Glad it was helpful, thanks for the nice comment! Safe travels ✈️

Glad you found the video helpful, thanks for the nice comment! Safe travels ✈️

Hello! Cellular Data refers to how much data you have through your carrier, or an eSIM such as Airalo. It is not a term specific to iPhone or Android phones. Is there a particular step that was a bit confusing in the video that I can try and help with?

@@briansteph I’m confused with the “default line- primary and used as personal”, i finished installing airalo, which one should I turn on when I arrived at my destination and I don’t want to be charged by my local network, I want to use my eSIM than my local network, which one should I tick on- primary or used as personal? This is the first time I use eSIM airalo, thanks

In saying that, I want to receive sms from my local contacts, but I noticed after installing airalo, my iMessage button “to turn it on”- is off, how can I enable iMessage?

It might actually be more helpful to check out the video where I walk through the purchase, install and activation process from beginning to end: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpqUdJVnqaqYias Airalo can be used with iMessage in order to communicate with other iPhone users, but it cannot be used to send/receive standard SMS (green texts, typically to/from Android users). The only caveat to this is if you use the Airalo Global+ eSIM, which includes an allotment of SMS and call minutes. You also cannot finish activating your Airalo eSIM until you arrive at your destination, which may be causing some confusion if you are trying to activate before your trip. Ultimately, the Primary SIM should be switched OFF, and the Airalo eSIM should be switched ON during your trip.

Hi! You can so long as the activation policy indicates that the eSIM's activation policy will only start once the eSIM connects to one of the supported networks (this is the case for most Airalo eSIMs, but worth confirming in the Activation Policy)

@@brianstephsome how I must have messed up because my EE is gone :/

what do you mean by EE?

Glad it was helpful, thanks for the nice comment! Safe travels ✈️

Ahh sheesh, that is stressful! Sorry you had to experience that. It would be useful in that case to have one of these Discover+ plans with a phone number so that you could call that number. In dire straits, you could also use the emergency call feature on the iPhone, which wouldn't require any sort of phone plan as well. Thanks for sharing this - a great reminder that having a plan with some call minutes is a good idea for emergencies!

Hi! Yes, Airplane Mode needs to be off

Glad it was helpful to you! I hope you have a wonderful trip :) safe travels!

Hi! Which link did you click? It should be this one (I might need to fix the link somewhere if this isn't coming up): gyg.me/j0Y4DvSo I've searched GYG for tours without transfers and don't see any. If you just want to get tickets, you can do that here on WB Studios' direct website: www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/tickets/#individual-family

@ Thanks for your reply. The link shows all the options for Harry Potter studios packages. And the official website only shows tickets for 2025 and im going early on in December :(

Ok try this one! www.getyourguide.com/london-l57/warner-bros-studio-tour-london-the-making-of-harry-potter-t31392/?partner_id=H4F9EBP&cmp=youtube_hp So weird because they go directly to the activity for me. It could be that they are sold out for December directly through the website - it's a popular activity and they only sell so many tickets per day. Something like GYG may have more options depending on what they have access to!

Glad it was useful Mark! For the scenario you are describing, there are some alternatives to working with 2FA/MFA that I mention in this other video at 24:34 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqPNqHSBib55b7c Alternatively, there are ways to setup your phone so where you can leave the primary SIM on and still avoid charges, but i don't often recommend doing this unless you feel comfortable with what each setting you're altering does, as it can get confusing. Here's how you could set your phone up: - When leaving both SIMs on, make sure that under Cellular > Cellular Data, the Airalo eSIM is selected as the default for data - In this same section, make sure "allow cellular data switching" is turned off. This prevents your phone from trying to switch from your Airalo SIM back to your Primary SIM for data, should the connection be weak via Airalo at any point. - Under Cellular > eSIMs, select your Primary SIM and make sure "data roaming" is switched off. This will ensure that you cannot access data while outside of your home country, in the event that you accidentally were attempting to access data via your Primary SIM (which would be prevented from happening with the previous bullet) - When sending a message, make sure you are sending it from the Airalo eSIM (there should be an option when starting a new message at the top of the new conversation thread). Be careful in existing conversation threads though, as you won't always be prompted as to what SIM you would like to send the message from (which is why i recommend starting a new conversation). Sending from the Primary SIM could trigger an international charge from your home cell provider. With a lot of US cell providers, INBOUND SMS do not incur a charge, but OUTBOUND do. It's certainly worth checking with your provider and understanding the fine print of their international policies.

Thank you so much, we appreciate that! Hopefully you found what you needed for Airalo 😁 safe travels!

@ yes thank you - it was very helpful. Going to Vietnam and Cambodia next week.

@v8sainter awesome, hope it's a great trip!!

Thanks Marie, that's great to know! I think we may have done one of the Trianons, but didn't know about the private apartments. Will have to visit those next time :)

@@briansteph Louis XVI offered Queen Marie-Antoinette the petit trianon. At the Queen's Hamlet, the small village that Marie-Antoinette had built, you can visit the Queen's House with a guided tour by reservation. I think the visit to the queen and king's small apartments in the grand palace of Versailles is more interesting. In Versailles, history is respected, everything is authentic, the palace and gardens are as they were in 1789. The furniture and objects that were magnificent were unfortunately sold after the revolution. They go out of their way to find furniture and buy it, which is very difficult and expensive. They managed to refurnish these small apartments. Unfortunately, for me who is French, there are furniture and objects, magnificent porcelain that are in other European monarchies and in museums all over the world that are impossible to recover... It hurts us because it's our history and our artisans...

Wow thank you for sharing these history lessons with us! I can definitely see how it would be disappointing for the historical objects of your country to be distributed across the world. I think this same thing quite often about Egyptian objects as well, as we have seen historical item from Egypt in museums all over the world. On one hand, it is nice that people from other places can experience the history and culture of another country. On the other hand, it is sad for those items to be separated from their native country. We will have a whole new appreciation for Versailles when we are able to go back now - thank you for sharing all of this 😊🇫🇷

@@briansteph Thank you for your answer. As far as Egypt is concerned, I would like to make a few clarifications. It should be noted that France helped a lot in the Egyptian discoveries, it was a Frenchman who deciphered the hieroglyphics. There have been many fruitful collaborations between Egypt and France in the field of archaeology and heritage preservation. French museums, including the Louvre, work closely with the Egyptian authorities to organize exhibitions and research projects. In 1830, the viceroy of Egypt offered two obelisks to France. To thank you, France offered Egypt another gift. Only one of the obelisks has arrived in France, France has renounced the second. Personally, I would prefer that the Egyptian antiquities be returned, but the story is more complicated because there was a lot of help from France. These antiquities were either given or bought from people who were not Egyptians,

Hey there! You will complete the activation without wifi, as your phone needs to connect to one of the cellular networks associated with the eSIM in order to finish its activation process. Usually this only takes about 5-10 minutes once you switch the eSIM on.

Hi there! Sending/receiving iMessages naturally only uses data, whether you are on your normal phone plan through your primary SIM, or something like an Airalo eSIM. That said, there is no way to NOT use data when using iMessage. You can still use iMessage while your Primary SIM is disabled, either through wifi or an eSIM, but those iMessages get routed through your Apple ID email address rather than your phone number. If you are talking about regular SMS text messages (green bubbles in the Apple Messages app, which would typically be seen when communicating with an Android-based phone, or if data was disabled on your phone), it is possible to RECEIVE those SMS texts in the Messages app without incurring an international charge (true for most US-based providers at least, but double check with your provider), but SENDING an SMS internationally will almost always incur an international charge. There is a way to setup your phone in a way that would accommodate this, but I don't recommend it to most people as it can be very easy to accidentally trigger an international charge...it requires being hyper aware of how you're sending messages in the Messages app. I can go through the details of that if you'd like!

Hi Abel! You will continue to get emails to all of your email addresses via any of the email apps such as Apple's "Mail", Gmail, Outlook, etc.

Glad it was helpful, thanks for the nice comment! Safe travels ✈️

Hi Ajay! Yes you can, but specifically with the Discover+ eSIM package that they offer. That is the eSIM that comes with a phone number and provides an allotment of call minutes and SMS, in addition to data. I didn't find the packages they offer to be worth it for me personally, but if you'd like to see a full review of this specific eSIM, I made a video for it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJbGlH2ep7OJabM

Hi! Your phone number is linked to your Primary SIM, so when that SIM is off, so is your phone number. iMessage can still be used with your Apple ID/email address though! This will allow messaging with anyone who also has an Apple device. The only messages you cannot send/receive are standard SMS (to/from non-iPhone users). Hope that's helpful!

Thanks so much for the nice comment! Yes you can enable though settings! As long as your primary SIM is off, you won't be charged. iMessage and FaceTime can work on data-only using the eSIM data. The only thing you won't be able to send/receive in the Messages app while your primary SIM is off are regular SMS texts (green bubbles). Normal iMessages will work though! Small world: we are also in Hungary at the moment! 🇭🇺

@@briansteph Oh okay, great thanks. Yeah, I thought I was correct in doing it that way! Wow, how coincidental we are both here atm! I’m heading to Croatia tomorrow but have had a stunning time in Lillafured in the Bukk Mts! The autumn colours are breathtaking! Cheers from Australia

@margsangster8994 amazing, that sounds incredible! Lots of changing colors in Budapest as well. We have just come from Turkey where it was still quite warm and barely starting to cool down when we left, so these TRUE fall temps and colors have been incredible. We did Split, Hvar, Klis and Dubrovnik this past June! So much more to see of course, it's a great country. Hope you have a wonderful time - safe travels!

@@briansteph Great, yeah, I’ve done Dubrovnik etc a couple of times in the last few years but it’s getting too well known there now, hence why I try to find less touristy places. I’m off to Plitvice Lakes soon before the season closes! Safe travels guys! Enjoy!

Totally agree! We had never been so we felt like we should see some of the main cities (especially being a huge GoT geek), but they were definitely wildly overcrowded. AND more expensive than what we had heard from friends who went only 1-2 years prior...insane! Seems as though they are feeling the overcrowding pinch as well. Brilliant! I had those lakes and the waterfalls in that area marked but we ran out of Schengen days 😂 Hope you have a great time - would love to hear what you think! If you wanna share travel recs and such, we are on IG @brian.and.steph, would love to connect! Cheers!

Glad the explanation was helpful, thanks for the nice comment! We love Belgium - only been to Brussels, Bruges and Ghent but loved all of our time there 🇧🇪 cheers!

Glad it was helpful!! Thanks for the nice comment 😊

Haha this is probably the funniest comment i've gotten on one of these videos 😂 glad it was helpful mate, thanks for the comment - cheers!

Hi there! You are correct that some accounts (specifically banks a lot of times) require 2FA and/or MFA, usually via SMS. In some cases, you can actually get that switched to be a code to your email, which i have done with my bank in the past. For a lot of other online accounts, using an Authenticator App is becoming an increasingly popular solution instead of an SMS (Google Authenticator being one of the most common). Both email and authenticator apps only require data, so it is possible to complete 2FA/MFA using these methods while only using Airalo. With AT&T, I would check to see what actually triggered your international charge. With a lot of US providers, RECEIVING an SMS internationally will not trigger a charge, but sending a non-iMessage/SMS text WILL trigger a charge. It's possible that because you turned your Primary SIM on for the 2FA SMS you needed to receive, you were allowing international data to be used from your Primary SIM as well. And/or when you sent a message, it sent as an SMS instead of a data-only iMessage and triggered the charge that way. There are ways to setup your phone so where you can leave the primary SIM on and still avoid charges, but i don't often recommend doing them unless you feel comfortable with what each setting you're altering does, as it can get confusing. Here's how you could set your phone up: - When leaving both SIMs on, make sure that under Cellular > Cellular Data, the Airalo eSIM is selected as the default for data - In this same section, make sure "allow cellular data switching" is turned off - Under Cellular > eSIMs, select your Primary SIM and make sure "data roaming" is switched off - When sending a message, make sure you are sending it from the Airalo eSIM (there should be an option when starting a new message at the top of the new conversation thread). Be careful in existing conversation threads though, as you won't always be prompted as to what SIM you would like to send the message from (which is why i recommend starting a new conversation). I would still confirm what is and isn't going to trigger a charge with AT&T, but i have configured my phone this way in the past with Verizon and have had no issues getting 2FA SMS free of charge. What gets tricky is making sure you don't actually send a text from your Primary SIM or place a call on accident. Another thing you can do is complete those few steps i listed ONLY when you know you are about to receive a 2FA SMS, and then disable your Primary SIM as soon as you complete your login. Hopefully that's helpful!

Thanks John, hope this was helpful!

Thanks for the nice comment Cristian, glad it was easy to follow! Hope you have a great trip to Sintra :)

Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad this was simple and easy to understand - that's the goal 😊 Yes, that is ok for the data portion - you would certainly want to keep Data Roaming "off" on that SIM. Another setting i would suggest turning "off" is "allow cellular data switching" under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data. This will make sure that your data is only being utilized by the Airalo SIM (you'll also want to make sure that your Airalo SIM is selected in this section). Keep in mind that if your Primary SIM is on, you will still receive SMS texts and calls. Receiving these shouldn't cost you anything, but if you place a call or send an SMS, there is a chance you will be charged by your carrier (depending on their specific rules - worth checking). Hope you have a great trip!

Hi Abel, thanks for the nice comment! So glad this has been helpful to you. Yes, email (and sending photos via email) requires data, which is what Airalo is providing you...so you're all set there! For iMessage, it is whatever email is associated with your Apple ID. You can change that Apple ID email address with Apple though if you wish! If i recall correctly, this can be done via iCloud. Sounds like for you, your @icloud email address is your Apple ID email currently. Let me know if you need some help with that, i can locate a resource for you!

So glad that this was helpful to you! Thanks so much for the nice comment 😊 safe travels!

Hi Adriana! I am not sure the details around guided tours, as the package we purchased was self-guided with the transportation included. We didn't wait very long to get in, and we found the experience to be plenty stimulating without a guide! Obviously it's personal preference, but for an experience like this, I'd rather have the ability to wander about freely, as there's so much to look at! We've found that guided tours in general skip over portions of a museum/experience because they simply do not have enough time to talk about every little detail. With somewhere like WB Studio, I feel it'd be best to have the freedom to do explore on your own :)

@@briansteph very true!! Thanks for the tips!!

@adrianacuellar8604 of course! Have a great time 😊

Great question! This is personal preference. I generally don't, as using Airalo is equivalent to connecting to the cellular network in your home country, which generally warrants much less concern than a public wifi network. But you certainly can continue to use a VPN for that extra layer of security if you'd like! And of course, if you'd like to appear (online) to be somewhere other than you physically are.

Thanks so much for the kind comment! So glad to hear you found this helpful and that it was easy to understand 😊

Hi Robert! You can complete the purchase and installation prior to your trip, but the activation process is triggered by turning your eSIM on in the country (or one of the countries) which is was purchased for. Once your phone connects to a cell network in one of the countries which the eSIM supports, the activation process will complete. It generally only takes 5-10 minutes...I have found personally that it's on the shorter end.

Yes that's correct! I didn't show it in the demo because I was still in my home country.

Thanks so much for the nice comment! Glad this was helpful to you. Hope you have a great trip ✈️

Glad it was helpful, thanks for the nice comment! Hope you have a great trip 😊

Hi there! Yes, all of the eSIMs provide data, and WhatsApp/Telegram only need data to function - so you'll be all set there :) Yes, the link is in the description as well - still available!

Thank you again Brian. I just purchased it with your advice but have not installed it yet. Will do it tomorrow morning. Thank you! @@briansteph

Sounds good! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Hi there! I've had this happen as well. Basically what happens is your group chats all have you in there with your phone number before you leave, and then when you are on your trip and your phone number is temporarily turned off, you add another "version" of your contact information into the group chat the first time you message in it with your Apple ID/email address. For better or worse, I'm not part of many group chats, so I can't speak to this super well. BUT, what I can say that is you want to remove the "version" that is specific to your Apple ID/email address within the contacts section of the group chats, and keep the version that has your phone number.

@@briansteph thanks for your advice :) that makes sense. I ended up calling apple support and the lady was able to have me go thru a bunch of stuff to sort out after I deleted and tried to restart group chat that wasn’t syncing with iPad. As I’m not great at this stuff I’m just not going to text my sisters ( group chat) when I go away 😂….. or maybe just on WhatsApp thanks again. Your videos are very informative and have shared with others

Ahh yes, I've found Apple support generally isn't super helpful on the multiple SIMs concept, but I don't get the impression that they deal with it often, or get much training on it. Thanks so much for the nice comment! Glad these videos have helped you and I truly appreciate you sharing them :)

Thanks so much for the nice comment Bradley! Glad you found the video useful. Safe travels! ✈️

Hi! Yes it works in both. From personal experience so far, I have used it in England and Scotland for a combined total of 5 weeks with no issues 😊

So glad to hear this helped you and that i didn't skimp on the important parts 😅 thanks so much for the nice comment! Safe travels ✈️

Hi Ana, glad this was useful to you! Sounds like a great trip you have coming up 😊 Here are a couple of options: - Purchase the Asia Regional eSIM, which covers all 3 of those countries - Only purchase an eSIM for Indonesia if you're only going to be at the airports in the other 2 countries. Most airports have free wifi, which is usually enough to tide you over on layovers 😊

That's definitely an option, and typically what I do as well. I rarely find need for the call/SMS features with all the apps that can be used with only data, but some people really need/prefer having that option.