Is Holafly worth it? For some trips yes, and here’s how to tell which

The one number that decides it

How many gigabytes do you use in a day?

That is genuinely the whole question. Holafly sells unlimited data by the day at a flat price. Many competitors sell fixed gigabyte buckets, and we now also sell an unlimited range for Indonesia, Japan and Thailand. So the answer is arithmetic, not opinion.

Under about 1.5GB a day, which is most travellers on a normal holiday, Holafly costs roughly twice what a fixed plan does. Not worth it on price.

Over about 2.5GB a day, heavy maps use, video calls home every night, streaming on trains, working remotely, Holafly starts winning, and past 4GB a day it wins comfortably.

In between, it is close enough that the other factors below should decide it.

Most people overestimate their usage. A week of maps, WhatsApp, socials, photos and the occasional video call typically lands between four and eight gigabytes for the whole week, because hotels and cafés have wifi and you use it more than you expect. That is under a gigabyte a day.

What Holafly costs

Their Australian dollar ladder, identical across Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the UK, New Zealand, Europe and Asia:

The USA is cheaper (A$40 for 7 days, A$108 for 30). Global is considerably dearer (A$72 for 7 days, A$254 for 30).

These are fixed Australian dollar price points, not conversions, which is a genuine advantage over the providers who bill in US dollars and leave your bank to convert.

For comparison, a 10GB fixed plan over 30 days runs from about A$14 to A$30 depending on the provider and destination. The full table is in travel eSIM prices in Australia.

Where Holafly is genuinely worth it

You are a heavy data user. If you know you use three or four gigabytes a day, stop reading and buy it. Nothing else in this category prices heavy use as simply.

Your trip is one to four days. A$6 for a day of unlimited data is the cheapest entry point in the category by a distance. Nobody sells a useful one-day plan for less.

Your trip is an odd length. Twelve days. Nineteen days. Most of this category prices in 7, 15 and 30 day blocks, so an odd-length trip means overbuying. Holafly has a price for almost every length.

You genuinely do not want to think about it. There is a real cost to estimating data, comparing tiers and worrying about running out mid-trip. Removing that decision is worth money to some people and they are not being ripped off.

You are booking a long way ahead and might cancel. An unactivated Holafly eSIM can be refunded up to six months after purchase. That is the most generous unactivated refund window anyone in this category publishes. If you are buying in October for a June trip, that is worth real money.

You want WhatsApp support. When your data is broken and you are on café wifi, WhatsApp beats email. One caveat from their own terms of use: the WhatsApp line is described as “operated 9.00 – 17.00 Central European Time”, roughly 5pm to 1am in eastern Australia, even though other pages advertise 24 hours. Chat and email carry no such caveat.

Where it is not worth it

The hotspot cap is the big one

From Holafly’s own destination pages:

“Share 1 GB of data per day with family, friends, or fellow travelers. Use your smartphone to create a WiFi network and connect multiple devices. Your total sharable data depends on the length of your plan (for example, a 7-day plan includes 7 GB).”

So an unlimited plan gives you one gigabyte a day to share.

If you are travelling as a couple and one phone carries the data for both, or you work off a laptop, or there is an iPad in the family, this decides your purchase before the price does. Most fixed-data providers let you share your entire allowance.

Worth noting for fairness: Holafly’s separate subscription product advertises unlimited hotspot. The 1GB cap is on the trip plans, which is what a holidaymaker buys. Full comparison in travel eSIM hotspot limits compared.

You cannot find out where “unlimited” ends

Holafly publishes no throttle threshold and no throttled speed anywhere.

Their marketing says the unlimited data is not throttled. Their terms and conditions say:

“your data coverage and speed may be subject to a network service provider’s fair use policy… the network service provider reserves its right to impose restrictions or limitations on data usage or speed if your usage is deemed excessive.”

We searched for a number and there is not one. “Deemed excessive” is the entire published standard.

To be fair to Holafly: an undisclosed ceiling is not necessarily a low one, and plenty of customers never come near it. Our older daily-high-speed plans show their plan-specific allowances and reduced-speed wording. The new unlimited range publishes its supplier-backed data terms, including Thailand’s 100GB then 384kbps step; our shop sets no separate hotspot cap for Indonesia or Thailand, while supplier support remains unconfirmed. Ubigi, Airalo and Saily publish more consistent numeric terms, and if that is your priority, buy from one of them. Sourced comparison of all nine: what “unlimited” actually means.

The refund gets harder once you have travelled

The six month window applies before you activate. After that it changes shape.

Their connection-failure refund route carries a US$3.50 administrative fee, and their policy warns they “cannot guarantee a refund if you contact us after your trip.”

Practical rule: if something is not working, contact them while you are still away. Not when you get home. Full process in how a Holafly refund works.

Their own pages disagree about deleting the eSIM

Their newer help material describes a limited number of reinstalls on the same handset. Their main installation page says “Do not remove the eSIM from your device as you will not be able to use it again.”

When a company’s own pages contradict each other, plan for the harsher one. Disable the line rather than deleting it while you troubleshoot: Holafly eSIM not working.

You are buying under Irish law

Holafly contracts through an Irish entity under Irish law, with no Australian entity and no acknowledgement of Australian consumer law anywhere in its documents.

Australian consumer guarantees apply to services supplied to Australian consumers regardless of what a contract says, and a term cannot exclude them. The practical difference is how you would exercise them. A dispute with an Australian company runs through a local tribunal. A dispute with a Dublin entity over a forty dollar data plan, realistically, does not run anywhere.

Is there a version of Holafly that is obviously good value?

Yes, two.

The one day plan at A$6. For a layover or a single overnight, that is the cheapest useful thing anyone sells.

The 60 and 90 day plans at A$168 and A$219. If you are away for three months and genuinely use a lot of data, that works out at around A$2.40 a day for unlimited. Very little else in this category is priced sensibly at that duration.

The plans in the middle, seven, ten, fifteen days, are where a fixed plan usually beats them for a normal user, and where most people are buying.

So, is it worth it?

Yes if: you use more than about 2.5GB a day, or your trip is one to four days, or your trip is an odd length, or you are booking far ahead and want six months to cancel, or you place real value on not having to think about data at all.

No if: you use a normal amount of data, or you need to share your connection with a partner or a laptop, or you want to know the throttle ceiling before you buy, or you want an Australian company on the contract.

And if you are unsure, the deciding question is still the same one: check your phone’s data usage from the last week at home, halve it because you will be on hotel wifi a lot, and see which side of about 1.5GB a day you land on.

We have compared Holafly directly against the rest of the field in Holafly vs Airalo, Holafly vs Saily and, with the obvious conflict of interest declared, Holafly vs The SIM Shop.

Questions people actually ask

Is Holafly good value?

It depends on your daily data use. Under about 1.5GB a day it costs roughly twice what a fixed plan does. Over about 2.5GB a day it starts winning. Most travellers use four to eight gigabytes across a whole week, which is under a gigabyte a day.

How much does Holafly cost in Australian dollars?

Their ladder runs A$6 for one day, A$31 for five, A$43 for seven, A$79 for fifteen and A$117 for thirty on most destinations. The USA is cheaper and Global is considerably dearer. These are fixed Australian dollar price points rather than conversions.

Is Holafly’s unlimited data really unlimited?

Many travel eSIMs sold as unlimited reduce speed after a threshold. Our new Indonesia and Japan plans have a written supplier no-threshold position, while Thailand publishes a 100GB whole-plan high-speed threshold and 384kbps after it. Holafly is unusual in publishing no figure at all for either the threshold or the reduced speed, so you cannot find out where the ceiling is before buying.

Can I use Holafly as a hotspot?

Yes, but capped at 1GB per day on trip plans, stated on their own destination pages regardless of the unlimited headline. If you are sharing with a partner or a laptop, that cap is likely to matter more than the price.

Can I get a refund from Holafly?

Six months on an unactivated eSIM, which is the most generous unactivated window in this category. After activation, their connection-failure route carries a US$3.50 administrative fee and asks you to report the problem before your trip ends.

Does Holafly work well in Australia’s usual destinations?

Holafly sells plans for Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the UK, New Zealand, Europe, Asia, the USA and a global option, at the same Australian dollar ladder for most of them. What varies between destinations is the underlying network, which Holafly does not name.

Is Holafly better than a local SIM?

For most trips, yes on convenience. A local SIM often means queueing at the airport, presenting identification, swapping out your Australian SIM and losing your number for the trip. A travel eSIM installs before you land and sits alongside your existing number.

Who is Holafly best for?

Heavy data users, very short trips of one to four days, odd-length trips, people booking far ahead who want a long cancellation window, and anyone who would rather pay a premium than estimate their data.

Sources

All Holafly pricing and policy from their own pages: destination pages for prices and the hotspot allowance, refund policy, terms and conditions and terms of use for the fair use wording, the administrative fee and the WhatsApp support hours. Retrieved 17 to 20 August 2026. The comparison prices for fixed plans are maintained in travel eSIM prices in Australia and re-checked monthly.

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