International passenger traffic through Saudi Arabia’s airports hit 75.8 million in 2025, up 9.4 per cent year-on-year according to GASTAT, and most of those travelers are running their entire trip from a single smartphone.
Yet eSIM adoption among Saudi travelers remains patchy, largely because a handful of persistent myths make the switch feel riskier than it is.
“Connectivity misconceptions are often the last obstacle standing between a traveler and a smoother trip. Most of what holds travelers back is not the technology itself, but uncertainty about what to check before departure. We would rather travelers spend five minutes confirming their phone is compatible at home than troubleshoot it upon arrival,” Ahmed Elfiky, Regional Marketing Director at Airalo said in a statement.
Airalo, the travel eSIM provider, has laid out the six misconceptions it hears most often.
The first is that activating an eSIM means losing your Saudi number. It doesn’t. Any compatible dual-SIM device can run both simultaneously: the Saudi number stays active for calls and texts under existing roaming terms, while the eSIM handles data. No physical card leaves the phone, and no number changes.
The second is around security. Because an eSIM is embedded in the device rather than removable, it can’t be extracted from a lost or stolen phone and used elsewhere. It also reduces reliance on unsecured public Wi-Fi at hotels and airports, though standard precautions, strong passcodes and biometric locks, still apply.
Third, compatibility. eSIM support is now standard on most newer smartphones, but not all. Regional variants of the same model can differ, and devices need to be carrier-unlocked before a new eSIM can be activated. Airalo recommends checking device settings, the Airalo app, or the manufacturer before travel rather than on arrival.
Fourth, the assumption that setup is complicated. The process has simplified considerably over the past seven years, and guided apps now walk users through each step with clear prompts. It’s fully digital, taking a few minutes over Wi-Fi at home, so travelers land with data already active.
Fifth, activation timing. Not all packages work the same way. Some begin their validity period on installation; others only activate when the device connects to a supported network at the destination. Reviewing the terms before installing saves problems later.
Sixth, the belief that eSIM coverage is weaker than physical SIM coverage. An eSIM is simply a digital method of connecting to a mobile network. Signal quality depends on local infrastructure, device capability, and the package chosen, not on the SIM format.
For travelers who don’t consider themselves technical, the day-to-day experience through platforms like Airalo, browsing packages, monitoring data usage, topping up mid-trip, requires about as much effort as any standard app. It can be simpler, in practice, than buying a local SIM on the ground, particularly in countries where a language barrier adds friction to the process.
