Travel eSIM marketing loves the word "unlimited." It's a clean, reassuring promise. The reality is more complicated, and the fine print matters a lot depending on what you actually do with your phone while traveling.
What "unlimited with fair use policy" means
Almost every unlimited travel eSIM plan has a Fair Use Policy (FUP). The FUP sets a threshold — usually daily — for full-speed data. After you hit it, your speed drops to a slower rate for the rest of the day (or until midnight resets it).
The threshold varies by provider. Holafly's Japan plans throttle after their FUP limit (the specific number isn't always published clearly, which is itself a problem). Some providers cap at 1 GB/day, others at 3 GB/day. Above the threshold, speeds typically drop to 128–512 kbps.
This isn't fraud — it's disclosed. But the marketing often buries it.
What those speeds actually feel like
Full 4G speed (10–50 Mbps): Everything works. Google Maps loads instantly. Streaming video is fine. Zoom calls are clear. Hotspot works for laptop browsing.
1 Mbps: Google Maps works, but satellite tiles load slowly. WhatsApp messages and voice calls work fine. Standard-definition video streaming is possible but buffering-dependent. Zoom is functional but may drop to lower quality. Hotspot for light laptop work (email, Google Docs) is usable.
512 kbps: Maps work, but loading is noticeably slow. Messaging apps are fine. Video streaming is unreliable. Zoom typically degrades to audio-only or drops. Hotspot for anything beyond basic email is frustrating.
128 kbps: Maps work at low quality. Messaging works. Everything else is painful. This is roughly 2G speed — the original mobile internet era, before smartphones. You can technically use it, but you'll notice constantly.
The math on daily caps
If you have an "unlimited" plan that gives you 3 GB/day at full speed before throttling, and you're on a 10-day trip, that's 30 GB of full-speed data. More than most people will use.
But if you spend half a day navigating while on foot (maps, GPS, background data) and then do two hours of video calls in the evening, you might hit 2–4 GB in a single day without thinking about it. On a day where you're working from a café and hotspotting your laptop, you'll blow through 5–10 GB easily.
The issue isn't whether unlimited plans are bad — it's that the effective data limit is a daily cap, not a total cap, and most people don't realize that until they hit it.
When unlimited makes sense
You barely track data. If you're primarily doing navigation, messaging, and occasional social media, and you never hotspot, most unlimited plans will serve you fine. You probably won't hit the daily FUP.
You want a single SKU for any length trip. Metered plans require estimating your data usage. If you get that wrong, you either overpay (bought 10 GB, used 3 GB) or run out (bought 3 GB, needed 8 GB). Unlimited removes that estimation.
You're comfortable with the throttled speed for heavy use periods. If you hit the FUP but messaging and maps are all you need for the rest of the day, the throttle is fine.
When a metered full-speed plan makes more sense
You hotspot a laptop. A laptop on WiFi through a mobile hotspot can burn 5–10 GB in a half-day of normal work (Zoom, browser, cloud sync). If your unlimited plan throttles after 3 GB/day and you're working remotely, you'll be on 128 kbps by noon.
You do video calls. A Zoom call at acceptable quality uses roughly 600 MB–1.2 GB per hour. A day with three hours of calls uses 1.8–3.6 GB on calls alone.
You want to know what you're paying for. A metered plan is honest: you buy 10 GB, you get 10 GB at full speed, when it's gone it's gone. No daily caps, no FUP math, no "is my speed throttled right now" uncertainty.
You're a light user on a short trip. A 1 GB or 3 GB metered plan for a 7-day trip is often cheaper than unlimited and gives you full speed for everything you'll actually do.
The honest comparison
Holafly's unlimited plan for Japan at $19 for 5 days works out to $3.80/day. If you stay under the FUP threshold, you get unlimited full-speed data. If you exceed it regularly, you're on throttled speeds for significant portions of each day.
Driftvoy's 10 GB / 30 days at $14.99 gives you 10 GB at full carrier speed, no daily cap, no throttle, for 30 days. If you use 10 GB over 10 days, that's also $1.50/day — and you knew exactly what you were buying.
Which is better depends entirely on how you use your phone. The point is they're genuinely different products, not just different prices on the same thing.
Why Driftvoy only sells metered plans
We don't sell unlimited plans. This isn't a technical limitation — it's a choice.
We tried to design a plan that would work predictably for a hotspot-using, video-calling, working-remotely traveler. Throttled unlimited doesn't work reliably for that use case. A fixed-GB full-speed plan does.
The tradeoff: you have to estimate your data needs. We publish a comparison page with guidance on which plan fits which trip. If you want unlimited regardless of speed, Holafly is the honest recommendation.
Driftvoy's Japan and Thailand plans are metered, full-speed, and reloadable on the same eSIM. See Japan plans → or Thailand plans →.