Every now and then, Airalo releases eSIM plans for a country previously not covered.
This is impressive in 2023 since it already (claims to) cover(s) more than 200 countries and territories.
What I do not see often, however, is Airalo releasing new regional plans (like its super popular Eurolink eSIM (which I tested in 15 European countries) or Asialink eSIM (which I will try in the 14 supported countries eventually)).
In the summer of 2023, I visited several European countries with my boyfriend and his mom.
I already planned to visit Canada and the United States with another friend (Jakub) after the Europe trip in August.
A week or two before the North American trip would commence, I noticed a new entry under Airalo's regional eSIMs: Americanmex.
First of all… that is an uninspiring name 🗿. It would have been better if it followed its -link structure (Asialink, Eurolink, Latinlink & Menalink (Middle East and Northern Africa)).
Secondly, it looked like Airalo was catching up with its competitors and not being the market leader for once.
Holafly had a North American eSIM for ages, but it was of bad value until mid-August when it introduced unlimited data plans for the region (it was just too late for me to try it in Canada and the United States properly).
In June, Nomad introduced its North American plan, which was reasonably priced.
And many other eSIM providers have had North American plans for a while… but not Airalo until July 2023.
So, it was the perfect time to test out this fresh eSIM and compare it to the standalone Canada (Tuque Mobile) and United States (Change) eSIM offerings.
To my surprise, even though the country-specific eSIMs (Tuque Mobile and Change) and the Americanmex eSIM are powered by the same partner, the latter did not have 5G NR access in either country.
This resulted in the Americanmex eSIM having significantly worse speed results because… well… 5G NR is faster than 4G/LTE.
I hope by the time you are reading this, you will have 5G NR access.
But even though Airalo claimed that Americanmex had it too, I did not have it…
For now, let's cover the basics first – shall we?
Original publication: 20th of September 2023. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Which Phones are Compatible with Airalo eSIMs?
Before discussing the Airalo Americanmex eSIM, you must know whether your phone can even support Airalo's eSIMs.
Sure, your phone may support eSIM, but the local mobile operator and travel eSIM provider, like Airalo, first needs to certify a phone before the users can use their products.
As of August 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Airalo eSIMs:
With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Airalo Americanmex eSIM!
>>> Get your Airalo Americanmex eSIM now! <<<
How Much Does the Airalo Americanmex eSIM Cost?
You can get the Airalo Americanmex eSIM for as little as 6.50 USD for 1 GB of data (7 days) and up to 46 USD for 10 GB (30 days). The eSIM can be used in Canada, Mexico & the United States with five options: 1 GB/7 days, 2 GB/15 days, 3 GB/30 days, 5 GB/30 days & 10 GB/30 days.
Below is an overview of how much each Airalo Americanmex eSIM costs:
- North America/Americanmex 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 6.50 USD
- North America/Americanmex 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 12 USD
- North America/Americanmex 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 17 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- North America/Americanmex 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 25.50 USD
- North America/Americanmex 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 46 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in September based on data up to the 20th of September (2023 data only).
Regardless of the currency used in your country, Airalo will always charge you in USD (US Dollar).
If your credit/debit card charges you foreign exchange fees, get yourself a Wise Borderless Account and Debit Card.
Their fees are MUCH lower than banks and credit card companies charge you (and Wise is transparent about their fees, unlike banks).
I have saved literal THOUSANDS of Australian Dollars and Euros, my main currencies, when using Wise abroad when traveling compared to my debit and credit cards.
Moreover, regardless of which Airalo Americanmex eSIM you choose, you can always top it up for the same amount of data and prices as listed above.
For example, suppose you buy the 5 GB Airalo Americanmex eSIM (30 days, costing 25.50 USD) but realize you need more data.
You can top it up with the 3 GB top-up (30 days, costing 17 USD) or the 10 GB top-up (30 days, costing 46 USD).
Many eSIM providers out there do not allow you to top up or extend the validity of your eSIM, so it is cool that Airalo allows you to do so.
>>> Get your Airalo Americanmex eSIM now! <<<
In Which Countries Can the Airalo Americanmex eSIM Be Used?
The Airalo American eSIM can be used in the three North American countries: Canada, Mexico & the United States.
If you plan on visiting Mexico and various other Latin American countries, you better get the Latamlink eSIM, which can be used in 19 countries in Central- and South America (+Mexico). But it is significantly more expensive than the Americanmex eSIM.
With the Airalo Americanmex eSIM, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit.
So if you plan on visiting multiple two or all three countries in North America, getting the Airalo Americanmex eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money.
But if you start your trip in the United States and get a SIM card from the Big Three (AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile US, many prepaid plans will include free data roaming in Canada (up to 60 GB, depending on the SIM card and plan) and Mexico (up to 60 GB or unlimited). However, these plans start from 50 USD…
>>> Get your Airalo Americanmex eSIM now! <<<
My Airalo Americanmex eSIM Experiences
I have already used the Airalo Americanmex eSIM in 66.7% of the supported countries.
And yes… that is a roundabout way of saying two of three supported countries 🤪.
When I planned my trip to North America with my friend, he really wanted to see Los Angeles and New York (which I had been to already) in the United States and did not want to skip one city for Mexico.
But only two weeks before we went to North America was the Airalo Americanmex eSIM introduced… and I had already planned to go to Indonesia (alone to join a group trip) after the United States, so I could not extend my stay to visit Mexico.
Worry not, I will be going to Mexico in 2024, allowing me to conclude this Airalo Americanmex eSIM review (and I will also test the Latinlink eSIM and see which performs better in Mexico).
Before we continue, I do want to let you know how travel eSIM providers like Airalo work.
It is impossible for Airalo, or any other mobile operator, to operate in every country (and do not trust any company saying otherwise), so they set up roaming agreements.
And do not get worried by the word roaming yet – roaming can be expensive, but roaming with Airalo or many other travel eSIM providers, will not result in a 5000 USD roaming bill.
What Airalo does, and basically all (actual) mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so that their customers can still stay connected abroad.
In the case of the Airalo Americanmex eSIM, it uses the networks of seven local mobile operators (Bell, Rogers & Telus in Canada, Movistar Mexico and Telcel in Mexico & AT&T and T-Mobile US in the United States) with the help of Orange France/Webbing (Solutions).
To this day, the Airalo product page claims you can use the Verizon network, not AT&T. None of the eight eSIMs I tested during this trip could connect to Verizon. The connection was either refused, or the internet would not work at all. You can use AT&T or T-Mobile US (preferred) instead.
For once, all the supported networks are good (although AT&T was acting up every now and then for some reason).
But your experience will often not be as good as if you were to get a SIM card from these mobile operators directly.
That is because you are roaming on the local networks instead of being a native customer.
But that does not mean you will have (incredibly) slow speeds – just slower than native customers.
I cannot give an average percentage because it really depends on the roaming agreement Airalo has made… that is why I have to test the eSIM everywhere!
While I will extensively test the Airalo Americanmex eSIM in each city and country I visit, I will not analyze it in-depth in this review.
Not because I do not want to, but otherwise this review will be excessively long.
So I will give you a “brief” analysis, which is still elaborate (lol), of the eSIM's performance per country and will link to the in-depth country-specific review, like my Airalo Americanmex experience in Canada.
That way, this review loads fast on your end, and you can have a quick overview of which countries the eSIM works well and which ones it does not.
But you can click the links below to jump to the country you are interested in – or read about them all!
- Canada
- Mexico (coming in 2024)
- United States
>>> Get your Airalo Americanmex eSIM now! <<<
Airalo Americanmex eSIM in Canada Experiences + Speed Test Results
I used my Airalo Americanmex eSIM in Toronto, where I could access three of the four nationwide Canadian networks (Rogers Mobility, Telus Mobility & Bell Mobility).
Rogers does not allow Airalo Americanmex (or Airalo Canada/Tuque Mobile) eSIM users to use its 5G NR network.
So if you want 5G NR access, you have to manually select Telus or Bell (as your phone will often default to Rogers for some reason).
While I did not have 5G NR access with the Airalo Americanmex eSIM, regardless of my chosen network, you will get 5G NR on Telus or Bell with the Airalo Canada/Tuque Mobile eSIM. I chose Bell because I got better speeds on it.
In my case, I chose the Bell network because I got faster 4G/LTE speeds on it than on Telus.
Taking all 32 speed tests I did in Canada into account, I had an average overall download speed of 113.77 Mbps and a median download speed of 97.07 Mbps with the Airalo Americanmex eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Americanmex eSIM did exceptionally well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 16.16 Mbps and a median upload speed of 10.27 Mbps with the Airalo Americanmex eSIM in Canada.
And that was… good. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Airalo Americanmex eSIM in Mexico Experiences + Speed Test Results
You have to be patient for this analysis because I will not be in Mexico until at least mid-April 😏.
Airalo Americanmex eSIM in the United States Experiences + Speed Test Results
I used my Airalo Americanmex eSIM in California, New Jersey & New York, where I could access two of the three American networks (AT&T and T-Mobile US).
To this day, the Airalo product page claims you can use the Verizon network, not AT&T. None of the eight eSIMs I tested during this trip could connect to Verizon. The connection was refused, or the internet would not work.
In my case, I tried using AT&T for a while until I manually selected T-Mobile US most of the time due to better connection status, reception & speeds.
I am not sure in what order it was, but trying to use AT&T in California sucked, but it was better in New Jersey/New York or vice versa. According to Nomad, another eSIM player, most of its users had bad experiences with T-Mobile instead, while it worked flawlessly in the three states for me. Interesting 🤔.
Taking all 70 speed tests I did in the United States into account, I had an average overall download speed of 49.27 Mbps and a median download speed of 32.02 Mbps with the Airalo Americanmex eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Americanmex eSIM did well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 12.49 Mbps and a median upload speed of 12.94 Mbps with the Airalo AmericanmexeSIM in the United States.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.