BNE SIM 40% off coupon code. Decent eSIM data plans that never expire.

[djphilosophy]

Use code SUMMER40 for 40% off on up to 20 euros (though on my end they list prices in USD).

I consider them a good option for regional data plans with no expiration for Europe (all EU countries + UK & Switzerland). Example: 10GB of data for $20.37 after the coupon code (so $2/GB). There are smaller package, as low as 1GB for $3.77 ($2.26 with coupon code).

They also have regional Asia packages. (No other regional packages.)

Their US-only offerings are less impressive at pretty much twice the cost per GB, but may be good as a backup data plan on AT&T. Their best value for a no expiration plan is actually the 500MB plan for $3.06 ($6/GB), or $1.84 with the coupon. Buying more data the rate is worse in terms of $ per GB.

Code is valid until May 2nd, 2023, but it doesn't say which time zone. As they're based in Hong Kong I'd assume Hong Kong time. Best to make any purchase before noon Eastern US time on May 1st to be safe.

[andyk88]

Thanks for the notice. I was just looking at them until two days ago because I had seen you mentioning them. I may go back to consider them again.
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...1#post17244381
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...4#post17245624


New discussions elsewhere:
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bnes...0-off-2615396/
https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...bnesim_in_usa/


I cannot use eSIM. My notes until two days ago:

https://www.bnesim.com/
ONE TIME: data validity No expiration
500MB $3.06 is cheaper than 1GB $6.73
(DAILY is 30% off ONE TIME.)
(MONTHLY is 35% off ONE TIME. But starts at 1GB.)


https://www.bnesim.com/bnesim-offers/ (coupon expiration countdown looks like based on GMT)
SELFLOVE WELCOME20 20% off
MELISSA4OFF $4 off $10 https://esimroamers.com/category/offers/
Use coupons > enter coupon code > ADD > Apply

15% off:
https://esims.io/countries/united-states Sort by: Cheapest, Plan duration: min 60 day(s)
https://esimdb.com/usa does not show all the options with no expiration.


On Amazon, they have a $4.90 SIM card shipped by Amazon (if no Prime, free shipping on orders $25+), and another $9.90 SIM card shipped by BNESIM.
https://www.amazon.com/BNESIM-Starte...dp/B07FMLVD3C/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A20DV1XCNEDYOQ


https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom...M_cards#BNESIM

https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...arge_declined/
April 2023: Be sure to use a virtual card.

https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...iration_esims/
August 2022: Balance is tied to SIM. If eSIM is deleted, balance is gone.

https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...l_use/g9esflu/
October 2020

https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...5#post16971865
March 2018


https://www.bnesim.com/faq/

My SIM is obsolete. What can I do?

We will send you a replacement SIM for free, shipping included.

What happens to my remaining data when I change my plan?

If you change your plan, the new plan will be activated immediately, and your account will be credited with your new data allowance.

If you haven't used all of your data allowances from the previous subscription, you will lose the remaining data.

EMERGENCY TOP-UP

In order to be eligible for the Emergency top-up, you need to save a payment method into your account. That way, we can have your back whenever you run out of credit, and there's no Wi-Fi around to access the Self Care and make a top-up.

On 4/25/23 (or 4/26/23?) I asked support by e-mail a) Are the rates for the $4.90 SIM card on Amazon the same as on https://my.bnesim.com/pricing_ext.php, and specifically mentioned United States, ONE TIME, 500MB for $3.06; and b) In the US, in what country is the IP address located (such as shown by whatismyisp.com). I sent a second e-mail asking what was going on that many prices just tripled (for eSIM, 500MB increased from $3.06 to $10.20).

Their first response was simply they have one time, daily, monthly, what was I looking for.

I sent a third e-mail trying to be as clear as I could.

Their response:

• I could not tell if they were confirming https://my.bnesim.com/pricing_ext.php or telling me to buy a SIM card on the website (which is more expensive than on Amazon).
• The $3.06 price was very good (not usually seen or something).
• The app will show my rates after activating SIM in the app.
• No answer about IP address.

On 4/27/23:
On Moto G, the app was VirtualSIM by BNESIM version 5.0.0.

On LG Xpression Plus, the app was BNESIM version 2023.4.1.
Got: "This device is unable to load page due to this error (net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED)."
Removed DNS based ad-blocking from router, then worked.

Prices in the app were in euro, and were the same as on the website.

Finally, in the app, my name / My Account > Delete account, because:

• For eSIM, 500MB increased from $3.06 to $10.20 (this has since dropped back down). The same may happen to physical SIM.
• My difficulties getting support.
• Must use their app, which was slow and the extra features (that I won't use) made it complicated / confusing.
• Error on LG Xpression Plus.
• I think I unsubscribed from their newsletter (signed me up automatically) in the app, but could not find the card anymore (what if someone wants to resubscribe).
• No PayPal. Could not find a way to change currency from euro to dollar in the app.

I then started to look at Vegolink. But Vegolink's use of registered mail (which may require a trip and waiting in line at the post office) and needing to use a Telegram bot to check balance will also be inconvenient.

Maybe I should reconsider BNESIM. Or when I need more data, maybe I should just buy from FreedomPop GSMA 10/10/25: 250MB for $5, or 1GB for $10.

I suppose this prepaid hobby is better than other hobbies that cost a lot of money. But I am sure there are better hobbies: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/03/warr...er-advice.html

[djphilosophy]

I agree that using a virtual card is a good idea with outfits like this.

I'll also note that, at least in Germany, I've had issues where the data service seems to be so deprioritized that in busy city areas, internet connections simply didn't work (webpages failed to load). This happened more than once. Turning airplane mode on and off seemed to briefly get a working connection. Based on my experience with a German SIM card (Netzclub) I think this may be a matter of O2 (the network provider) giving such a low priority to certain budget services as to render them unusable at times in high traffic areas.

[paperwastage]

I cannot use eSIM. My notes until two days ago:

if you have the $ and a recent ish phone that works with esim.me, you can get the esim.me card (used to be cheaper, now it's quite expensive)

Been using esimplus for backup data (PAYG rate, ~9eur/GB on att) no expiry, my 5EUR top up has been at 3EUR for the past 1.5 years. Benefit = esimplus gives you a phone number for calls/text options (paid not free) and the balance works across multiple countries (at different PAYG rates), so I treat it as my 'last resort' backup


Looking at yesim, no call/text but they offer similar (PAYG rate, 3.5eur/GB). Haven't tried it bc it needs 10eur minimum topup and charges 1eur for esim, not sure about expiry. But yesim allows you to transfer esim profile to different esim device (after raising a ticket with them), not all providers do that

[andyk88]

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't know eSIM.me allows one to replace a physical SIM card slot with eSIM.

It is indeed a little pricey. It starts at 24.95 euros plus (when I tried to checkout) 4.95 euros shipping, and costs 10 euros to transfer to another device.
https://esim.me/pricing

(When I was researching Vegolink, I must have seen your post, but failed to look more closely when I saw $30.
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...6#post17208686)


I googled for a few reviews:
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...a-physical-sim
https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...ce_with_their/
https://old.reddit.com/r/eSIMs/comme...ves_to_esimme/
https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleFi/co...r_alternative/
https://old.reddit.com/r/travel/comm...litch_and_bad/

(In the second Reddit thread above, there is a data point regarding Yesim, even though it seems Yesim does support QR code.
Option 2: https://yesimsupport.zendesk.com/hc/...amsung-phones-)



I also googled for esimplus.me:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34625565-post9.html
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...8#post17236548

https://www.bnesim.com/bnesim-offers/ (coupon expiration countdown looks like based on GMT)

I think BNESIM changed their offers link (More > Offers), though there is nothing active now.
https://www.bnesim.com/offers/

[WhizzWr]

If anyone can comment, how is BNE's Latency/speed in AT&T network?

I keep reading that it was not optimal. In European countries actually BNE is pretty good, and the price (eSIM e7) is quite nice.

There are only few providers with never-expiring data other than BNE.. Yesim, mtxconnect, Vegolink, but at least in EU they got slowed down/deprioritized a lot. Wih Yesim/Vegolink (Roamability) the routing/ip db is also weird (outbound server in the Netherlands, but detected as in North America.

I'll also note that, at least in Germany, I've had issues where the data service seems to be so deprioritized that in busy city areas, internet connections simply didn't work (webpages failed to load).

Is this a common occurence? Which BNE eSIM do you have?

I plan to stash few never-expiring european GBs with the e7 eSIM for the upcoming trip. I'm reconsidering after seeing your post.

[paperwastage]

There are only few providers with never-expiring data other than BNE.. Yesim, mtxconnect, Vegolink, .

Yesim, I'm not 100% sure but do you have to pay for PAYG data using their coins? (After converting $ to their coins). Havent tried it yet

Seems like you need at least 100coins to purchase the initial payg esim (and min 10eur =1000coins topup)


In their TOS fineprint, coins expire after 1 year

PLEASE NOTE: The expiry date for each YCOIN is 1 (one) year from the moment of its receipt, regardless of the method of receipt (in a form of purchase or in a form of a bonus).

[WhizzWr]

Yesim, I'm not 100% sure but do you have to pay for PAYG data using their coins? (After converting $ to their coins). Havent tried it yet

Seems like you need at least 100coins to purchase the initial payg esim (and min 10eur =1000coins topup)


In their TOS fineprint, coins expire after 1 year

Good catch! I didn't know the credit expires after one year. So yeah there are even fewer vendors, I suppose we can include KeepGo as well, if you are willing to pay $3 per year

To get Yesim PAYG esim without paying a 10
Use coupon "dealzeu" (go to the coin top up page) you get like 300 coins, then you can activate PayG

[paperwastage]

Good catch! I didn't know the credit expires after one year. So yeah there are even fewer vendors, I suppose we can include KeepGo as well, if you are willing to pay $3 per year

To get Yesim PAYG esim without paying a 10
Use coupon "dealzeu" (go to the coin top up page) you get like 300 coins, then you can activate PayG

Thanks , got the 300 coins. Still seems they need me to pay $0.50 eur to initially buy the payy esim, gpay isn't integrated to the app properly and they decline my card if paying directly . Will try again later

Esimplus is another payg esim with no expiry, but rates are higher (6-10eur/GB for Europe, but they do allow paid calls/texts both ways)

Edit: used discover to pay for $0.5eur.

the setup isn't the best, seems like it uses this USIM DMI utility to select profile.

Initially the correct DMI profile was selected but no APN was populated. If you go through the app chat process, theres an automated help section that asks you which country, then tells you which DMI profile &APN setting to use. Different countries have different DMI profile, unsure if it auto switches profile or APN when you land in a new country

If I select Australia, the automated help prompts me to select a DMI profile that I can't see at the moment(i have two DMI profiles), so it's not great for pre-setup before your trip

https://roamability.com/

[Boz1]

I don't know if these are still valid, but there are several coupon codes, including 40% and 50%, listed at: https://www.emucoupon.com/code/mybnesim/385938

EDIT
Nevermind. I later found https://www.bnesim.com/offers/, which seems to indicate that there are currently no valid coupon codes. Bummer. I was hoping to suggest BNESIM to my son, who is traveling to Europe in July.

Does anyone know what networks are used by BNESIM in each of the 30 European countries?

[WhizzWr]

Thanks , got the 300 coins. Still seems they need me to pay $0.50 eur to initially buy the payy esim, gpay isn't integrated to the app properly and they decline my card if paying directly . Will try again later

Esimplus is another payg esim with no expiry, but rates are higher (6-10eur/GB for Europe, but they do allow paid calls/texts both ways)

Edit: used discover to pay for $0.5eur.

the setup isn't the best, seems like it uses this USIM DMI utility to select profile.

Initially the correct DMI profile was selected but no APN was populated. If you go through the app chat process, theres an automated help section that asks you which country, then tells you which DMI profile &APN setting to use. Different countries have different DMI profile, unsure if it auto switches profile or APN when you land in a new country

If I select Australia, the automated help prompts me to select a DMI profile that I can't see at the moment(i have two DMI profiles), so it's not great for pre-setup before your trip

Ah yes, I remember paying $0.5, but they will refund it as 50 coins. It appears to be some kind of security-check.

I can confirm the DMI setup is difficult! In my case, the two DMI profiles that came with the eSIM didn't work despite the correct APN (fastaccess) being set.

Yes, it's interesting that they have automated bot chat that guide step-by-step how to select DMI profile. It acts like a "gate" before you can reach them (guessing we aren't not the first customers having this issue )

What surprised me is, after fiddling with the DMI setup (i.e., refresh, reselecting country-specific profile) I finally got a third profile that finally works. The new profile was definitely sent via OTA, since in the beginning there were only two profiles.

I think the Australian profile will appear like that.

Not smooth, I agree. I have also encountered this problem with Vegolink. Vego Support remarked that the auto-switch didn't work. Vegolink also uses Roamability, go figure.

For esimplus: is that a real GSM call or some VoIP call?

I don't know if these are still valid, but there are several coupon codes, including 40% and 50%,

Does anyone know what networks are used by BNESIM in each of the 30 European countries?

I think "ESIMS15" coupon should still work, I got it from esims.io.

BNESIM shows the network when you try to add a new eSIM for an individual country ("national"). Look at the square grid thingy they present.

[paperwastage]

Ah yes, I remember paying $0.5, but they will refund it as 50 coins. It appears to be some security check charge.







For esimplus: is that a real GSM call or some VoIP call?
.

Yeah, 50 coins added.

Esimplus, real GSM call (you get a +372 Estonia phone #). Their documentation is a little lacking, no prices for phone call. Cost me 0.55EUR for a 40s call to my USA number. Actually looking back at my notes, couldn't text out for some reason but could receive text

Their ToS says esim can't make/receive text or phone. Not sure what's up with that


Please pay attention to the fact that eSIM+ does not provide for a possibility to make direct voice calls send messages within Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). Moreover, our Services should not be used to make emergency calls.

[andyk88]

I believe these codes are still valid:

SELFLOVE WELCOME20 20% off
MELISSA4OFF $4 off $10 €4 off €10 https://esimroamers.com/category/offers/
Use coupons > enter coupon code > ADD > Apply

15% off:
ESIMS15 from https://esims.io/en/providers/bnesim
ESIMDB15 from https://esimdb.com/usa/bnesim

Edit to add:

• The 15% codes are in case the better ones (like 20%) do not work.
• MELISSA4OFF is actually €4 off €10, not dollar. Sorry about my mistake.
• For example, UK one time 3GB is $10.09 / €9.90, and MELISSA4OFF does not apply.
• Europe one time 3GB is $10.98 / €10.77, and after MELISSA4OFF it becomes $6.90 / €6.77.

More data points:
https://old.reddit.com/r/NoContract/...nt_with_tello/

Speeds and latency are slow so I just didn't bother.
. . .
I have the opposite experience with BNE, . . . In Europe their outbound server is located in NL (with OVH), which has excellent connectivity to UK and continental Europe. I have ping < 100 ms and depending where I am > 100mbit/s.

To see the carrier/network for a destination, on https://my.bnesim.com/pricing_ext.php, click on the destination.
It's the last box before the list of plans/data allocations.

[djphilosophy]

Is this a common occurence? Which BNE eSIM do you have?

I plan to stash few never-expiring european GBs with the e7 eSIM for the upcoming trip. I'm reconsidering after seeing your post.

The data problems were with the Europe regional eSIM with no expiration. I will say that when I contacted BNE about the issue, they were *very* prompt to reply, and seemed to take the matter seriously. Impressive customer service. I wouldn't hesitate to try out the 1GB Europe plan. If nothing else it serves as a good backup at a good price, and will never expire (though the eSIM apparently can't be transferred to a new device).

Does anyone know what networks are used by BNESIM in each of the 30 European countries?

If you look at the Local Plan pricing for an individual country, the network is listed.

[WhizzWr]

More data points:

I have the opposite experience with BNE, . . . In Europe their outbound server is located in NL (with OVH), which has excellent connectivity to UK and continental Europe. I have ping &lt; 100 ms and depending where I am &gt; 100mbit/s

Yea, for European roaming, I can vouch it's Okayish good. Pretty good, even considering the price.

At the same time I'm still curious with how it's faring on AT&T US network (latency, IP location, speed).

The data problems were with the Europe regional eSIM with no expiration. I will say that when I contacted BNE about the issue, they were *very* prompt to reply, and seemed to take the matter seriously. Impressive customer service. I wouldn't hesitate to try out the 1GB Europe plan. If nothing else it serves as a good backup at a good price, and will never expire (though the eSIM apparently can't be transferred to a new device).

Thanks for elaborating. On second read it might be that the local operator (o2) was simply overloaded, and no roamer can be sensibly prioritized.

I will buy the 3GB one with the coupon code and hope for the best. You know in case they hike the price within few months.. it does seem a bit lower than market price at the moment.