From navigating the subway system with Google Maps to hailing Ubers in Manhattan, checking restaurant wait times on Yelp and buying tickets for Broadway shows, you'll use your phone constantly. Coverage is excellent across all five boroughs, including on most subway platforms.

Washington DC is similarly well-connected. The National Mall, Smithsonian museums, Georgetown and Capitol Hill all have strong signal. The Metro system works well with Google Maps for navigation.

Florida's tourist corridors (Orlando's theme parks, Miami's South Beach, the Florida Keys) all have excellent coverage. If you're doing a road trip down the Keys, you'll stay connected the whole way. The Everglades have patchy signal on the more remote airboat tours, but the main visitor centres have coverage.

The West Coast: Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Pacific Coast Highway

Los Angeles is a car city and you'll depend on navigation for almost everything. Google Maps or Waze for traffic routing, Uber or Lyft for getting between Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown and Venice Beach. Coverage is strong across the entire metro area.

San Francisco has excellent coverage including across the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz ferry and throughout the city. BART and Muni transit work well with Google Maps.

The Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) between San Francisco and Los Angeles is one of the great American road trips. Coverage is good through most of the route but drops in the Big Sur section. Download offline maps for the stretch between Carmel and San Simeon.

National Parks: The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and beyond

America's national parks are a huge draw for Australian visitors, and coverage varies dramatically between them. Gateway towns almost always have signal, but once you're inside the parks, it's a different story.

The Grand Canyon has coverage at the South Rim visitor areas and Bright Angel Lodge. Signal drops once you descend into the canyon. Yellowstone has coverage at Old Faithful, Canyon Village and Mammoth Hot Springs, but the roads between them can be spotty. Yosemite has coverage in Yosemite Village but not on most hiking trails.

For any national park road trip, download offline maps for every park you plan to visit. The National Park Service app also works offline once you've downloaded the park data.

Las Vegas, the Southwest and Route 66

Las Vegas has wall-to-wall coverage on the Strip and throughout the city. It's a high-data destination between navigation, show bookings, restaurant reservations and photo sharing.

The Southwest road trip circuit (Vegas to Grand Canyon to Monument Valley to Moab to Zion) is increasingly popular with Australian travellers. Towns along the route have good coverage, but the desert stretches between them can have dead zones. Download offline maps for the entire route before leaving Vegas.

Route 66 follows a similar pattern: good coverage in towns, patchy in between. The romance of the road doesn't extend to cell towers in remote Arizona and New Mexico.

Before you fly

• Download offline maps for national parks. The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and other parks have limited in-park coverage. Save these areas in Google Maps before you enter.
• Install Uber and Lyft before arriving. Both operate across the US. Uber is more widely available but Lyft sometimes has better prices. Having both gives you options.
• Set up Apple Pay or Google Pay. Contactless payment is accepted almost everywhere in the US. Having your cards loaded speeds up transactions at restaurants, transit and attractions.
• Download the National Park Service app. It works offline once park data is downloaded and provides trail maps, alerts and visitor information for every US national park.
• Check your ESTA before you fly. Australian passport holders need an Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Apply online at least 72 hours before departure.

USA eSIM data guide

American cities are extremely data-intensive with navigation, ride-hailing, restaurant apps and photo sharing running all day. National park road trips use less data between stops but spike in towns when you're uploading photos and planning routes.

• 5GB suits a short city break of 3-5 days with light use.
• 10-30GB covers a 7-14 day trip mixing cities with a road trip or national parks.
• 30-50GB or unlimited suits extended cross-country trips, heavy streaming or business travellers needing video calls.

USA eSIM FAQs

Planning a trip that includes Canada? Our USA eSIM plans also cover Canada and Hawaii. If your phone doesn't support eSIM, our USA SIM card is available for delivery before you fly.