What saved me when my eSIM didn’t activate at the airport

I saw others posting about the same issue so I figured i’d share my experience. I landed in Istanbul expecting my eSIM to kick in and it didn’t. I wasn’t able to get online or call an Uber, and the airport WiFi needed SMS verification… Before the trip, I had screenshotted the map route to my hotel and downloaded the local city map on Google Maps offline. Honestly, I did it half-heartedly, but it was the only reason I didn’t end up stuck and panicking. Seriously download your map. It takes 20 seconds and works every time. --- **Post Details:** - **Subreddit:** r/travelhacks - **Author:** u/DriftAwayRetreats - **Score:** 358 upvotes - **Upvote Ratio:** 96.0% - **Comments:** 60 - **Posted:** 6/28/2025 - **URL:** https://reddit.com/r/TravelHacks/comments/1lmod1e/what_saved_me_when_my_esim_didnt_activate_at_the/