eSIM for Los Angeles
Heading to Los Angeles, choose a United States eSIM: one plan covers the city and any road trip inside the country. A visit usually runs about five days, so pick a plan that lasts at least a week. Install it at home before you fly, then switch it on after landing at LAX.
Plans for United States cover the whole country, including Los Angeles.
For a 5-day visit
How much data for 5 days in Los Angeles
- Light (maps and messages): about 1.5 GB
- Normal (plus social media and browsing): about 3 GB
- Heavy (video and video calls): about 7.5 GB
An estimate from typical use, not a measurement.
Arriving in Los Angeles
Most visitors land at Los Angeles International, known as LAX, on the west side near the coast. Burbank (Hollywood Burbank Airport), Long Beach and John Wayne Airport near Anaheim are the smaller alternatives. From LAX there is no single train into the centre. The LAX FlyAway bus runs to Union Station downtown, the city's main rail and Amtrak hub, and the LAX/Metro Transit Center near the airport links to Metro rail lines. Many people simply book a ride, and ride-app pickups at LAX use a separate area away from the terminal curb, so follow the signs.
That pick-up area is the main reason to have data the moment you land: you need the ride app to find your car, and a map to check the route. Installing the eSIM takes Wi-Fi and a QR code, so do it at home the day before. After landing, switch the eSIM line on, turn on data roaming for that line, and keep your home line's data off.
Getting around
Los Angeles is spread out, and most visitors combine a few ways of travelling. LA Metro runs the subway and light rail lines and the city buses. You pay with a TAP card, and the TAP app lets you add fare to a card or to a phone wallet. Metro's own Transit app shows trip planning and arrival times. Metrolink commuter trains and Amtrak both leave from Union Station.
Uber and Lyft both operate across the region, and taxis can be booked through apps as well. Many visitors rent a car, which still means data for navigation and for parking apps. Short trips downtown are practical on foot or by bus, while the beaches, Hollywood and Pasadena are far enough apart that planning each day around a map saves hours. Download an offline map of the area as a back-up.
Where you'll use data
Visitors usually divide their time between Hollywood (the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Bowl), Griffith Park and its observatory, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, and the coast: Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Malibu. Downtown has the Grand Central Market, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Broad museum, and Exposition Park has several museums. Theme parks and studio tours sell timed entry, so your tickets will probably sit in an app.
Longer day trips stay inside the United States, so the same plan keeps working: Disneyland in Anaheim, Pasadena, Catalina Island by ferry, Palm Springs, or the drive north to Santa Barbara. A trip south to Tijuana in Mexico is different. Your United States plan does not cover Mexico, so you would need a plan for Mexico there.
For a longer stay
Common questions
- Will the eSIM work as soon as I land at LAX?
- Yes, if you installed it before the flight. Switch the eSIM line on, turn on data roaming for it, and it connects once you leave airplane mode. If it does not, turn airplane mode on and off once.
- How much data do I need for five days in Los Angeles?
- About 3 GB for normal use: maps, ride apps, messages and some social media. Heavy use, such as video calls or a lot of streaming, comes to roughly 7.5 GB. Driving with navigation switched on all day pushes it higher.
- Can I pay for Metro with my phone?
- You use a TAP card, or add TAP to your phone wallet through the TAP app. Check the TAP and Metro sites for which wallets and which lines are supported before you go.
- Does the plan give me a local phone number?
- No. These plans are data only. Calls and messages work through apps such as WhatsApp or FaceTime. If your bank sends codes by SMS, keep your home line on for texts with its data switched off.
- Does the plan work on a trip to Las Vegas or San Diego?
- Yes. A United States plan covers the whole country, so Las Vegas, San Diego and Palm Springs are all included. Mexico, just south of San Diego, is not.