Keep your UK number abroad with a travel eSIM: WhatsApp, bank texts and dual SIM
In short
You can keep your UK number abroad with a travel eSIM, because it does not change your number. Our plans are data only, so your UK SIM or eSIM stays the line for calls, texts and bank codes. The travel eSIM carries the data.
Information verified on 24 October 2026 at the official sources listed below. This is not financial advice; check card settings, fees and limits with your bank before you pay. How we check information.
On this page
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You may not need an eSIM at all. Ireland is included on all 15 UK networks, and ten include Europe on some or all current plans. Your own line then works abroad on your number, so check roaming on every network first.
Will a travel eSIM change my UK number?
No. A data-only travel eSIM is a second line beside your UK one, and your number stays on its own SIM or eSIM. Our regional plans are all data only and have no number of their own (checked on 24 October 2026).
On most of our plans validity starts when the eSIM first connects at your destination, not when you buy it; check the activation rule shown on your plan. A few local plans, such as the USA, include minutes and texts but allow local calls only. None of them replaces your UK number.
Apple puts it this way for iPhone: “Dual SIM enables you to have two active phone numbers” (Apple, checked on 24 October 2026). Your phone needs room for both lines, so read how to install an eSIM first.
Does WhatsApp keep working with a travel eSIM?
Yes. WhatsApp is tied to your phone number, not to the SIM that supplies the data, so a data-only travel eSIM leaves your WhatsApp number as it is.
What changes is where the data comes from. Apple says an iPhone “can use one mobile data network at a time” (Apple). Make the travel eSIM that data line, and WhatsApp uses its data, like every other app.
Bank texts and one-time passcodes abroad
A bank text goes to your UK number. It reaches you abroad only while the UK line is switched on and connected to a network there. The travel eSIM cannot receive it, because our regional plans have no number.
Sky and Talkmobile list a received text as free, and Sky and O2 say receiving does not start their day pass. EE and Vodafone list no rate for a received text. Each network’s rule is in the table further down.
Set the phone up like this:
- Keep the UK line switched on. Do not delete it or turn it off for the trip.
- Choose the travel eSIM as the line for mobile data (menu paths in the next section).
- Keep UK data off. On an iPhone or a Pixel, turn data roaming off for the UK line only. Samsung’s UK page shows one Data Roaming switch and no per-line step, so leave it as your order e-mail says and keep Mobile data on the travel eSIM. Steps: data roaming settings.
- Before you fly, with the travel eSIM on data, ask someone to text your UK number and check it arrives.
- When you land, look for the free text your network must send on arrival, unless you opted out. If it arrives, the UK line is receiving texts abroad.
Data roaming off does not switch off calls and texts on the UK line. A call you make or a text you send can still start your network’s daily charge.
On Sky, check the phone itself. Sky says “You’ll need a phone that’s compatible with something called VoLTE Roaming”, and its roaming help applies that to receiving calls and texts too (Sky Roaming Passport Plus, checked on 26 October 2026).
If a code matters more than the trip, ask your bank before you leave whether it offers another way to confirm a payment. On a long family visit, to India or Pakistan for example, the UK line stays on for the whole stay.
Dual SIM: which line for data, which for calls
On a dual SIM phone you choose one line for mobile data and, separately, the line for calls and texts. Set data to the travel eSIM and leave calls and texts on your UK line. The menu paths below were checked on 24 October 2026.
On an iPhone
iPhone: Settings → Mobile Data → Mobile Data, then select the line you want for data (Apple). On iOS 26 and later a notice, “Turn On Travel eSIM”, offers “Travel eSIM Only” or “Travel eSIM and Current eSIM”. Of the second, Apple warns: “You might still incur roaming fees from your home eSIM”.
Apple adds that with only the travel eSIM on, FaceTime and iMessage keep working on your home line. Bank texts do not: they need the UK line on.
Two active eSIMs need an iPhone 13 or later. An iPhone XS, XS Max or XR takes one eSIM beside a physical SIM (Apple). To use two networks, Apple says your network provider must unlock the iPhone. Apple’s UK pages print no separate path for the calls line, so we print none.
On a Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel
Samsung Galaxy: Settings → Connections → SIM card manager, then Calls, Text Messages or Mobile data, and choose the line. The Quick panel has the same three icons (Samsung). Samsung warns: “If you are speaking on a call using one card, the other card cannot be used to receive new calls at the same time.”
Google Pixel: Settings → Network and Internet → SIMs, turn on Mobile data, then under “Your primary SIMs” choose the SIM for calls, texts and data (Google). A Pixel 3a or later takes one physical SIM and one eSIM. Two eSIMs at once work only on eligible devices.
Menus can differ by model and software version. Apple says “depending on your network provider and device”; Samsung says menus “may vary depending on the device model and software version”; Google says the options “vary by phone and Android version”.
Back home
Back home, turn the travel line off. On an iPhone that is Settings → Mobile Service → the travel number → Turn On this Line (Apple). Removal steps are in how to transfer an eSIM.
What your network charges for calls and texts abroad
Receiving a call or a text does not start Sky’s £2 pass or O2 Travel; both networks say so. On plans with a daily charge, making a call or sending a text starts a charged day on EE, Vodafone and Sky in Europe. The table gives each rule as the network writes it.
| Network | Daily charge, and what starts it | Receiving a call | Receiving a text |
|---|---|---|---|
| EE | £2.72 per UK day, midnight to midnight, in its Europe zone, on plans from 7 July 2021, for using your allowance | free in its Europe zone; £2.46 a minute outside it without a pass | no rate listed |
| Vodafone | £2.75 a day in Zone B on pay monthly plans from 11 August 2021 without Euro Roam, listed against making calls, sending texts and using data | free in Zones B to D | no rate listed; Vodafone passes on any admin fee a foreign network charges for it |
| Sky | £2 for 24 hours, from the first call or text you make, or more than 10MB of data in a day | free, does not start the pass | free, does not start the pass |
| VOXI | outside Zone A, no allowances without a pass (from £2.60 for 1 day) | still works without a pass | still works without a pass |
| O2 | Europe Zone included up to 25GB; outside Europe, O2 Travel £7 per 24 hours from a call, a text or data use | does not start O2 Travel | does not start O2 Travel |
| Talkmobile | Europe (Zone A) included, 5GB a month if you joined or upgraded from 14 March 2023; outside Europe, priced per minute and per text | 41p a minute in Zone B | free in Zones B to D |
Sources: each network’s own page, linked in its row, checked on 24 October 2026; the receiving rules for Sky, O2 and Talkmobile rechecked on 26 October 2026. The other nine networks are on the roaming guides.
Data roaming off does not stop a charged day. On EE, Vodafone and Sky, a call you make or a text you send on the UK line still counts. VOXI’s own words: without a pass you “will still be able to receive calls and texts”.
Answering costs money outside Europe on some networks. Without a pass, EE charges £2.46 a minute, made or received. O2’s data Bolt Ons cover no calls, so answering costs £3 a minute. Talkmobile charges 41p a minute in Zone B.
EE and Vodafone price a received call in Europe as free but list nothing for a received text. If the line stays on only for bank codes, ask them before you go.
Ofcom requires your network to send a free message when you connect abroad. It must give the prices and when any charge period starts and ends (Ofcom: using your mobile abroad). The £45 legal cap is gone: Ofcom says statutory roaming protections “fell away” at the end of June 2022. Check your network’s own spend cap instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still use WhatsApp with a travel eSIM?
Yes. WhatsApp is tied to your phone number, not to the SIM that supplies the data, so a data-only travel eSIM leaves your WhatsApp number as it is. Choose the travel eSIM as your mobile data line.
Do eSIMs change your phone number?
No. A data-only travel eSIM adds a second line and leaves your UK number on its own SIM or eSIM. Our regional plans are data only and come without a number of their own.
Can I get an eSIM with a phone number?
Not from our regional plans, which are data only. A few local plans, such as the USA, include minutes and texts and allow local calls only. For your own number, keep your UK SIM or eSIM switched on.
Will I get my bank text codes abroad?
Only if your UK line is switched on and connected abroad. The travel eSIM has no number, so it cannot receive them. Test it before you fly by asking someone to text your UK number.
Does receiving a text abroad start a daily charge?
Not on Sky or O2 Travel: both say receiving calls or texts does not start the pass. Sky and Talkmobile list received texts as free. EE and Vodafone list no rate for a received text, and a call you make or a text you send there starts a charged day.
Sources checked: Apple: use Dual SIM with an eSIM · Apple: use a travel eSIM on your iPhone · Samsung: use or manage dual SIM cards · Google Pixel Help: use two SIMs · Sky: Roaming Passport Plus · O2 Travel · Ofcom: using your mobile abroad.
Sources are linked in the text; reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova. For the terms of your own contract, check with your network.
Unfamiliar term? See the eSIM glossary.