If you are traveling to another country, you will need an ESIM. Here’s how to get free ones for your next trip

Almost two years later Travel around the worldI learned some travel hacks. What is one of my favorite ways to save money abroad? Use ESIM.
If you’re not familiar ESIM conceptDigital SIM installed on your mobile phone allows you to access your mobile network without a physical SIM card. Using ESIM for all your mobile data overseas means you don’t have to worry about expensive roaming fees from your US mobile provider or buying physical SIMs for your local network every time you enter a new country.
I was interested when I learned that ESIM provider Gigsky offers a free, 15-day global data plan to eligible Visa cardholders. I’ve never seen the offer widely debated in the credit card reward area, nor have I heard of Gigski. Maybe this is a useful and free profit that I will add to my list Favorite credit card benefits. Maybe it’s a two-week disaster with no data or technical issues.
There was only one way to find it.
I grabbed it when my previous ESIM plan expired My trustworthy Chase Sapphire Priority Card – Head to the Visa Signature Card I use to access this offer – Gigsky’s website.
Things you need to know about Gigsky Visa offers
From now until November 15th, 2027, eligible Visa Signature and Visa Infinite Cardholders will receive a free global mobile data plan through Gigsky. 175 countries.
The Visa Signature Card offers a free 1GB plan that is valid for 15 days, while the Visa Infinite Card offers a 3GB/15 day plan. Once your free plan has expired, you will receive continuous discounts on all paid plans. 20% off for Visa Signature Cardholders and 30% off with Visa Infinite Cardholder. You can redeem a free plan once per calendar year.
To get free data plans and discounts, you will need to add your card to the Gigsky app as your default payment method.
Target card
This offer applies to certain US Visa Signature and Visa Infinite Cards issued in Canada and Latin America.
Popular visa signature cards include:
Popular Visa Infinite Cards include:
I used my free gigski Esim claimed
Insist on the offer
I started by heading to Official offer page Read more. I also noticed that Gigsky offers it Free 100MB Trial No ESIM or visa card is required for everyone. If you are not qualifying for a visa offer, this is worth checking out.
I read terms of service For visa offers. The terminology was clear, with no red flags or hidden “gotchas” seen. I was satisfied, so I downloaded the gigski app and requested an offer.
On the app’s homepage, I saw a link to quickly check visa offer eligibility.
After clicking on the link, I was asked to enter my card number to confirm eligibility. Enter your Chase Sapphire priority card number and was told I was eligible for a 1GB/15 day free data plan and a 20% discount on all paid plans. I was grateful for how they laid out the details so there was no confusion as to what I was getting.
Following the app prompt, I created an account and added Chase Sapphire as my default payment method. The app sent me back to the homepage. There, I saw a link that redeems the offers tied to a particular card. I clicked on it, selected the free plan, confirmed that the order total was $0 and checked out.
ESIM setup
I used many different ESIMs, but Gigsky was the easiest to set up.
A new ESIM was found under the “My Plans” tab in the Gigsky app. It has not been activated yet. According to Clausesthere is up to a year from reimbursing your free data plan before it automatically becomes active.
I clicked on the (ESIM Install) link and then clicked (Yes) in the confirmation pop-up. It took ESIM about a minute to download. My phone then prompted me to choose a new primary SIM card (it’s because it’s a dual SIM phone) and restart. I was pretty surprised as previous ESIMs from other companies required additional setup steps, but it seemed like Gigsky could be installed in one download.
After restarting the phone, the new ESIM had no signal immediately, but this was normal. In my experience, it usually takes a few minutes for a newly installed ESIM to connect to the network. My phone restarted again and finally managed to connect to Gigsky’s network. I made sure my main ESIM for mobile data access was set to Gigsky instead of my US service provider and turned on my data and that was it – I was online.
Use ESIM
I used eSIM for my free 15 day free plan and despite some hiccups I had an almost positive experience.
I was in Hanoi, Vietnam when I downloaded the eSIM and it worked perfectly on the first day.
The speed was mostly 4G/LTE or 5G, and I had access to my mobile data whenever I needed it without any problems. Web pages, Google Maps, and even the occasional videos loaded quickly.
You can see how much time and data you have left in your plan through the Gigsky app. There we also saw the option to buy additional plans as the 20% visa signature discount is reflected in the price.
But after a few days my data suddenly stopped working. My phone showed me that I was connected to some “H” networks. I learned that this is a type of 3G network about one step lower with the Internet Speed Ladder than 4G/LTE. However, I was technically connected to the data, but the web page I was trying to access didn’t load. After returning to the hotel I checked the gigski app to make sure my plans were still active and there was plenty of data left.
My data connection was uneven for the next 2 days, sometimes working, sometimes not. I tried to turn ESIM on/off, restart my phone and turn plane mode on and off, but no reliable fixes were found. This on and off situation lasted about two days until I was able to access the data consistently with every try. I didn’t know what the exact problem was, but I don’t think it’s a Gigsky-only problem as the other ESIMs were randomly stopped working too. Sometimes you need to accept that technology is not perfect.
Later in the 15-day plan, I traveled from Hanoi to Cat Ba, a Vietnamese coastal island. Cat Ba is a little far away, so I was worried about the mobile signal there. I was surprised that everything worked perfectly. I have consistently had 4G/LTE or 5G data but had no trouble connecting to the internet whenever I needed it.
The end of the offer
I took special precautions when my free plan expired, just in case this was one of the “free trial version that turns into an autoplay subscription”. (The terms of use did not suggest anything of this kind, Subscription CreepI have taken a healthy vigilance. )
I’m happy to report that this was not the case. That was when my plans were finished. Despite having ESIM remaining on my phone, I lost access to my data and whenever I tried it I got a notification informing me that my plan had expired. I was not automatically enrolled in a new paid plan and my credit card was not charged.
I was able to view details about the original plan on the app and purchased new plans if needed.
My 1GB of data continued until the end of my 15-day plan. I used the data sparingly, turning off mobile data by default, and only turned it on when needed for navigation, web search, or checking messages or emails on the go. I used Wi-Fi whenever I could and didn’t watch videos or scroll through social media using my mobile data. If your habits resemble mine, a free 1GB data plan is sufficient for a short vacation.
Would you recommend Gigsky Esim?
ESIM is incredibly valuable when traveling abroad. I’m glad that Visa has partnered with Gigsky to bring this profit to cardholders. Probably not I would like the most financially valuable perks from my Chase Sapphire – A 1GB global data plan similar to the free plan normally sold for free for $20 through Gigsky – it is undoubtedly one of the most practical ones.
If you are traveling internationally, the free plan will help you reduce one additional cost while providing convenient access to the internet wherever you go. Gigsky’s service is as good as the other ESIMs I’ve used, and I like the number of options Gigsky offers, including data plans and cruise packages in over 175 countries.
However, one of the drawbacks of gigskis is its cost. Gigsky’s prices are on the high end of the ESIM market and are considerably more expensive than the ESIM providers (Escapesim) I used before. That’s why I didn’t update my gig ski plan. I definitely recommend a free plan to eligible visa card holders heading abroad for a short vacation, but if you need your data or if your travel timeline needs to buy a paid plan beyond court, I would recommend comparing the costs of multiple providers before comparing the costs of multiple providers.