Here’s the headline: two-thirds of travelers (66.67%) in our poll said they’d switch providers mid-trip if their eSIM underperforms—even if it costs “a few euros.” Only 16.67% would wait until service is truly unusable, another 16.67% wouldn’t bother at all, and exactly 0% said they preload a backup eSIM “just in case.” Total votes: 491.

If you work in travel connectivity—or you’ve been burned by flaky data abroad—those numbers land with a thud. They say the quiet part out loud: performance trumps inertia. And in the age of instant eSIM activation, switching is no longer a weekend project; it’s a two-minute insurance policy.

Let’s unpack what this means for travelers, eSIM marketplaces, and mobile operators.

Price Sensitivity Is Flat… Until Performance Dips

We asked whether you’d switch “even for a few euros,” and 66.67% said yes. That’s important nuance. It signals a mature behavior: most travelers are price-aware, sure, but they’re ruthlessly performance-first once they hit a dead zone or video calls start freezing.

This aligns with what we’re seeing at the macro level. As 5G becomes the default on busy urban networks, expectations rise with it. Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report notes continuing 5G expansion and rising user-experience baselines, which inevitably raise the bar for what “good enough” roaming looks like. If the experience falls short, churn accelerates—especially when switching is a QR code away.

Friction To Switch Is Collapsing—and That Changes Everything

Why are travelers so ready to jump? Because eSIM has removed the old frictions: no store runs, no plastic, no paperwork. GSMA Intelligence has been clear that consumer eSIM is at critical mass: device support is broad, operator support is widening, and the number of travel eSIM offers from both MNOs and digital brands keeps climbing. Translation: choice is abundant, and the “switch cost” keeps approaching zero.

Ookla has also been nudging operators to simplify the digital experience—make buying, topping up, and managing roaming idiot-proof or watch customers defect to travel eSIM brands. Our results suggest travelers have already internalized that logic: if my stream buffers, I’m out.

The Shock Stat: 0% Preload a Backup eSIM

No one in the poll said they preload a backup. That’s… fascinating. It suggests two contradictory truths:

1. People expect their first choice to work.
2. If it doesn’t, they trust that buying a replacement on the spot is trivial.

From a consumer-experience perspective, that’s a win for eSIM. From a provider perspective, it’s a wake-up call: you might not get a second chance. If your APN setup is finicky, if speeds collapse at rush hour, or if your fair-use policy throttles too aggressively, the traveler won’t debug—they’ll defect.

Regulators have long hammered on transparency in roaming (the EU’s RLAH framework, tariff clarity, etc.). That work reduced bill shock; now the battlefield is quality of experience. Providers who present clear network partners, realistic speed expectations, and sane policies will win trust. BEREC’s roaming benchmark work underscores why clarity matters—even when prices are regulated, user satisfaction hinges on the experience in-market.

Market Context: Travel eSIM Is Scaling—and Getting More Competitive

The travel eSIM market isn’t a sideshow anymore. Juniper Research and industry coverage point to rapid revenue growth for travel eSIM packages in 2025—on the order of ~85% year-over-year—driven by both digital-native brands and MNOs launching their own travel SKUs. More players, more promos, more country bundles; again, more choice.

GSMA Intelligence expects consumer eSIM adoption to keep accelerating through 2030 as device and operator support widen. Combine that with airlines, hotels, and OTAs bundling connectivity, and you’ve got distribution everywhere travelers already are. When acquisition becomes that easy and switching is near-instant, loyalty becomes less about brand and more about consistent performance and a great app.

How This Compares with Similar Players and Traveler Behavior Elsewhere

If you map our readiness-to-switch findings against broader travel eSIM adoption patterns, a coherent picture emerges:

• Digital-native eSIM marketplaces (think the usual suspects) win on speed of setup, UX, and breadth of plans. When performance dips on one local partner, the best apps make it trivial to buy another plan in minutes. That product reality is consistent with our audience’s willingness to switch mid-trip.
• Traditional MNOs are catching up with simpler roaming passes and even no-extra-charge roaming tiers for high-value segments, but execution varies a lot by market. Ookla’s guidance to operators—make the international experience seamless or lose share—directly matches the “I’ll switch for a few euros” majority we saw.
• Regional differences matter. Markets with generous domestic-brand roaming (parts of Europe/UK) blunt the urgency to experiment with third-party eSIMs; markets with pricier roaming or more frequent outbound travel skew toward travel eSIM adoption and, by extension, readiness to switch. Recent coverage highlights how awareness and appetite diverge by country, but the overall trend is up and to the right.

What Providers Should Do (Right Now)

If 66.67% of travelers are poised to churn at the first sign of trouble, the playbook writes itself:

• Engineer for the “first 15 minutes.” Activation must be bulletproof: instant QR delivery, clean APN configs, network attach in under a minute, and clear status indicators. If users can’t get online at the airport, they’ll buy elsewhere—immediately.
• Expose network partners and expected performance. Don’t hide which MNO you’re using. Set expectations by city/region where possible. If you can’t guarantee speed, at least guarantee easy refunds or instant plan switches inside the app.
• Build multi-profile resilience into the UX. Let users keep two (or more) plans live and make flipping the default data line obvious. Combine that with in-app speed tests and signal quality tips.
• Be honest about fair-use and throttling. Aggressive midday throttles drive churn. Put the thresholds upfront and design SKUs for real-world usage (maps + video calls + tethering).
• Localize inventory. Where a global plan underperforms, your app should recommend a local plan that’s historically strong in that city—and make the handoff one tap.

This weeks poll:

Final thoughts

Our poll doesn’t just say “people are willing to switch.” It quantifies a structural shift that eSIM technology has unleashed: the time cost of changing carriers has collapsed. In classic telco, churn was a months-long saga. In travel eSIM, churn is a coffee-line decision.

That puts connectivity brands—both digital players and MNOs—on the same, unforgiving scoreboard: real-world performance and a delightful app. The providers who treat their app like a travel companion (not a SIM vending machine) will accumulate trust; those who treat it like a paywall will hemorrhage users. And because growth is accelerating, the stakes are rising: more first-time buyers, more word-of-mouth, and more platform lock-in via loyalty wallets and credits. The winners will be the ones who make Plan B unnecessary—but also make it effortless.

This aligns with the macro signals: eSIM has hit critical mass (GSMA), 5G expectations keep rising (Ericsson), and analysts expect travel eSIM revenues to surge as distribution widens (Juniper/industry). In that world, your advantage isn’t just the cheapest GB—it’s how quickly a traveler can go from “this is laggy” to “fixed,” without leaving your ecosystem. Our 0% backup-preload stat is your cue: travelers don’t plan for failure anymore; they plan to punish it. Build accordingly.