Jio, Airtel & Vi roaming in the USA vs a travel eSIM

Get an eSIM for the United States — from ≈ ₹338arrow_forward

Short answer: for long, call-heavy US trips Jio’s US pack is hard to beat

Jio’s US-Mexico-Canada pack costs ₹2,555 for 25 GB and 250 outgoing minutes over 30 days, about ₹102 per GB, with free incoming calls. Airtel’s 30-day prepaid pack costs ₹2,998 for 10 GB. Take a pack for calls on your Indian number, the eSIM for data alone. Prices checked on 12 Oct 2026.

The Jio USA pack also works in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Australia, so one pack covers a US and Canada trip. Check pack validity first: Airtel’s 5-day prepaid pack costs ₹998 for 4 GB, while Jio’s 15-day pack costs ₹1,555 for 12 GB.

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have an interest here. The table still shows when your operator pack is the better choice.

Jio’s US, Mexico and Canada pack: three sizes

Jio sells the US pack in three sizes: ₹1,555 for 12 GB over 15 days, ₹2,555 for 25 GB over 30 days and ₹3,455 for 40 GB over 35 days. Each adds outgoing minutes and 100 SMS, and incoming calls are free. The 35-day pack is the lowest in the table at about ₹86 per GB.

After the high-speed data ends, speed drops to up to 64 kbps. The ₹3,455 pack adds a free one-day in-flight pass. Jio states: “Your plan validity begins only with your first usage—call, text, or data.”

Airtel and Vi packs that work in the USA (table)

The nine packs below are prepaid, include the USA and cost ₹998 to ₹6,995 as listed on 12 Oct 2026. The table shows a selection, not every pack, and Jio sells the same packs to postpaid customers. Airtel sells one set of packs for every covered country. The ≈ ₹ per GB column is our derivation (price ÷ GB).

eSIM Go is not affiliated with Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL. Pack details are taken from their own pages on the date shown.

Source: operator documents (Jio · Airtel T&C · Vi T&C), checked on 12 Oct 2026. Airtel’s own FAQ page still shows older prices (₹898 for 5 days and ₹1,198 for 10 days); its T&C list ₹998 and ₹1,298. Airtel also sells a ₹698 one-day pack with 1 GB, and a postpaid ₹3,999 pack for 30 days with 30 GB high-speed data, about ₹133 per GB. Vi prints “FREE” for the data and calls on its Ultra packs in the UL zone, so we do not call them unlimited. Packs per operator: Jio, Airtel, Vi.

Cost per GB for a 2-week and a 1-month trip

For a 2-week trip, Jio’s ₹1,555 pack gives 12 GB and 150 minutes for about ₹111 a day over 14 days. Airtel international roaming in USA has no 14-day pack: its 10-day prepaid pack costs ₹1,298 for 6 GB, and its 30-day prepaid pack ₹2,998 for 10 GB. These are our derivations from prices listed on 12 Oct 2026.

For a month, Jio’s ₹2,555 pack costs ₹443 less than Airtel’s ₹2,998 prepaid pack and carries 15 GB more, 25 GB against 10 GB. Vi’s ₹6,995 pack costs ₹4,440 more than Jio’s for 10 GB less, and its ₹2,998 Budget pack carries 5 GB. Only Vi’s Ultra packs list the data as FREE with no GB figure, from ₹3,495 for 7 days.

Three of our 30-day US plans carry data only. The 5 GB plan costs ≈ ₹1,160 (9 Oct rate), about ₹232 (US$2.40) per GB. The 10 GB plan costs ≈ ₹1,595 (9 Oct rate), about ₹160 (US$1.65) per GB, and the 20 GB plan ≈ ₹2,611 (9 Oct rate), about ₹131 (US$1.35) per GB, charged US$26.99 by card.

Your card is charged in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction (forex markup) fee. How card payments work. The ≈ ₹ figure moves with the day’s exchange rate, so check the cost per GB on the day you buy. The USA eSIM from India page lists every plan. A US prepaid SIM and the eSIM are compared in the USA SIM card guide: local SIM vs eSIM.

When a travel eSIM still makes sense in the USA

Choose the eSIM when you need data and not Indian-number calls, when your phone cannot use a pack, or when your trip is shorter than a pack’s validity. Install the eSIM in India; it connects when you land abroad, and our US plans count their days from the first connection.

Which Indian SIM works in USA also depends on your line and your phone. Airtel international roaming in USA gives no prepaid data without a pack, because Airtel bars it “to avoid any accidental usage”. Jio states: “International Roaming services do not work on JioFi & JioPhone device.” Vi states that IR packs are “not applicable for customers in J&K, Assam and North East”. Jio also states that “some regions (like the US) have fully retired legacy 2G and 3G networks, requiring 4G/VoLTE or 5G compatible devices.” BSNL states: “BSNL has launched prepaid service with single IMSI at USA (AT&T) from 19.02.2026”; see BSNL’s roaming page.

Our US data plans run on T-Mobile and Verizon. A few plans add a US number with minutes and SMS, marked “Local number”; none carries your Indian number. A US airport SIM is a physical card and needs a free slot, which your Indian SIM may need for OTPs.

Bank OTPs arrive as SMS on your Indian number, which a data-only eSIM cannot receive. Keep the Indian SIM in the phone with mobile data off. Airtel’s prepaid ₹118 IR service activation runs 28 days and “allows unlimited incoming SMS”, and Vi sells a ₹118 pack with free incoming SMS; for Jio, check the MyJio app. No page can promise that every OTP will reach you. See keeping your Indian SIM for OTPs and the phone list.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

How we checked these prices

Every operator figure on this page comes from the operator’s own document, read on 12 Oct 2026 (IST): Jio’s plan list, Airtel’s T&C PDF dated 24 Sep 2026 and Vi’s prepaid T&C PDF. ≈ ₹ per GB is price ÷ GB, rounded to the rupee. We report published prices, not a purchase test.

The USA appears in Jio’s US-Mexico-Canada list, in Airtel’s single list, and in Vi’s UL and Set 1 lists. Vi’s zone page is an image we transcribed by hand, so confirm the USA there before you buy. Airtel prepaid validity starts when your phone latches on to a covered foreign network and makes chargeable usage.

Updated on 12 Oct 2026: first version, all rows checked that day. Written and reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova; see the editorial policy. Pack types compared: international roaming overview.

FAQ

Get an eSIM for the United States, from ≈ ₹338 Pay by card in US$. Your bank converts the US$ charge at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by e-mail after payment. See plans