If you are travelling abroad this Christmas and want to keep posting on Instagram or bingeing on boxsets, then you’re going to need some mobile data. Some UK operators continue to offer free roaming as part of existing plans, but many new contracts now require phone owners to pay some pretty hefty fees when heading away. For example, EE will charge £5 per day to access your UK data allowance when in the US, and Vodafone charges £7.86 for data in parts of the world such as America.

These high fees could mean a family of four face a bill of over £100 just to stay connected during a week-long trip.

Luckily, there is another way. All new smartphones now feature clever e-SIM technology, which lets you add extra virtual SIMs when travelling.

This means you pay local rates for data, rather than incurring roaming charges. There are plenty of options available from numerous companies, including Saily and Holafly.

Airalo is another top choice, with the company recently making the whole process of travelling with an eSIM feel far easier and more user-friendly. Airola prices start from £3.50 for 1GB of data in the US, and you can even choose how many days you want the access to last.

There are 3-day, 7-day, 10-day and even 30-day options available, with each also offering different levels of data.

For example, you could buy a 7-day SIM with 5GB of data for £10.50, a 15-day SIM with 20GB of data for £28 or a 30-day SIM with 50GB for £32.50. It’s a bit like pick and mix, and there really is a deal to suit all needs.

All you have to do is set up an account, download the app, choose your desired plan, pay the fee and then install the eSIM.

Once you land in the foreign country, simply ensure that your travel SIM card is set for data usage in the settings, and you are good to go. As soon as you are back home and the data plan has ended, you can then delete the virtual eSIM.

I recently put Airalo’s SIM technology to the test on a trip to New York and found the whole process remarkably easy. A £7 deal offered 3GB of data for 3 days, and that even included fast 5G speeds.

That bundle had enough data for booking my Uber journeys, video calling family and finding my way around the Big Apple using Google Maps.

In the past, I’ve simply paid my UK provider to access data, but by switching to the eSIM instead, I got internet access for half the price.

It’s worth shopping around to find the best eSIM deal for you, but if you are fed up with paying sky-high roaming fees from your UK network, then it’s definitely worth giving it a go.

All eSIM providers offer global destinations and should have you covered in places such as Thailand, Australia, India, Japan and Dubai.