How to Turn Off Your Home-Country Line and Use an eSIM Abroad | Airplane Mode vs. Disabling Your Primary Line

Last updated: September 16, 2026

Plenty of travelers plan to flip on Airplane Mode the moment they land and simply get by on Wi-Fi. Then the doubts creep in: "If I turn Airplane Mode off, will I get hit with a huge roaming bill?" or "I've installed a travel eSIM—do I keep Airplane Mode on or not?" This guide walks you through a more reliable approach than living in Airplane Mode: turning off only your home-country line (or its data roaming) and letting your travel eSIM or Wi-Fi handle your connection, with separate steps for iPhone and Android. The short version: the least confusing way to stay connected abroad is to tell your phone explicitly which line to use for data, rather than managing everything by toggling Airplane Mode.

Airplane Mode vs. turning off your primary line: what's the difference?

Airplane Mode cuts all cellular radio—mobile data, voice calls, and SMS—for every line on your phone at the same time. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be turned back on individually while Airplane Mode stays on. "Turning off your primary line," on the other hand, is a setting for phones that hold more than one line (a physical SIM plus an eSIM, for example) that disables one specific line only. If you switch off just your home-country line, you can connect through a travel eSIM or Wi-Fi while reducing the risk of roaming data on your home plan.

Here's how the three setups compare:

Setup	Data on your home-country line	Connectivity when you're out	Best for
Airplane Mode only (Wi-Fi on)	None	Only where there's Wi-Fi	Staying mostly at the hotel and rarely needing maps or messaging while out
Primary line off + Wi-Fi	None	Only where there's Wi-Fi	Relying on Wi-Fi, but wanting to switch data on quickly if needed
Primary line off + travel eSIM	None	Anywhere within the eSIM's coverage area	Using maps, translation, ride-hailing, and messaging while on the move

For a closer look at how far Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi alone can take you—and where they fall short—see Can You Get By Abroad on Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi Alone? Limits and Safer Alternatives. This article is the hands-on companion: how to actually set up that safer alternative on your phone.

Why your eSIM won't work while Airplane Mode is on

Because Airplane Mode disables every mobile line on your phone, a travel eSIM you've added can't connect for as long as Airplane Mode stays on. This is a surprisingly common reason behind "my new eSIM isn't working" support requests. To get online with your eSIM, turn Airplane Mode off and then disable only your home-country line (or turn off its data roaming).

The natural worry here is: "If I turn Airplane Mode off, won't my home line start roaming on its own?" As long as the primary line itself is switched off, or data roaming for that line is off, the phone is designed not to send data over it. That said, a single leftover setting can still let data through, so it's worth taking a calm minute before departure to check everything.

iPhone setup (primary line off → travel eSIM for data)

In short, on iPhone you'll go to Settings → Cellular (labeled "Mobile Data" or "Mobile Service" in some regions), where you can toggle each line on or off and choose which line handles data. Menu names may vary slightly depending on your iOS version.

Before you leave

1. Go to Settings → Cellular → tap your home-country line → turn off "Data Roaming"
2. Add your travel eSIM (with Bloomy, tap the setup link you receive once and follow the on-screen prompts to add the line)
3. Go to Settings → Cellular → "Cellular Data" → select your travel eSIM
4. On the same screen, turn off "Allow Cellular Data Switching" (this feature lets the phone use your other line for data depending on signal strength, so turning it off prevents a fallback to your home-country line)

When you arrive

5. Turn off Airplane Mode
6. Go to Settings → Cellular → tap your home-country line → turn off "Turn On This Line"
7. Turn on your travel eSIM line and set its data roaming according to your plan's instructions

Whether you turn off the primary line entirely or just its data roaming depends on whether you want to receive calls to your home-country number while abroad. If you don't need to take calls, switching the whole line off is the simplest option. Whether you can receive calls or texts to your home-country number abroad—and what it costs—depends on your carrier's roaming terms, so check with your mobile carrier at home beforehand if this matters to you.

Android setup

Menu names on Android vary by manufacturer and OS version, but the idea is the same as on iPhone: disable your primary line, and make your travel eSIM the line used for mobile data.

Pixel and other stock Android phones

1. Open Settings → Network & internet → SIMs
2. Select your home-country line and turn off "Use SIM" (or turn off "Roaming")
3. Select your travel eSIM and turn on "Mobile data." Set data roaming according to your plan's instructions
4. Turn off Airplane Mode once you arrive

Samsung Galaxy phones

1. Open Settings → Connections → SIM manager
2. Turn off your home-country line
3. Under "Preferred SIMs," set "Mobile data" to your travel eSIM
4. Turn off Airplane Mode once you arrive

If you can't find these options on your phone, type "SIM" or "mobile data" into the search bar of the Settings app to jump straight to the right screen.

Easy-to-miss causes of unwanted data use

With your primary line off, data on your home-country line generally shouldn't happen. Still, to avoid the "I thought I'd set that up" moment, run through these once before departure:

• Is data roaming still on for your primary line? If you haven't switched the whole line off, this is the single most important setting.
• Wi-Fi Assist (iPhone): Automatically switches to mobile data when your Wi-Fi signal is weak. You'll find it at the bottom of Settings → Cellular. If your data line is the travel eSIM, this won't cause a surprise bill, but it can quietly eat into your eSIM's data allowance—turn it off if that concerns you.
• Allow Cellular Data Switching (iPhone): Keep this off, as described above.
• Automatic app updates and photo backups: Set these to Wi-Fi only so they don't burn through your eSIM data.
• Forgetting to switch back after your trip: Once you're home, turn your primary line back on and set it as your mobile data line again.

Who this setup is (and isn't) for

The bottom line: the "primary line off + travel eSIM" combination suits people who want to stay connected on the go while cutting the risk of a surprise roaming bill. To be upfront, though, it isn't right for everyone.

A good fit if you…

• Want to stop worrying about roaming charges on your home-country plan
• Want maps, translation, ride-hailing, and restaurant search while on the move
• Can keep in touch with family and friends through apps like WhatsApp or Messenger

Not ideal, or needs extra care, if you…

• Absolutely must receive SMS verification codes sent to your home-country number during your trip (whether you can receive them with your primary line on depends on your carrier's roaming terms, so confirm before you leave)
• Use a phone that doesn't support eSIM or is carrier-locked (you can check in advance on our eSIM-compatible devices page)

Also worth knowing: most travel eSIMs are data-only. Bloomy eSIM is data-only as well, so it doesn't include a phone number, voice calls, or SMS. However, app-based calls over data—WhatsApp, Messenger, FaceTime, and similar—work as usual. The only things you can't do are make or receive regular phone calls and texts, so if apps are how you normally keep in touch, you're unlikely to run into trouble. Plans are also subject to a fair use policy, and actual speeds and coverage vary depending on the local network, your device, and your location.

What to check, in order, when you can't connect

If you've finished setup but still can't get online, checking in this order makes it easier to pinpoint the cause:

1. Is Airplane Mode off?
2. Is your travel eSIM line turned on?
3. Is the travel eSIM selected as your mobile data line?
4. Is data roaming on the eSIM set the way your plan's instructions say?
5. Restart your phone once

If that doesn't fix it, our troubleshooting page lists what to check for each situation. To revisit the setup steps themselves, see our setup guide as well.

Getting ready with Bloomy eSIM

With Bloomy eSIM, you add the line by tapping the setup link that arrives after purchase—then all that's left is to switch it on at your destination. In terms of this guide, the "add your travel eSIM" step is the part that takes almost no thought.

1. Pick a plan on the eSIM comparison page based on your destination, data amount, and trip length
2. Tap the setup link you receive after purchase and follow the on-screen prompts to add the line
3. Before departure, turn off data roaming on your primary line and set your travel eSIM as your mobile data line
4. After arriving, turn off Airplane Mode, switch your primary line off, and turn your travel eSIM on

Not sure how much data you'll need? Filtering the comparison page by country and number of days makes it easier to choose. Prices and plan details can change, so confirm the current listing at checkout. Answers to common pre-purchase questions are on our FAQ page.

Summary

Airplane Mode means "turn everything off"; turning off your primary line means "turn off only my home-country line." To use an eSIM abroad: turn Airplane Mode off, disable just your primary line, and set your travel eSIM as your mobile data line. Get those three things right and you can use maps and messaging on the go without the nagging worry of a surprise bill. Finish the setup before you leave so that all you need to do on arrival is flip the line on—it takes a lot of the stress out of those first hectic moments after landing.

The information in this article is current as of September 2026. Menu names and locations may change with OS updates. eSIM plan details and terms of use may also change, so please check the latest listing before purchasing.