Asia Pacific eSIM

Twenty countries on one eSIM, from Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul through Singapore and Bali down to Sydney and Auckland. It's the plan that joins mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan with Australia and New Zealand, but it leaves out Taiwan and Laos, so check every stop against the list above.

What a two-week Asia Pacific trip costs

A typical multi-country route: 14 days, with 3 in Singapore, 6 in Shanghai and Beijing and 5 in Sydney. Prices checked on 2–3 November 2026. Daily passes charge for each day you use the phone abroad, per phone.

For a couple on Verizon, that's $336 for the fortnight. The local SIMs cost less, but you queue and register three times, get three new numbers, and on a single-SIM phone your home number is out of the phone for the whole trip.

Landing at the big hubs

Switch the kimsim line on as the plane taxis to the gate, with Data Roaming on for that line only.

• Singapore (SIN): Changi is on this plan, so a layover with the line on starts your days.
• Hong Kong (HKG): the Airport Express reaches Central in 24 minutes.

Networks and coverage

In most of these countries this plan uses one network: China Unicom in China, csl in Hong Kong, KDDI/au in Japan, SK Telecom in Korea, Telkomsel in Indonesia, Globe in the Philippines and Spark in New Zealand. Australia gets Optus and Telstra, Malaysia three networks and India four. Your phone shows that operator's name, not kimsim, and moves to the next country's network on its own when you land.

Some are 4G only on this plan, including Hong Kong, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka, and Pakistan is listed at 3G. China Unicom is a different network from the China Mobile line that our China-only plan uses.

Two places check your phone more than the SIM. Telstra blocks phones that can't call emergency services over 4G, visitors' phones included. New Zealand closed 3G by 31 March 2026, and some phones bought overseas may not have the settings for 4G calling there. Check your phone works with eSIM

The networks your plan uses are listed above.

Which countries, and which Asia plan to pick

• East Asia: mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea are in. Taiwan isn't: the Asia plan and the Global plan both cover it.
• Southeast Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines are in. Laos, Brunei and Timor-Leste aren't. If you stay in this region, compare the Southeast Asia plan, which adds Laos and Timor-Leste but not Singapore.
• Australia and New Zealand: both in. Neither the Asia nor the Southeast Asia plan covers them.
• South Asia: India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are in. Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives aren't.
• Middle East: Israel, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are in. The UAE, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt aren't.

The short version: need China, Singapore, Australia or New Zealand? Pick Asia Pacific. Need Taiwan, Laos or Unlimited data? Pick Asia. Adding Europe or the Americas? The Global plan covers China, Japan, Taiwan and Australia too, but not Vietnam, Cambodia or Macau. How regional plans work

Region by region

• China: we can't promise that any particular app or website works in mainland China, so test the ones you rely on when you land. Using kimsim in China
• Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen: all three are on one eSIM here, so day trips across the border need nothing new.
• Japan and Korea: one network each on this plan, generally strong in cities and on the main rail lines.
• Singapore and Malaysia: both covered, so the Johor Bahru day trip stays online.
• Australia and New Zealand: good in cities and towns. Outback roads, Fiordland and the West Coast have long stretches with no signal at all.

This is general guidance, not a coverage map.

Trains, bridges and long flights

• Hong Kong to the mainland: high-speed trains from West Kowloon reach Shenzhen and beyond, with mainland immigration inside the Hong Kong station. Buses over the bridge to Macau take about 40 minutes.
• China by rail: the high-speed network passed 50,000 km at the end of 2025. Book on the official 12306 site with your passport.
• Singapore to Johor Bahru: KTM's Shuttle Tebrau takes about 5 minutes from Woodlands.
• Australian road trips: the UK Foreign Office says coverage outside cities and large towns can be very limited or non-existent. Download offline maps before you leave town.
• Long flights between legs (Singapore to Sydney, Sydney to Tokyo) have no mobile signal. Save boarding passes and hotel addresses offline.

Apps worth having

• Alipay and WeChat for China: register with your foreign number and link an international card at home, because the bank has to approve it. Amap has an English version for Chinese maps.
• Grab for rides in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia.
• Naver Map or KakaoMap in Korea, where Google Maps has long lacked walking and driving directions.
• WhatsApp works over the kimsim line almost everywhere. In Saudi Arabia, WhatsApp calls were restricted for years and only reportedly started working in 2025, so have a backup. Keep your WhatsApp number working abroad
• Sign up for all of these at home: most send a text code to your usual number.

SIM rules, country by country

• China: a Chinese SIM is sold in operator offices, with your passport.
• Hong Kong: real-name registration since 2022.
• Singapore: tourist SIMs need your original passport at collection.
• Japan: carriers must check ID, now for data SIMs too.
• Australia: every prepaid SIM needs an ID check under a 2017 rule.

A kimsim eSIM is a foreign line roaming as a visitor, so none of these counters apply. It's data only, and your home number stays in the phone. Calls and texts on a data-only eSIM

Common mistakes

• Assuming Taiwan is in. It's the stop people most often expect on an Asia Pacific plan. How regional plans work
• Starting the pack on a stop-over. Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur are on this plan, so a layover with the line on starts it. Keep it off until the trip begins. If your plan started early
• Picking a pack that's too small. Packs don't reset each day like Unlimited, so check your balance and top up onto the same eSIM. Check how much data is left
• No way to call for help. Emergency numbers differ: 110 for police in China, 999 in Hong Kong, 000 in Australia. A data-only eSIM can't dial them, so use your home line or any local phone.

More on Asia Pacific

• How much data do I need for a week abroad?
• eSIM vs roaming: which is cheaper for your trip?
• Does WhatsApp work with a travel eSIM? Keep your number

How we put this page together

We checked carriers' roaming price pages, operators' tourist SIM pages, immigration and airport sites, the UK Foreign Office and the other sources noted above on 1–3 November 2026, many of them first gathered for our single-country pages. The country list, networks and data packs come from the plan itself. We haven't measured speeds, coverage or which apps work in China ourselves, so coverage notes are general guidance, not a map. kimsim sells the eSIMs on this page.