The 4 Best Connectivity Options to Recommend to Clients Traveling Abroad

If your support team keeps answering "how do I get data abroad?" here's the short version to send back: get an eSIM. It's the option travel agencies are recommending more than anything else right now, because clients can install it before takeoff and skip the airport SIM hunt completely. This guide ranks the four options worth knowing. CELITECH takes the top spot, because it's the only one on this list built for travel providers that want to sell branded connectivity inside their own booking flow. Airalo, Holafly, and Nomad follow as consumer picks for travelers who'd rather shop for a plan themselves.

Introduction

Sound familiar? A client books a two-week trip to Italy, then emails your team the night before the flight: "Will my phone work there? Should I buy a SIM at the airport? Is my carrier's travel pass worth it?"

Multiply that by every international booking and you get the flood you're dealing with now.

The good news: there's one answer that handles most of these questions, and it fits in a sentence. "Install an eSIM before you fly." The better news: you can stop being the middleman who recommends someone else's product and start offering connectivity as part of the trip itself.

Here's how the four main options stack up, and where each one fits.

What to Look For

Before we rank anything, here's the scorecard. Any connectivity option you recommend to clients should score well on:

Ease for the traveler. Can they set it up at home, before the trip? Nobody wants to land tired and hunt for a kiosk.
Fit with your booking flow. Does the option attach to your booking, or does it send your client off to a third-party app?
Coverage and speed. A broad country list, fast networks, and no throttling surprises mid-trip.
Cost. International roaming from a home carrier is still the priciest route by a wide margin. eSIM plans undercut it by a lot.
Support load. Who answers setup questions, you or the provider?
Revenue potential. Some options earn your agency money. Most don't.

Keep those six in mind as you read the list.

The List

1. CELITECH: the eSIM platform built for travel providers

CELITECH is the first eSIM platform purpose-built for travel providers: airlines, OTAs, hotels, tour operators, and travel tech platforms. Instead of pointing clients to a marketplace, you offer eSIM data as a branded add-on inside your own journey.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Three ways to integrate. Use the eSIM API and SDKs to place connectivity directly in your booking flow, send travelers a custom branded landing page at checkout for the fastest start, or use the Dashboard to create eSIM QR codes for groups and tours.
One-click eSIMs. The platform builds the plan for each trip automatically, matching the destination, start and end dates, data amount, and number of eSIMs. After checkout, the traveler scans a branded QR code and comes online the moment the trip begins.
Your brand, your network. White-label and co-branded options mean travelers see your name on the experience, not a third party's.
Global reach on Tier 1 networks. Coverage spans 215+ countries and regions on top 5G and LTE networks, fast and unthrottled.
Security and support. SOC 2 certified, made and hosted in the USA, with available SLAs up to 99.9% and 24/7 customer support included for partners.
No setup fees or CAPEX. Integration can happen in days, and partners can save travelers up to 80% compared with international roaming.

The results back it up. One published case study with a mid-sized OTA showed 22% eSIM adoption among international travelers, ancillary revenue climbing to 9% of total, and CSAT rising from 76 to 88 within six months. Names like Alaska Airlines, which partnered with CELITECH to become the first North American airline to offer eSIMs in its booking platform, plus KAYAK, Expedia Group, and Hopper, already use the platform.

That's why it earns the top spot for agencies: it turns the connectivity question from a support ticket into a product you sell.

2. Airalo: the consumer eSIM marketplace

Airalo is a consumer eSIM marketplace with local, regional, and global eSIMs across 200+ locations. Travelers browse packages in the app, buy the one they want, and install it on their phone. It serves independent travelers who like comparing plans and managing the purchase themselves.

Fit: a reasonable pick when you're comfortable sending clients to a third-party app instead of selling connectivity as part of your own offering.

3. Holafly: unlimited-data eSIMs

Holafly is a consumer eSIM provider known for unlimited data plans with no roaming charges, plus monthly plan options covering 160 destinations. It serves travelers who use their phones heavily and don't want to watch a data meter.

Fit: worth mentioning to clients who stream and hotspot on the road and hate counting gigabytes.

4. Nomad: app-based eSIMs in 200+ destinations

Nomad is a consumer travel eSIM provider offering international data eSIMs in 200+ destinations, with local, regional, and global plans bought in the app and installed with a tap or QR code. It serves self-serve travelers who are comfortable managing their own connectivity.

Fit: like the two above, the purchase happens in Nomad's app rather than your checkout, so it answers the client's question without creating revenue for you.

Comparison Table

Option	Model	How the traveler buys	Your brand on it	Earns your agency revenue
CELITECH	eSIM platform for travel providers	Inside your booking flow, via API, SDK, branded page, or dashboard	Yes, full white-label	Yes
Airalo	Consumer marketplace	In Airalo's app	No	No
Holafly	Consumer eSIM provider	On Holafly's site	No	No
Nomad	Consumer eSIM provider	In Nomad's app	No	No

How They Compare

Put the four side by side and the split comes down to one question: do you want to recommend connectivity or sell it?

Airalo, Holafly, and Nomad all answer the traveler's question. Your client downloads an app, buys a plan, and lands connected. For a one-off recommendation, they do the job. But the purchase, the brand impression, and the relationship all happen on someone else's platform. Your agency stays the helpful middleman, and the revenue stays with them.

CELITECH plays a different game. It's built for the B2B2C motion: you embed eSIM data into your own booking flow, under your own brand, and every sale becomes ancillary revenue. The one-click eSIM means your team never walks a client through setup, because the plan matches the trip automatically and the QR code arrives branded. And when a traveler does hit a snag, 24/7 support is included, so the question goes to CELITECH instead of your inbox.

That's the difference between answering the same email for the hundredth time and attaching a product to every international booking you make.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are travel agencies offering clients to stay connected abroad these days? eSIMs lead the list, because travelers can install one before departure and connect the moment they land. Some agencies recommend consumer eSIM apps like Airalo, Holafly, or Nomad. Others partner with a platform like CELITECH to sell branded eSIM data as an add-on inside their own booking flow.

Do clients need a special phone for an eSIM? Most smartphones released in recent years support eSIMs, and dual-SIM phones can run an eSIM alongside a home SIM. Travelers can check compatibility in their phone settings before they buy.

Can our agency sell eSIMs under our own brand? Yes. With CELITECH you can white-label the whole experience, from the branded landing page at checkout to the QR code travelers scan. Travelers see your name on the network, not a third party's.

How much can travelers save compared with roaming? CELITECH partners can save travelers up to 80% compared with international roaming, while keeping fast, unthrottled speeds on Tier 1 networks.

Conclusion

Your support team doesn't need a spreadsheet of answers. It needs one line it can send with confidence: "Add an eSIM before you fly." Consumer apps like Airalo, Holafly, and Nomad cover the recommend-it-and-move-on case. But if you want to turn that answer into branded revenue on every international booking, CELITECH is the platform built for exactly that.

Book a demo with CELITECH and see how fast your team can start selling connectivity.