When your travel eSIM runs out of data: what happens and how to top up
Running out of data abroad feels worse than it is. The eSIM does not disappear, your phone does not stop working, and getting data back takes a minute. Here is what happens at zero, how to top up, and how to see it coming.
What happens at zero
Mobile data on the eSIM stops. The eSIM stays installed, its line stays on, and your phone carries on as normal on wifi: messages, maps you saved offline, and calls on WhatsApp or FaceTime over wifi.
Your home SIM is not affected. Calls and texts to your home number still arrive, as they did before, and your bank's codes still reach you by text.
One thing to avoid: do not switch mobile data to your home SIM to get back online, unless you mean to pay your home carrier's roaming rates. Leave the eSIM as your data line, connect to wifi, and add a top up. Never delete the eSIM to fix it, because a top up goes onto that same eSIM.
How often it happens
Less often than people fear. Across 93 of our fixed plans that had finished (June to October 2026), 17% ran out of data before their days ended.
| Plan size | Share that ran out |
|---|---|
| 3GB | 4% |
| 5GB | 19% |
| 10GB | 24% |
The surprise is that the bigger plans ran out more often, not less. People who expect to use a lot buy 10GB, and then use a lot: streaming, video calls and hotspot sharing add up faster than maps and messages. Our guide to how much data travellers really use has the full figures.
The warnings we send
On our fixed plans we tell you as the data goes, so you can top up while you still have data to do it.
| When | Text on the eSIM | |
|---|---|---|
| About half used | Yes, with your pace so far | No |
| 85% used | Yes, with a suggested top up and its price | Yes |
| All used | Yes, with a suggested top up and its price | Yes |
The suggested top up is sized to about a week more at the pace you have been using, and its link opens your order page with that size already picked. The network reports usage to us with a delay of up to three hours, so your phone's own counter runs a little ahead of ours.
Daily plans and Endless get none of these, because they do not run out: see below. The emails go to the address you bought with, so check that inbox, and its spam folder, before you fly.
How to top up, step by step
A top up adds data to the eSIM you already have, on the same line, with nothing to install.
- Open your order page. Use the link in your confirmation email or any of our usage emails, or sign in to your account with the email you bought with.
- Find Add data. When you are low or out, it sits at the top of the page. On a daily plan that accepts extra days it is called Add days.
- Pick a size. If you came from one of our messages, the suggested size is already chosen. The page shows only the top ups that your eSIM accepts.
- Pay. Checkout is the same Stripe page as before, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, in US dollars.
- Carry on. The data is added to the same eSIM, usually within a minute or two. The thank you page shows the data and days the top up added, and your order page the new total.
If the data has already run out, you need wifi for steps 1 to 4: hotel, cafe or airport wifi all work.
Top up or a new eSIM?
Top up whenever you can: it is one tap and keeps the line you already set up. A top up brings its own days with it, so it extends the eSIM as well as adding data.
You need a new eSIM in three cases. When the eSIM has ended, because its days ran out or it was cancelled, it cannot be topped up. When the plan accepts no top up, which a few plans do not, the order page shows none. And a top up can only go onto an eSIM that is installed; until then, there is nothing to add it to.
You can add data before you go, once the eSIM is installed, but it is often easier to wait: the order page shows your pace once you are using it, which makes the size easier to pick. If you are moving on to a country your eSIM does not cover, a top up will not help there; that trip needs an eSIM for the new country.
Sizing a top up: about a week more at your pace
Size it to the days you have left, not to the plan's end date. Across our travellers the median day online used 470MB (July to October 2026), so a week at that pace fits in 5GB; a heavier user at 1,032MB a day needs about 10GB for a week.
Your order page does the arithmetic for you. Once the eSIM has been in use for a day or so, it shows how much you use a day and when, at that pace, the data would run out. Our messages size their suggestion the same way, to about a week more.
If you have only a few days left, the smallest top up that covers them is usually enough, and if you are not sure, one size up is usually better than running out a second time.
Plans that never run out: daily plans and Endless
Some plans cannot run out of data at all. A daily plan gives you a set amount at full speed each day, then slows down until it refills; Endless, our unlimited eSIM, does the same with one price for the whole trip.
After the day's full speed data, Endless slows to its cruising speed, never under 384 kbps, which is enough for maps and messages. You never need a top up for data, so buy every day you need for the trip when you order.
If you ran out on a fixed plan last time, or you use your phone as a hotspot for a laptop, an unlimited plan may suit your next trip better. Our guide to what unlimited really means explains the daily amounts and speeds, and our daily plans and Endless allow hotspot sharing.
Making what is left last
A few settings stretch the data you have until you can top up or reach wifi.
- Low Data Mode. On an iPhone, go to Settings, Mobile Service (Cellular on some iPhones), tap the eSIM's line and turn on Low Data Mode, which sits under Data Mode on some iPhones; on Android, turn on Data Saver. Menu names vary by phone. It pauses most background data and lowers streaming quality.
- Background refresh and backups. Turn off Background App Refresh for apps you do not need, and set photo backups to wifi only.
- Video. Turn off autoplay in social apps and download shows on wifi before you go out.
- Maps. Download offline maps of where you are staying, so navigation works on very little data.
Our guide to what a trip costs and how quickly data goes shows which apps use the most.
Prices for popular trips
Cheapest plan with 1GB or more, in US dollars from our catalogue, updated 27 Sep 2026.
Questions travellers ask
What happens when my eSIM data runs out?
Mobile data on the eSIM stops, but the eSIM stays installed and your phone still works on wifi. Calls and texts on your home SIM carry on as normal. Add a top up to the same eSIM and data comes back, with nothing to reinstall.
Can I top up a travel eSIM?
Usually yes. On RoamMore, open your order page from the link in your confirmation email, or sign in to your account, and choose a top up. It adds data to the eSIM you already have. A few plans accept no top up, and the order page lists only the top ups each eSIM accepts.
Do I need a new QR code to top up?
No. A top up adds data to the eSIM already on your phone, so there is nothing to scan or install. You only need a new eSIM, with a new QR code, when the old one has ended or its plan accepts no top up.
Can I top up once I am abroad?
Yes. Top up from your order page wherever you are. Do it while you still have some data, because once it has run out you need wifi to open the page and pay.
Why can I not top up my plan?
Either the eSIM has ended, because its days ran out or it was cancelled, or its plan is one the network does not let us top up. In both cases the next step is a new eSIM. If neither seems right, email [email protected] with your order number.
Does an unlimited eSIM run out?
Not of data. An unlimited plan such as Endless gives you a daily amount at full speed, then slows to a cruising speed until it refills, so you stay online. It ends when its days end.