Can you make calls with a travel eSIM?
Short answer: no. A Voyafi eSIM is a data-only plan. It has no phone number and cannot make or receive calls or text messages (SMS). What it gives you is internet access abroad, so calling apps work, while your own SIM stays in the phone for your usual number.
How to make calls with a data-only eSIM
Use an app that calls over the internet, such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, Signal or Google Meet. They work on any mobile data connection, including your travel eSIM, and use data instead of call minutes.
Some calling apps can also reach ordinary phone numbers for a fee. The eSIM itself cannot place those calls.
Your own number keeps working
A travel eSIM sits alongside your usual SIM, and your phone can keep both active. Your own number stays on your main SIM, so people can still call and message you on it.
Calls and texts on your main SIM are handled by your home operator, and receiving them abroad can cost money too, depending on your plan. Turning Data Roaming off for that line stops data charges on it, but not call and text charges. Ask your operator before you leave.
In an emergency, dial the local emergency number from your phone. Do not count on the travel eSIM for this, because it has no calling feature.
Text message codes (SMS)
Verification codes, bank texts and airline alerts are sent to your own number, so they arrive on your main SIM, not on the travel eSIM. If that line cannot receive texts abroad, you will not get them.
Before you fly, check with your operator that texts reach you abroad. Where a service allows it, switch important accounts to an authenticator app or to codes sent by email.
When you need a local phone number
Some services abroad ask for a local number, for example a delivery app or a taxi app that verifies you by text. A data-only eSIM cannot provide one.
For a long stay where you need a local number, a local SIM card is the option to look at. Our guide to eSIM, roaming and local SIM cards compares the three.
What a Voyafi eSIM gives you
Mobile data in the country you are visiting, from the moment you land, at a price you know before you buy. All Voyafi plans are data-only: no phone number, no calls and no SMS.
