I spent much of the months of November and December overseas, with November having us start off in the Bahamas and then French Polynesia. We returned home for Thanksgiving, then took off the next day for Germany, Finland, and France. During the European portion of the trip, I remembered to use my free GigSky eSIM benefit, and it came in really handy in a pinch.
What is GigSky?
GigSky is a company that offers global access to cellular data plans via eSIM in many countries (their marketing materials say “200+ countries and destinations).
In short, you can buy an eSIM and connect to a cellular network in most countries around the world without needing to buy a local plan. Obviously, GigSky sells access to its services, but the key for me is that Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cardholders in the US can get complimentary access to a 15-day plan with each Visa Infinite or Visa Signature card they have.
I had forgotten about this benefit entirely and remembered it when I ran into a wall with my usual data plan on our recent trip abroad.
I usually just use T-Mobile
I’m on a T-Mobile plan from several years ago (Magenta Max) that includes 5GB per month of international high-speed data (then speeds slow).
Because I am often doing things like uploading pictures and videos to Instagram or using my phone as a hotspot to connect while mobile, I tend to run out of 5GB faster than most people would. Shortly into November, I ran out of my 5GB of free T-Mobile access.
I knew from past experience that I could buy an International Pass from T-Mobile for an additional cost. I tend to buy the highest level they offer, which is 15GB over 30 days for $50. Knowing that the 30 days would include the rest of my time in French Polynesia and also the first week of our trip to Europe, I bought that package.
I ran out of T-Mobile international data and couldn’t buy another pass: Enter my GigSky benefit
Just over a week into the European leg of our trip (the day before we ended up with an itinerary disrupted by a Finnair delay), I ran out of data on that pass. Since we were going to be in Europe for another week, I tried buying an additional pass from T-Mobile. For some reason, T-Mobile wouldn’t allow me to buy another pass until the 30-day validity period of the initial pass expired. I don’t think I’ve run into that problem before, but the system wasn’t letting me add a pass.
After several attempts to figure that out, I remembered that Visa Infinite cards qualify for a complimentary 15-day GigSky eSIM with 3GB of free high-speed data (I had forgotten that Visa Signature cards qualify for a free 15-day eSIM with 1GB of data, too — full details in this post). I had totally forgotten about this benefit, but I happened to see someone mention it on social media a few days prior, and it sprang back into my mind.
Thankfully, I still had the GigSky app installed on my phone from my previous attempt to use this benefit in May. I simply pulled up the GigSky app and clicked the tab at the bottom that says, “Visa Benefits”.
From there, the process was simple: I was able to enter my card number to “check for eligibility”.
The system verified that my card was eligible, and I was able to click “Buy Plan” at the bottom to “buy” the complimentary data plan (note that I was connected to free WiFi somewhere at the moment when I bought this).
Once I “bought” the plan for $0, I had to activate it in order to use it. That was simple/intuitive, but I didn’t take a screenshot.
From there, I had to select the network that I wanted my phone to use for data. The process for that likely varies by phone, and if you are using eSIM for your main carrier SIM card, I don’t know how easy it is to switch. In my case, I use a physical T-Mobile SIM card day to day and only install eSIM cards for short-term use like this. I was able to simply switch to the eSIM for data. The phone automatically updated the APN, but if you run into trouble, it is worth Googling for the APN settings.
In my case, the process seemed simple and intuitive enough to me. I even switched back and forth a couple of times when I needed to be on T-Mobile for some reason. By simply “turning off” the SIM card in use, my phone automatically asked me if I’d like to use the other SIM for data. Again, that process is going to vary by phone, but it wasn’t very difficult for me to navigate.
I ran out of data on the first 3GB eSIM that I used on this trip, so I actually had to do the process over again while I was at the airport in Helsinki, trying to troubleshoot what was going to be the missed connection for the rest of my family. While there was airport WiFi, it was going slowly, and I was trying to move quickly, so I was glad to be able to access 3GB of high-speed cellular data in a pinch!
The GigSky benefit is available on all US-issued Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cards
The GigSky benefit is currently offered on all Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cards in the US:
- Visa Signature cardholders receive a 1GB / 15 day complimentary plan, then 20% off all plans
- Visa Infinite cardholders receive a 3 GB / 15 day complimentary plan, then 30% off all plans
In both cases, cardholders get one complimentary GigSky global mobile plan per year (per qualifying card) and unlimited discounts at the 20%/30% levels.
I had initially tried GigSky while in Europe earlier this year, and I had very mixed results while at the Colosseum in Rome, but this time around, I used GigSky in Finland (both in Lapland and in Helsinki), Frankfurt, and Strasbourg (France), and it worked perfectly.
I haven’t even looked into the long-term cost of their plans because I have so many Visa Signature cards in our household. I ended up redeeming for two Visa Infinite sims during that last week in Europe this time, so I’ve redeemed three total complimentary Visa Infinite eSIMs this year. I don’t know whether the one per year resets in the new year (January 2026) or if it is based on the anniversary since last use, but either way this can be a great deal. I was certainly glad to have it, and next year it’ll probably save me $50 over paying for the 15GB from T-Mobile at some point.
Bottom line
Until my recent trip, I had completely forgotten about the GigSky benefit available on all US-issued Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cards. This is a great deal that was easy to use and provided excellent data coverage for my use case. As with any cell phone service, your mileage may vary: coverage may be stronger in some areas and weaker in others. It’s worth checking the GigSky site for coverage info and having a backup plan. But for the price, this benefit is hard to beat.
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Note that the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect card continues to offer 5GB free every 15 days on GigSky, with no annual limit. U.S. Bank customer service is terrible, but the benefits of that card are excellent considering there is no annual fee.
Having never done international travel (but am about to) I’m a little confused.
It is data only.
Then how do people make phone calls when traveling?
I’ve been looking for answers to these questions, but nothing says flat out how to do things. You need calls and data. This esim (all?) only does data. Seems too restrictive.
You can either use what’s app or enable WiFi calling and call using you regular phone number
Needs obviously vary from one individual to another, so this certainly may not be a fit for you.
Personally, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve needed to make a phone call while abroad in the past decade (and I’ve been abroad several times a year every year apart from the pandemic). There just isn’t much that requires a voice call anymore. On those couple of times that I’ve needed to, I’ve done it via Google Voice on my computer connected to Wi-Fi (like during a recent trip, I needed to call to book a “free” cruise from a match, so I did it in the hotel room from my computer since Google Voice charged something like $0.02/min to call the US).
As I mentioned in the post, I have T-Mobile, which works in most countries and includes free texting to the US (on my plan). Calls to the US are $0.25/min on my plan, so in a pinch I could phone home (most modern flagship phones can use one SIM card to make phone calls and a different one for data, so in my case, my T-Mobile SIM was still in use for voice if I needed it while I was using the GigSky eSIM for data).
For your first time going abroad, it might just be easiest to figure out what your home cell phone company offers for international access rather than adding to the stress of the new experience by trying to juggle an unfamiliar (and limited) free eSIM. There are enough other things to spend time worrying about or ways to feel flustered due to lack of familiarity that I’d recommend keeping this component of the trip very simple for a first time international traveler. I like this benefit, but, for example, my parents have never traveled internationally. I probably wouldn’t start them out with trying to figure this out.
Just to be clear, Google Voice charges $0.00 to call the US or Canada from anywhere in the world while you’re on wifi or data. $0.02 per minute is more their rates for calling overseas through wifi or data.
You need to read about “WiFi calling”.
I had great experience with GigSky when traveling Germany and Switzerland in September. I am an Android user while P2 is an iPhone user and we both had used Google Fi for data + calls internationally in the past. I downloaded the app and setup both our phones with GigSky eSims while waiting at baggage claim in Munich – it was pretty straightforward.
The best part (that surprised me) was you just install the eSim once and then when you run out of data and activate a new plan you don’t need to install a new eSim which was great.
Two main drawbacks I ran into were:
– The remaining data measurement in the GigSky app can be pretty off. The most reliable indicator for me that I had run out of data was getting a notification stating as such. Which means you need to keep notifications enabled and they send about 1-2 ad notifications for plan sales a week. Small but annoying.
– My Android was bought from Verizon and runs on the Verizon network when I’m in the US. The GigSky eSim I ended up with was an AT&T eSim, which meant that when I activated the eSim, my phone kind of re-initialized itself and installed all the AT&T account management apps and bloatware games that would come on the phone as if it was new out of the box. Then when I switched back to my Verizon eSim upon return to the states (my US plan doesn’t include any international data) it uninstalled the AT&T bloatware and reinstalled the Verizon bloatware I had uninstalled when I originally got the phone. It sounds like this may be avoidable from your article – I may have selected something wrong during setup. I’ll need to tinker with it.
All in all, thanks for writing on this great service!
It is nice to get 3 Gb of data for free but GigSky plans are generally expensive. I use esims from Jetpacglobal.com when traveling.
This is a great tip. Which of the common travel/points cards are Visa Infinite?
Capital One Venture X, US Bank Altitude Reserve, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Reserve Business, Ritz-Carlton, etc.
Also good to not here @Nick Reyes is that Authorized User cards are also eligible for a plan each year as long as the card has a separate number (all Ritz-Carlton AU’s are the same card number, security number, etc.). I have used “locked” AU’s on my Venture X consumer card that I made for friends just to give them lounge access with success.
I think as of next Feb AUs on the Venture X have to pay for lounge access.
The GigSky free eSIM has come in clutch for my 2 cruises over the past year! And I have another cruise coming up in 2 days so GigSky coming in clutch again lol