The Dufresnes

Most Holafly Plans reviews are written by people who tested it for a week. This one isn't. For the last 14 months, Holafly Plans Unlimited has been our only mobile connectivity — no backup local SIM, no home carrier roaming — across seven countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Our son Jayden is using Holafly Plans in Canada right now. So this is a review based on running our actual lives on the subscription, not a quick trial. Here's the honest verdict: what works, what doesn't, and who should — and shouldn't — buy it.

Code THEDUFRESNES = up to 26% off annual Holafly Plans (10% off monthly). 👉 Get Holafly Plans · Want the full plan-by-plan breakdown? See our Holafly Plans explained guide.

We've been official Holafly ambassadors since 2022 and earn a commission if you use our code — so read this as what it is: a long-term user who's also an affiliate, being straight about the good and the bad. If it were bad, we'd have switched; it's been our only SIM for over a year.

Quick verdict

Holafly Plans Unlimited is worth it if you travel often enough that buying an eSIM per trip stops making sense — roughly, more than a few weeks abroad a year, or if you're a nomad, long-term traveler, or someone who crosses borders regularly. It's not the cheapest option for a single short trip (a destination eSIM wins there), and the "unlimited" has the same fair-use reality every unlimited plan does. But as a set-and-forget connectivity layer for a life on the move, it's the most consistent thing we've used.

• Rating in one line: the plan we've trusted as our sole connectivity for 14 months across 7 countries.
• Best for: frequent travelers, digital nomads, families, multi-country trips.
• Skip it if: you take one short single-country trip a year (get a destination eSIM instead).

What we actually used it for

This matters, because "unlimited data" means nothing without knowing the load. Over 14 months on Plans Unlimited we've:

• Run a travel YouTube channel — uploading video from apartments, cafés, and the occasional airport
• Worked remotely, tethering a laptop off the phone regularly (unlimited hotspot is the feature that makes this possible)
• Navigated, translated, booked, and video-called family across seven countries
• Relied on it in a genuine emergency — during an apartment fire that forced us to change cities fast, the fact that our data already worked wasn't a convenience, it was the thing that let us sort everything out

That's a heavy, real-world load, sustained, as the only connection. It held up.

What works (the honest positives)

Unlimited hotspot is the killer feature. On Plans Unlimited you can tether a laptop, a tablet, a partner's phone — freely. This is the single biggest difference from a destination eSIM (which shares only ~1 GB/day), and for anyone working while traveling it's the whole ballgame.

It just works across borders. Crossing from Thailand into Vietnam, or hopping around Southeast Asia, the eSIM reconnects to the local network on its own. One subscription, 160+ destinations, no per-country buying. We stopped thinking about connectivity — which is the highest compliment you can pay a travel eSIM.

Support actually responds. 24/7 live chat, real humans, usually within minutes. Over four years we've needed it a handful of times and it solved problems rather than deflecting them.

Always On is a genuine safety net. Even between plans, you keep 1 GB/month of backup data across 150+ destinations as long as the eSIM stays installed. It's saved us in the gaps.

The optional phone number solves 2FA. Unlimited Plans purchased November 4, 2025 or later include an optional US/UK/Canada number for receiving SMS (inbound only, plus VOIP calling — no traditional outbound cellular). It's the fix for bank verification codes when your home carrier is roaming-off.

What doesn't (the honest negatives)

A review that only praises is useless, so here's the straight talk:

"Unlimited" has a fair-use reality. There's no hard GB cap, but like every unlimited plan on earth, a fair-use policy can briefly manage speeds during heavy congestion. In 14 months of heavy use — including video uploads — it hasn't been a problem for us. But if you're running servers or streaming 4K all day, no "unlimited" travel plan is built for that.

It's not the cheapest for a single short trip. If you're going to one country for a week, a destination eSIM is cheaper and smarter. Plans only makes financial sense once you travel enough that per-trip buying adds up. Be honest with yourself about how much you travel.

Coverage depends on local networks. It's excellent in cities and populated areas across the countries we've used it in — but in genuinely remote spots (deep countryside, isolated islands), signal depends on what's physically available, same as any SIM. Download offline maps.

You can't change plans mid-cycle easily. Switching between Light and Unlimited currently means cancelling and re-purchasing, not a one-tap swap.

The phone number is inbound-only. It receives SMS and supports VOIP calling — but it's not a full phone line, so don't expect traditional outbound cellular calls or texts from it.

Pricing — and where the code helps most

Plans is where the discount matters most (destination eSIMs only get 5%; Plans get far more):

• Monthly Unlimited: $64.90 → $58.41 (10% off with THEDUFRESNES)
• Quarterly Unlimited: ~$52.79/month (up to 20% off — good for a season abroad)
• Annual Unlimited: ~$595/year (~$49.56/month) — up to 26% off, the best value
• Plans Light (25 GB/month, no phone number): $49.90 → $44.91 monthly, or $456.26/year

The break-even worth knowing: a 30-day USA destination eSIM is $73.90, while monthly Plans Unlimited with the code is $58.41 — cheaper and it covers 159 more destinations plus unlimited hotspot. Past about a month of travel a year, or any multi-country trip, Plans starts winning. Full plan-by-plan math in our Holafly Plans explained guide.

What travelers say on Reddit and the forums

The most common thread we see about Holafly Plans mirrors our own experience: most people only discover the subscription after adding up a year's worth of separate destination eSIMs and realizing a Plan would've been cheaper. Frequent travelers who switch describe the same "stopped thinking about connectivity" feeling. Remote workers single out the unlimited hotspot as the deciding factor, and the optional phone number comes up repeatedly as the fix for bank 2FA abroad. The less-enthusiastic comments are consistent too, and fair: it's not the cheapest for a one-off short trip, and the fair-use policy exists — the same two caveats we list above.

(Paraphrased general sentiment from public traveler discussions — not direct quotes.)

Who should buy Holafly Plans?

Buy Plans Unlimited if you're:

• A digital nomad or remote worker (the unlimited hotspot alone justifies it)
• A frequent traveler taking several trips a year
• On a long multi-country trip where per-country eSIMs would stack up
• A family who can tether everyone off one subscription

Buy Plans Light if: you travel often but use less data and don't tether heavily — 25 GB/month covers maps, messaging, and browsing.

Skip Plans and get a destination eSIM if: you take one short trip to a single country a year. Don't overbuy — that's the honest answer, even though we're affiliates.

FAQ

Is Holafly Plans worth it? For frequent and long-term travelers, yes — it's been our only connectivity for 14 months across 7 countries. For a single short trip, a destination eSIM is cheaper.

Is Holafly Plans really unlimited? Unlimited Plan has no GB cap; a fair-use policy can briefly manage speeds during congestion. Light is 25 GB/month.

How much is Holafly Plans? Unlimited is $58.41/month with THEDUFRESNES (10% off), ~$52.79/month quarterly (up to 20% off), or ~$595/year (up to 26% off). Light is $44.91/month or $456.26/year.

Does Holafly Plans include hotspot? Unlimited: unlimited hotspot. Light: 25 GB/month. This is the biggest advantage over a destination eSIM (~1 GB/day).

Can I cancel anytime? Yes — monthly cancels anytime from your dashboard; after it ends the eSIM drops to Always On (1 GB/month free) as long as you keep it installed.

Does it come with a phone number? Unlimited Plans bought Nov 4, 2025 or later include an optional US/UK/Canada number for receiving SMS (inbound only, plus VOIP calling). Light does not.

The bottom line

After 14 months running our lives on Holafly Plans Unlimited across seven countries — with Jayden now using it in Canada — our verdict is simple: it's not the cheapest per gigabyte, and it's overkill for a single short trip, but as the connectivity backbone for a life that moves, it's the most reliable thing we've used. We'd know if it weren't — it's been our only SIM.

Code THEDUFRESNES: 10% off monthly · up to 20% off quarterly · up to 26% off annual Plans.

👉 Get Holafly Plans with THEDUFRESNES

More from The Dufresnes: YouTube · thedufresnestravel.com · See the full Holafly Plans explained guide and our complete Holafly guide.