Setting up an eSIM for someone else: parents, kids and school trips

Half the travel eSIMs bought are set up by someone else: a son for his parents, a parent for a teenager going on a school trip, one half of a couple for both. The technical part is easy. The part that goes wrong is everything around it.

Do this before they leave, on their phone

Not on yours. The profile installs on one device, and once installed it cannot be moved.

1. Check the phone supports eSIM. Dial *#06#: if a line called EID appears, it does. The phone must also be unlocked, not tied to one carrier.
2. Install the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi. Installation needs a connection.
3. Name the line clearly. "Japan data" is better than "Secondary".
4. Leave the travel line switched on, but not selected for data, so nothing changes until they land.
5. Turn data roaming off on their home line, so it cannot spend money in the background.

Then write it down on paper

A note in the phone is useless to someone who cannot get online, and to someone who has lost the phone. One card in the wallet, in big letters:

• On landing: Settings, Mobile Data, choose "Japan data", turn on Data Roaming for that line.
• If nothing works: turn airplane mode on for fifteen seconds, then off.
• The support address and the order number.
• Your own number, written in full international format.

Teach two habits, not five

For someone who is not comfortable with phones, less is more:

• Wi-Fi at the hotel, mobile data outside. That single habit prevents most surprises.
• Send a message when you arrive somewhere, rather than calling. Messages get through on a weak connection when calls do not.

For a school trip

• Install during the pre departure meeting, on the venue's Wi-Fi. Anyone with an incompatible phone finds out there, not at the airport.
• One plan per student. Groups split up; a shared hotspot only works while everyone is together.
• Give the group leader a list of who has data and who does not.

Helping from home

• You can see nothing from your phone, so ask for a screenshot of Settings, Mobile Data. It shows which line carries data and whether roaming is on.
• Time zones matter. Agree a window rather than calling at their two in the morning.
• If they run out of data, a top up can be bought and applied to the same eSIM: they do not have to install anything new, and you can do it for them.

Quick answers

Can I buy the plan and send it to them?

Yes. You can send someone a working eSIM from a link, which they open on their phone and install. It installs once, so send it to the right person.

Can I install it on my phone and give them the phone?

That works, but it is the plan that travels with the phone, not with the person. If they later switch phones, the plan stays behind.

What if they turn on data roaming on their normal line by mistake?

Ask their carrier to set a spending cap before the trip. Most will do it, and it turns a frightening bill into a stopped connection.