What Unlimited Actually Means on a Travel eSIM

What matters before you choose

Some providers state the threshold and reduced speed. Others do not give a numeric general-use threshold.

We have argued that a seller should state the allowance and the speed after it. For the new Indonesia, Japan and Thailand range, we publish the terms our supplier supplied: a whole-plan threshold and reduced speed where there is one, or a written no-threshold position where there is not.

The table sets those terms alongside the competitors we checked, so you can compare the written terms rather than take a headline on trust.

The whole category, in one table

Our older day-pass range is a separate thing and still on sale. Those plans carry 1GB to 10GB per day depending on the exact plan, with plan-specific reduced-speed wording. They are not what this table is about, and the plan selector shows their terms at checkout.

What our own range publishes

On 11 September we launched a new range across Indonesia, Japan and Thailand.

For Indonesia, our supplier has told us in writing that there is no total cap, no fair-use threshold, and no additional throttling, suspension or disconnection for heavy use. For Japan full-speed, the supplier terms state there is no set GB threshold or routine usage-based slowdown. Exceptional network-integrity measures may still apply during emergencies or for malicious or abusive use.

That is a stronger written volume commitment than the threshold-based competitor plans in this table. Ubigi remains a useful comparison because it states its threshold and reduced speed on the product page.

Two things worth saying alongside it, because a claim that strong should come with its working.

This is a written supplier commitment reflected in our plan terms. It addresses routine usage-based restrictions. Actual connection speed still depends on the local network and device, and exceptional network-integrity safeguards can still apply.

If your plan is ever slowed, tell us. Email goes to us directly and we answer our own support, so the commitment is one you can hold us to.

Thailand works differently. You get 100GB at up to 10Mbps across the whole plan rather than per day, and it does not reset. That is about 1.7 times the 60GB allowance on Ubigi’s 30-day Europe plan, though they serve different destinations. A heavy day reduces the remaining balance but does not create a separate next-day limit. Past 100GB you continue at 384kbps rather than losing service.

Japan Unlimited 10Mbps is a third shape. There is no set GB threshold, and the plan runs at up to 10Mbps throughout ordinary use. Exceptional network-integrity measures may still apply during emergencies or for malicious or abusive use. Up to 10Mbps can support maps, messaging, calls and video, including some HD playback when the connection sustains the required rate. Large uploads and 4K video may take longer. Full-speed has no plan-level 10Mbps ceiling, but measured speed still depends on the network.

Our hotspot position, in full

Hotspot is where an unlimited headline can become less useful for couples and laptop users. Holafly’s published 1GB-a-day sharing cap is one useful comparison point.

Here are the four new plan families.

Japan full-speed unlimited has no separate tethering allowance. Sharing comes out of the same unlimited data your phone uses, which gives it our clearest supplier-backed sharing position. Airalo separately publishes an explicit no-limit commitment on device count and tethering.

Japan Unlimited 10Mbps carries a tethering allowance across the whole plan rather than per day: 2GB on a 3-day plan, rising through 6GB on a 7-day plan to 9GB on a 10-day plan. Six gigabytes across seven days works out near 0.86GB a day, which is the same allowance SimCorner publishes on their equivalent Japan plans and is in the same territory as Holafly’s daily cap.

For heavier sharing in Japan, consider full-speed. Eleven dollars more on a seven-day trip gets the plan with no separate tethering allowance. The supplier has not published a connected-device count.

For Indonesia and Thailand, The SIM Shop places no separate cap on personal hotspot use. That is our retailer policy, not a supplier guarantee. The supplier has not confirmed that tethering works on these exact plans, any network cap or connected-device limit. Thailand has no separate hotspot data bucket from us, but the supplier has not confirmed how tethered use is metered against its 100GB high-speed allowance. If sharing is essential, choose a plan with supplier-confirmed terms or ask us before buying.

Full category comparison, including the providers who do publish a number: travel eSIM hotspot limits compared.

Three more things worth knowing before you buy ours

Start it within 60 days of purchase. The unlimited range runs on a 60 day activation window. Buying within a month or so of departure is the sweet spot for it. Some fixed-data plans have longer start windows; check the selected variation before buying early.

Japan plans use a one-time QR code. Install it on the phone you are travelling with and leave it there. It is designed to be scanned once, so it cannot be moved to a second handset afterwards.

Japan refunds need an early check. Our published policy offers a discretionary review for an unused, uninstalled plan when you contact us within 30 days; it does not promise an automatic change-of-mind refund. The supplier cannot reverse a Japan plan once issued. Your Australian Consumer Law rights remain unaffected. Read the refund policy before purchase.

Ubigi: a whole-plan threshold and a stated fallback speed

Ubigi states its fair-use threshold on the product pages we checked, alongside the reduced speed.

That is their seven day Europe plan. Their fifteen day USA plan publishes 30GB and the thirty day plan publishes 60GB, both dropping to 2 Mbps.

The allowance is per plan rather than per day. A heavy day uses more of the same balance, but does not trigger a separate next-day reduction. The 2Mbps fallback is also a published number a buyer can compare.

One caution. Their explainer FAQ gives a wider range than the product pages, saying speeds drop after “around 15GB to 25GB” on seven day country plans depending on the country. Read the number on the plan you are buying, not the FAQ.

Airalo: a clear daily allowance and reset

Airalo’s published unlimited policy states 3GB of high-speed use in each day, then 1Mbps for the remainder of that period.

They define the day precisely, as each 24-hour period beginning when you activate and resetting every 24 hours from that activation time.

Its policy also explains that messages, simple pages, maps and lower-quality calls should remain usable at 1Mbps, while streaming and large downloads slow down.

The catch is that their policy also reserves the right to act “without prior notice” and to terminate a package without a refund for usage exceeding “what a person could reasonably consume through ordinary personal use”, which is not a number.

Saily: a local-midnight reset

The applicable offering states whether its regular unlimited plan has 3GB or 5GB for the day. Once exhausted, speed drops to 1Mbps for the rest of that period.

Saily says the regular-plan allowance resets at local midnight. Changing time zone does not create an extra allocation or remove an existing one. Its terms also restrict excessive tethering beyond occasional personal use, which matters for laptop users.

Airalo’s clock runs in 24-hour periods from activation. Saily’s regular-plan clock uses local midnight, including when the time zone changes.

Simify: two published reduced speeds

Its help centre describes around 3Mbps after roughly 1 to 1.5GB in a day. Another Simify article says 1Mbps or less after fair use, so there is no single reduced speed we can safely apply to every Simify unlimited plan. Check the exact product terms.

Both pages are from Simify. We have linked each in Sources so readers can see the discrepancy.

SimCorner: publishes the figure, and the figure is 128 kbps

SimCorner’s Europe Unlimited product page states 3GB a day followed by 128kbps, with hotspot sharing from that allowance.

128kbps is one eighth of 1Mbps. It may make live navigation and map loading difficult, especially when coverage is weak.

SimCorner publishes the number, so buyers can judge whether that fallback meets their needs.

They also sell Japan unlimited plans. On the matching durations checked on 14 September, we cost less at four, seven, ten and fifteen days, while SimCorner costs less at thirty-one days. Both stores can change their prices.

Nomad: check the exact day plan

Nomad’s day-plan explanation says the connection continues at 512kbps after the daily high-speed allocation. The daily allocation depends on the plan. We did not verify a single allowance or reduced speed that applies across its entire unlimited range, so the exact product page is the buying authority.

Holafly: no numeric general-use threshold in the reviewed terms

Holafly sells unlimited-data travel eSIMs.

Their marketing pages say the data is not throttled. Their terms and conditions say your speed “may be subject to a network service provider’s fair use policy” and that the provider “reserves its right to impose restrictions or limitations on data usage or speed if your usage is deemed excessive.”

The terms we reviewed do not give a numeric general-use threshold or reduced speed. That is different from its hotspot allowance, which is stated.

To be fair to Holafly, an undisclosed ceiling is not necessarily a low one, and plenty of their customers never come near it. But if you are choosing between unlimited products, you cannot compare what you cannot see.

Holafly’s hotspot cap, by contrast, is published clearly and is the more likely thing to affect you: one gigabyte of sharing per day.

What this actually means for your trip

If your usage fits a fixed bucket, it may be the better buy. Four to eight gigabytes can be a planning range for a week of maps, messages and browsing. Video, uploads and sharing can take you above it.

Here is the arithmetic on our own range, so you can place yourself on it.

A seven-day trip to Japan on our 10GB fixed plan costs A$19.95. The same week on Japan full-speed unlimited is A$35.95. On Japan Unlimited 10Mbps it is A$24.95.

If you expect to stay within 10GB, the fixed plan costs less. We sell both, so choose by actual use rather than the word unlimited.

If you expect several gigabytes a day, compare both price and threshold terms. Our Indonesia and Japan full-speed plans have a written no-threshold position for on-device use; Indonesia supplier hotspot support is still unconfirmed.

If you are sharing your connection, the hotspot allowance decides it before anything else does. Japan full-speed is the one to reach for.

And if a provider will not publish the number, that is information too. It does not mean the ceiling is low. It means you are being asked to buy something whose limits are not written down.

Related guides

For destination-specific choices, read Japan, Bali and Indonesia or Thailand. For the price decision, start with unlimited or fixed data.

Questions people actually ask

Is unlimited data on a travel eSIM really unlimited?

Usually not. Most providers reserve the right to reduce your speed after a threshold, and the meaningful difference is whether they publish that threshold and the reduced speed. Ubigi, Airalo, Saily, Simify and SimCorner publish figures. Nomad publishes 512kbps for its day-plan format, but the exact daily allowance is plan-specific. Holafly does not publish a numeric general-use threshold or reduced speed. Our Indonesia and Japan full-speed plans carry a written supplier statement that there is no threshold; our Thailand plan publishes 100GB across the plan, then 384kbps.

Do you publish your own throttle figures?

For the new Indonesia, Japan and Thailand range, yes: we publish the supplier-backed threshold position and any reduced speed that applies. Thailand is 100GB across the plan at up to 10Mbps, then 384kbps. Japan Unlimited 10Mbps runs at up to 10Mbps throughout with no usage threshold. Indonesia and Japan full-speed have no threshold stated by our supplier.

Which travel eSIM has the best unlimited terms?

For sustained on-device volume, our Indonesia and Japan full-speed plans have a written supplier no-threshold position. If you need a numeric fallback speed, Ubigi states 2Mbps after its plan-specific allowance. For sharing, check the hotspot terms separately before deciding.

What speed do travel eSIMs throttle to?

It varies by provider and plan. Ubigi states 2Mbps after the listed plan allowance; Airalo and Saily state 1Mbps after their daily allowance; our Thailand plan states 384kbps after 100GB; SimCorner Europe states 128kbps after 3GB/day. Simify’s own pages disagree at around 3Mbps versus 1Mbps or less. Nomad’s day-plan explanation says 512kbps, while Holafly does not publish a numeric general-use reduced speed.

Can you still use maps after being throttled?

At 1Mbps, Airalo says maps and messages remain usable. At our Thailand plan’s 384kbps after 100GB, map loading may be slow. At 128kbps it may be more difficult. Coverage, app and downloaded maps also matter.

Is your Thailand plan actually unlimited?

You get 100GB at up to 10Mbps across the whole plan rather than per day. A heavy day reduces the remaining balance but does not create a separate next-day limit. Past 100GB you keep going at 384kbps rather than losing service.

How much data do I actually need to avoid all of this?

If four to eight gigabytes covers your week, a fixed plan of the right size may cost less. Check your own video, upload and sharing habits against our sizing guides before choosing.

Does your unlimited plan let me share with a second phone?

In Japan, yes. Full-speed unlimited has no separate tethering allowance, which makes it the one to choose for sharing. Unlimited 10Mbps has a whole-plan allowance running from 2GB on three days to 9GB on ten days. For Indonesia and Thailand, we place no separate shop cap on personal hotspot use, but supplier support and network limits remain unconfirmed. Thailand hotspot metering against 100GB is unconfirmed too.

How long do I have to start an unlimited plan after buying it?

Sixty days from purchase, so buy it within about a month of departure. For trips booked further ahead, some fixed-data variations offer longer start windows; check the selected plan.

Sources

Ubigi Europe 7-day, USA 15-day and Europe 30-day product pages and FAQ. Airalo fair-use policy. Saily terms. Simify help centre and speed article. SimCorner Europe Unlimited and Japan unlimited. Nomad day-plan explanation. Holafly terms and Japan hotspot page. All competitor figures retrieved 14 September 2026. The linked provider pages may change without notice.

Our own figures are from the TGT product terms bound into our catalogue on 10 September 2026 and the live plan selector, read 14 September 2026. We re-check this article monthly.

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