Buying an eSIM for someone else: check their phone, send the link, let them land online

Yes, you can buy an eSIM for someone else and send it as a link, but check their phone first. On their phone, dial *#06#: if a 32-digit EID appears, it supports eSIM. It must also be carrier-unlocked.

Brand and release year are not enough on their own, because some regional versions of an eSIM-capable model ship without it. Look up the exact model in the compatibility guide. The carrier unlock matters just as much: an eSIM only works on a phone that is not tied to one carrier, and if theirs is, that carrier is the one to ask for the unlock. Ask them to check both days before the flight, not at the gate.

Then buy on the web, with no account needed. The eSIM arrives by email within seconds, with a link to its own install page, and you can forward that link to the traveller by email or WhatsApp. Treat it like a house key. Anyone who opens the page can install the eSIM, so send it to the traveller alone, not to the family group chat. The page shows the date the link works until.

The install page offers two ways in. The QR code needs a second screen: open the link on your laptop at their kitchen table, or hold it up on a video call, and they scan it with the phone the eSIM is going on. If they open the link on that phone instead, the one-tap button installs it without scanning. One-tap needs iOS 17.4 or later on an iPhone, and Android 10 or later with Google services on Android. Either way, install at home over Wi-Fi, set the eSIM as the line for mobile data, and leave data roaming off on the home SIM. The home SIM stays in the phone, so their number and WhatsApp stay the same.

Installing early does not use up the plan. The validity clock starts when the eSIM first connects to a network inside the plan's coverage, not on the day you paid and not on the day they installed it. A plan for a visit to family in Morocco starts counting when the phone first connects there. The only limit is that first connection has to happen within a year of purchase.

If they run out of data, they do not need a new eSIM. A top-up adds data to the eSIM they already have, with nothing to reinstall and no new QR code, and if you saved the purchase to your account you can buy it yourself from home. Not every plan offers top-ups, and each plan row says which do, so check that before buying for a long stay. Buying the plan their eSIM already runs adds its validity to the end date while the eSIM is active. Some eSIMs can replace the running plan with a different one and lose the data left on it, and each top-up option says which.