How to get a refund from Holafly, and the windows that apply

Route 1: change of plans, eSIM not activated

Holafly’s refund policy:

“If there have been changes in your plans and you no longer need your Holafly eSIM, we will provide you with a full refund.”

Conditions, verbatim:

• Purchased from the Holafly website or app, not a third party
• “The activation of the eSIM has not been done yet”
• “If the eSIM has already been activated and/or used, we will analyze your specific case to provide a better solution”
• Purchased no more than 6 months ago

That six month window is real and it is unusually good. Airalo’s equivalent right ends at 14 days or activation, whichever is sooner.

Route 2: incompatible or locked device

“If you purchased the eSIM and it turned out to be incompatible with your device, we will provide you with a full refund.”

Conditions:

• “Have not scanned the QR code”
• “Have not used any data from the plan”
• Purchased no more than 6 months ago
• “Send a screenshot and the necessary information to verify the incompatibility or lock”

There is a practical catch here worth flagging. You usually discover a device is incompatible by trying to install. The customer-facing policy words the condition as “have not scanned the QR code”, which is workable. But Holafly’s contractual terms make the incompatible-device refund conditional on the change-of-mind conditions, which include the eSIM not having been activated at all. The two documents are not identical, and the contract is stricter.

Practical advice: check compatibility before you buy, not after. On iPhone, Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock. If it says SIM Locked, stop there.

Route 3: it did not work

This is the route most people actually need, and it is the weakest of the three.

“If your eSIM doesn’t work due to an issue with Holafly or the network infrastructure of the destination country has problems and is unstable, we can offer you a full or partial refund.”

Before requesting it:

“Please get in touch with our Customer Support Team at help@holafly.com or through our chat to report the connection issue.”

“We cannot guarantee a refund if you contact us after your trip.”

And the catch-all clause that governs the amount:

“In all other cases, a partial or full refund (with an administrative fee of $3.50 USD) may be issued depending on the data you have used.”

So: discretionary amount, reduced by usage, minus a fee, and time-sensitive to your trip rather than to your purchase date.

Note that the post-trip warning appears only under this route, and says “cannot guarantee” rather than “will not”. It sits awkwardly against the six month window promoted at the top of the same page, and nothing in Holafly’s contractual terms imposes a trip-relative deadline at all.

What to do, in order

1. While you are still there, follow Holafly’s own troubleshooting first. Their FAQ makes it a precondition: “If you’re having trouble getting online, follow our iOS and Android guides. If the problem persists, contact support before requesting a refund.” Our Holafly troubleshooting guide covers the sequence.
2. Report the problem in writing to help@holafly.com or via chat, from the destination. Keep the ticket reference and the date.
3. Screenshot everything: the error, your settings, your data balance, your location.
4. Submit one refund request. Holafly: “If you’ve already submitted a request, there’s no need to send a new one, as multiple requests may delay the process.”
5. Wait 10 business days before chasing. “Contact customer service only if more than 10 business days have passed since submitting your ticket.”
6. Check your spam folder. Holafly flags this themselves.
7. Reply from the same email address you used for the purchase.

Timing and form

“Refunds are processed within 5–10 business days (Monday to Friday).”

“the refund will be processed to the same account used for the purchase.”

Five to ten business days is genuinely quick for this category. Airalo quotes up to 30 business days for a card refund.

One expectation to set, quoted from Holafly: “Submitting a refund ticket doesn’t guarantee approval; it escalates the request for review.”

Where Holafly does better than us

We would rather say this than have you find it elsewhere. Their unactivated refund window is six months. Ours is thirty days. If you buy an eSIM and your trip is cancelled four months later, Holafly’s policy covers you and our stated policy does not.

Their processing time is also faster than most of the category.

The part their policy does not control

Holafly contracts under Irish law:

“these Terms and any dispute or claim… shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Ireland, and the courts of Ireland shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction”

But their own terms then preserve your local rights:

“Nothing in this clause affects your right, where provided for under applicable consumer protection law, to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence.”

“You may also benefit from mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence, and nothing in these Terms affects any such rights.”

That matters, because if you bought as an Australian consumer, your consumer guarantees are not limited by Holafly’s refund windows, by the $3.50 fee, or by an Irish law clause. Holafly makes no reference anywhere on its site to the Australian Consumer Law, but the law does not require them to.

What Australian Consumer Law says about a travel eSIM that doesn’t work sets out what that actually gets you, and honestly, what it does not.

Questions people actually ask

How long do I have to request a Holafly refund?

Six months from purchase for the unactivated routes. For connection failures the practical deadline is your trip, since Holafly says it cannot guarantee a refund if you contact them afterwards.

Will I get a full refund if my eSIM did not work?

Not necessarily. That route offers a full or partial refund depending on data used, and the catch-all clause applies a US$3.50 administrative fee.

What if I already activated it?

The guaranteed full-refund routes require an unactivated eSIM. Holafly says it will “analyze your specific case” where the eSIM has been activated or used.

How long does the money take?

Holafly says 5 to 10 business days, back to the account used for the purchase.

Should I submit more than one request?

No. Holafly says multiple requests may delay the process, and asks you not to chase before 10 business days.

Their terms say Irish law. Does that stop Australian rights applying?

No. Their own terms preserve mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence, and Australian consumer guarantees are not displaced by a foreign law clause.

Is six months really the window?

For unactivated eSIMs, yes, and it is the most generous in this category. The connection-failure route is effectively tied to your trip instead.

Sources

All Holafly wording retrieved 17 August 2026 from their refund policy, their refund request help article, their terms and conditions and their terms of use.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.