Thomas Cook Harness Travel eSIM to Give Every Customer 1GB of Free Mobile Data
Online travel agency Thomas Cook has become the latest UK company to do a deal with travel eSIM (embedded SIM) provider Kolet, which will enable them to give every package holiday customer 1GB (GigaByte) of complimentary mobile broadband data when they travel overseas – “helping them get online as soon as they land without relying on airport Wi-Fi or local SIM cards”.
Regular readers might recall that Kolet has been involved with similar partnerships before, such as via British airline Virgin Atlantic (here). The catch is that the same limitation applies to the Thomas Cook arrangement, which is that the 1GB of complimentary data is only valid for 48 hours, with more available to add for additional cost (the cost of adding extra data will of course vary depending upon your country of destination).
The process for all this is simple enough. When customers book a package holiday with the online travel agency, they’ll receive an email containing a unique link to redeem their free eSIM data 72 hours prior to the start of their getaway. Holidaymakers are encouraged to download their eSIM to their mobile device prior to boarding their departure flight, to ensure they’re connected as soon as they land at their destination.
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Ryan Cotton, Chief Marketing Officer at Thomas Cook, said:
“Having mobile data when we travel overseas has become part of the holiday experience, which is why we’re delighted to be partnering with Kolet to add even more value to our offering, a simple extra that makes a real difference once our customers arrive in destination.”
The Kolet eSIM is designed to work in more than 190 countries, with access to multiple local networks and 24/7 human customer support.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Slightly off topic, but I have an upcoming family trip to the US and I’m wondering if there are better/cheaper alternatives to Three’s ‘feel at home’ that I have used in the past (about £15 for 12GB data and UK calls/texts)?
Ideally e-sims and something which has decent US data and UK calls/texts.
I know of some which have been promoted on YouTube, but I don’t blindly trust them.
Might I suggest a quick look at this for some wider context:
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/04/summary-of-global-mobile-esims-for-cheap-roaming-data-when-outside-the-uk.html
I don’t use Esims, my phone has one, but I have a normal sim. But my understanding is that you can only have one Esim, so if you stick the Kolet eSIM, would that not overwrite the one that is already in there?
I expect some phones have two, if all they have is Esims.
My view of Esims is that they can be a pain and I still hold that view.
Many phones support dozens of eSIMs, I think you’re basing your view on out of date information. My phone is 4 years old and has one physical and one eSIM – but this isn’t really the norm any more.
I had your views a few years back, but for the past 4 years I’ve been using eSIMs as it’s much easier to change provider by just scanning a QR code or clicking a link to install a new sim, no hunting for that sim tray thing or a paperclip, both elusive when you need them. I’ve checked what my phones support, my current iPhone 16 Pro will hold 8 eSIMs and will allow any 2 to be active at the same time. This helps me out massively as my areas signal is poor and can sometimes be none existent so I have 2 eSIMs active all the time, one of Vodafone and the other on EE. I also have eSIMs for travel too which works out much cheaper than my UK providers, I just switch them on when I land in a destination and everything just works
My phone will be 12 months on in December, one esim and two nano sims.
So if i used my Esim, I would be stuffed with the above service.
PJ, I know where my sim tray thing is, it is right beside me in a drawer, no hunting needed, but I do understand that a lot of people lose theirs.
I have two of them, one from the phone I have now and one from my old phone.
But yeah if you find Esims better for you then fine, I doubt I will change my sim unless Smarty goes belly up or they start playing silly fools. The sim is in the phone and that is where it will stay until I get another phone.
Not all phones hold multi Esims, but then not all of us spend loads of money on a phone.
Take care and check that your phone supports eSim’s. Not all do, even quite recent ones. If you try to install one into a device which does not support it, then you will need to get a replacement Sim from your network. So that’s a couple of days without your phone. The information from the phone supplier, the network and your supplier is not always to be relied upon. Ask me how I know!