How Corporate Travel Managers Can Use Fresim: Sell eSIMs

Overview

Corporate travel managers can open a branded Fresim eSIM store and give every traveller one place to get mobile data abroad, instead of chasing receipts for airport SIMs and roaming charges. Each eSIM arrives by email with an Install on iPhone or Install on Android button, so a traveller can be connected before they board. This guide covers the setup, where any revenue comes from, and the limits you should plan for.

The opportunity

Business travellers need data the moment they land, and ad hoc fixes such as roaming bundles, airport kiosks and expensed local SIMs are hard for a travel team to standardise or track. A single branded store covering 190+ destinations gives a team one approved option to point staff to. Whether it also generates revenue depends on your audience, your pricing and how many people use it, and it is never guaranteed.

How it works

You open a branded store under your company or travel programme name, free to start, and set your own retail prices per destination. Prices vary by destination and are set by each store, so you decide what staff, contractors or client groups pay. After a purchase, the eSIM is delivered instantly by email: the traveller taps Install on iPhone (iOS 17.4+) or Install on Android (Android 10+) and the eSIM installs. The QR code in the same email is the second option, handy for sharing the eSIM or installing it from another screen. You keep the difference between your retail price and your cost, which you can pass back to the business as savings or use to cover programme costs. Paid tiers lower your cost (Business is 19% cheaper than Free, Dedicated is 25% cheaper) and add a custom domain with no Fresim branding. For larger programmes, Enterprise is a $10,000 three-month managed engagement with eSIMs 31% cheaper than Free.

Getting started

• Define the scope: which trips, teams and destinations the store should cover, and whether staff pay directly, are reimbursed, or are charged back to a cost centre.
• Open your branded Fresim store (free to start) under your company or travel programme name and add your logo and short description.
• Set your retail prices for your most-travelled destinations. Prices vary by destination, so check your own cost for each one before you publish.
• Buy one eSIM yourself for a real trip and test the full flow on both an iPhone (iOS 17.4+) and an Android phone (Android 10+) before you roll it out.
• Write a one-page traveller guide that leads with the one-tap install button and mentions the QR code as the way to share the eSIM or install it from another screen.
• Add the store link to your booking confirmations, travel policy and pre-trip emails so staff see it before they fly.
• Review which destinations are used most after a few months. Then decide whether a paid tier or the Enterprise managed engagement suits your trip volume.

Earning potential

Example

This is an illustration only, and it is not a typical, expected or guaranteed Fresim figure. Imagine a travel team whose staff take 40 international trips in a quarter and where half of those travellers buy an eSIM through the company store. That is 20 purchases. What the team keeps is the gap between the price it sets and its own cost on each plan, so the result depends entirely on your destinations, your pricing and how many people actually use the store. If travellers ignore the store, the figure is zero. Many teams will treat the store as a service for staff, and not as a revenue line.

Revenue range

Fresim publishes no earnings data, so any range here would be speculation. As an illustration only, and not a typical, expected or guaranteed figure, results run from nothing (if few travellers use the store) to a meaningful offset of programme costs for teams with high trip volumes. Your audience size, trip frequency, destination mix and pricing decide where you land.

Converting your audience

Put the store link where travel decisions happen: the booking confirmation, the pre-trip checklist and the travel policy page. Tell travellers plainly that install is one tap from the email, and that the eSIM can be installed before departure. Check your phone-compatibility note first, because the one-tap install needs iOS 17.4+ or Android 10+ and a device that supports eSIM.

Content ideas

• A pre-trip email template titled 'Get connected before you land' that links to your store and explains the one-tap install.
• A one-page eSIM guide for the travel policy, covering how to check whether a phone supports eSIM and how to install it.
• A short internal video showing the purchase-to-install flow on iPhone and Android, filmed on a real phone.
• A destination cheat sheet for your five busiest routes, noting local connectivity tips and which plan size suits a short trip.
• A 'first trip' onboarding message for new hires who will travel, with the store link and a reminder to install the eSIM before departure.
• A quarterly travel-programme newsletter item summarising which destinations staff connected in, with no personal data.
• A guide for event and conference teams on setting up eSIMs for attendees travelling from abroad.

What works

• Test the whole flow on both iPhone and Android yourself before launch, so you can answer staff questions with confidence.
• Put the install instructions where travellers will find them offline, such as a PDF or the confirmation email, because roaming-free setup matters before departure.
• Price per destination with your own cost in front of you, and review prices after the first few months of real usage.
• Make the store the default in your travel policy wording, so staff do not have to choose between it and expensed alternatives.
• Keep the message simple: one-tap install first, QR code as the backup for sharing or installing from another screen.
• Track which destinations get used, then focus your guides and pricing on those.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Assuming revenue will appear without adoption. If staff are not told about the store, nobody buys.
• Skipping the device check. Phones that are carrier-locked or do not support eSIM cannot install one, so confirm compatibility before the trip.
• Publishing prices without checking your cost for each destination, which can leave you with thin or no margin.
• Treating illustrative numbers as a forecast. Fresim publishes no earnings data and results depend on your own travellers.