Two years ago, Visa launched a partnership with GigSky, a US-based eSIM provider, to offer cardholders complimentary data roaming plans. This benefit was initially limited to Visa cards issued in North and South America, but has now been rolled out worldwide.
This means that Visa cardholders in Singapore can now enjoy an unlimited data plan of up to seven days, covering travel to Canada, France, Thailand, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.
Even better— if you have multiple Visa cards (as I’m sure many of you do), you can redeem multiple data plans, ensuring you have plenty of data for future trips.
GigSky free data plans now available to Visa cardholders worldwide
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| GigSky x Visa |
Visa cardholders worldwide are now eligible for complimentary GigSky eSIM data plans that offer unlimited data for:
- Visa Infinite: 7 days
- All other Visa cards: 3 days
At the time of writing, each Visa card receives a total of five data plans (more may be added in the future), covering the following regions and countries.
| Region/Countries | Daily Limit Before Throttling |
| 🇫🇷 France | 2.5GB |
| North America (🇺🇸 USA, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇲🇽 Mexico)* | 2.5GB |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | Not stated |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | Not stated |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | Not stated |
| *This normally covers the USA only, but from 1 April to 31 July 2026, Canada and Mexico will also be included (in view of the World Cup) |
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For the avoidance of doubt, you don’t have to choose just one. You will receive all the plans above, once per card.
While data is technically unlimited, your connection will be throttled after a certain amount of daily usage. For the France and North America plans, this daily “limit” is explicitly stated as 2.5GB. For the rest, it’s unclear, though once everything starts slowing down you’ll know that’s a sign to switch to something else.
How to redeem your plans
To redeem your free GigSky plans, download the GigSky mobile app (Android | iOS) and create an account.
| ❓Referral code? |
| The GigSky app will prompt you for a referral code when you sign up. If you need one, you can use mine (AARO682), but it doesn’t do much beyond giving you 25% off your first plan purchase. This is better than the discount for regular Visa cards (20%), but not as good as the discount for Visa Infinites (30%). |
You can then tap on the Visa banner on the home page and enter your card details to obtain the free plans.
Once a plan has been redeemed, you have 365 days to activate it (failing which it will automatically activate). Do note that you must have an eSIM compatible phone to use the plan, as GigSky does not offer physical SIMs.
There is no additional card validity check at the point of eSIM activation, so if you have a Visa card you don’t plan to renew, you could always redeem the data plan prior to cancellation, and activate it later.
The 3 or 7-day validity period begins from the time the eSIM connects to a supported network in the destination country.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs of the GigSky x Visa partnership can be found here (for cards issued outside of North and South America, refer to the tab labelled “Visa Destinations”).
What if I have multiple Visa cards?
I’m sure many of you have multiple Visa cards, so you’ll be happy to know that the benefit is available once per card, per year (defined as 365 consecutive days, not necessarily the calendar year).
It’s even available on Visa debit cards, and principal and supplementary cardholders each get their own allowance (with the exception of Standard Chartered credit cards).
| 💳 Standard Chartered cards? |
| Both principal and supplementary Standard Chartered cards share the same card number (and expiry date, and CVV, if you can believe it). Therefore, only one cardholder (whether principal or supplementary) will be able to utilise the GigSky benefit. |
However, before you go on a redemption rampage, here’s something to consider: GigSky limits you to redeeming one plan of each type at a time. For example, once I’ve redeemed a North America data plan using Visa card A, I won’t be able to redeem the same plan again using Visa card B until the existing plan has expired.
However, that’s really just a minor inconvenience. There’s nothing stopping me from adding all my Visa cards to the GigSky app so I have them on standby, ready to activate the next data plan once my current plan expires.
How does this compare to the Mastercard benefit?
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| Benefit Details |
Mastercard already offers a complimentary FlexiRoam data plan for selected cardholders, which can be used worldwide. However, where Visa’s GigSky plan wins is that it’s available to all Visa cardholders, not just specific tiers or issuers.
Here’s how the two measure up.
| Mastercard | Visa | |
| Provider | FlexiRoam | GigSky |
| Validity | Global | Canada, France, Mexico, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA |
| Data | World Elite: 3GB, 15 days World: 1GB, 5 days |
Visa Infinite: Unlimited, 7 days Other Visas: Unlimited, 3 days |
| Availability | World Elite and selected World Mastercards | All Visa cards |
| Entitlement | Once per calendar year | Once per 365-day period |
| Format | Physical or eSIM | eSIM only |
Long story short: it’s much easier to get your hands on a Visa with a GigSky plan, than a Mastercard with a FlexiRoam plan, at least in Singapore.
Conclusion
Visa cardholders in Singapore and the rest of the world can now enjoy a complimentary unlimited data roaming plan via GigSky, valid for up to seven days. You can redeem these plans once per year, per card, so those with multiple cards can stack the free plans.
The main drawback is that coverage is currently limited to seven countries, though this includes some popular options like Thailand and the UK. And if you’re headed to North America for the World Cup, this plan will cover you too.
