Esim on pay as you go in UK iphone 14

Airola.

There isn’t any. You could try Ubigi

cellulardata.ubigi.com/

Better off just getting a cheap android he can use when he's here, IMHO

I've just been trying out Airola in the UK. Having obtained an iPhone 2020 SE which takes a standard SIM plus an eSIM, I needed to test it before travelling abroad. So my standard Lebara SIM is in as usual. I purchased 1GB for 1 week from Airola for $5 minus $1 using a discount code from HUKD. This gave me a QR code. Using the add a service function in the iPhones settings I scanned that code and it installed the eSIM. Had to fiddle a bit with the settings to get data and tethering working. Tip: Ensure that the eSIM service has roaming on (it isn't by default) and leave its network selection at automatic (APN settings blank). Have your standard SIM set to roaming off. Make a test phone call to ensure your usual number still works.

There are various iPhone settings to toggle each SIM or data on/off and it's not exactly intuitive for the non techy. You may need the assistance of an 11 year old. I think this set-up matter is what confuses some travellers who buy an eSIM on arriving in a new country and causes some of the complaints you hear about.

Did some tests and it seems my phone now automatically blends data from o2, Three and Vodafone (Lebara). I turned the Lebara data off to do some speed tests (phones wifi off obvs). Can manually set o2 or Three and either are downloading at around 40-50 Mbps which is same as native Three around here. On o2 streaming services think I'm outside the UK so iPlayer won't work. On Three iPlayer seems to work, however I wouldn't be confident.

I've realised that if I were travelling to a remote part of the UK this eSIM arrangement would be very good for ensuring nearly seamless data coverage.

One thing's for sure, eSIMs are the future and they'll somewhat upend the market one day.