Buying an eSIM on WhatsApp: what happens between your first message and the QR

Most eSIM sellers want you to install an app, create an account and pay in dollars. AirZippy runs on WhatsApp because that is where Indian travellers already are, and because a chat is the right place for the two moments that matter: choosing a plan and getting help when a phone will not connect. This guide walks through an order exactly as it happens, so you know what to expect — and what the assistant will not do.

Step one: say where you are going

Send a message to the AirZippy number — "Japan 10 days", "Dubai this weekend", "Singapore, Bangkok and KL in October". A destination and rough length is enough. If you send just "hi", you get a short menu: buy an eSIM, check an order, talk to a person.

The assistant is deterministic where it counts. Plans, prices, order numbers and links always come from the catalogue and the order system, never from a language model guessing. The model, when it is used at all, only helps understand what you wrote — in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Tagalog or Arabic — and phrase a reply in your language.

Step two: the list

For one country you get one message: the cheapest plan for each length, grouped by days, with a reply code against every option.

🇯🇵 Japan — cheapest for each length:

1. 7 days a) 3 GB — ₹299 b) 5 GB — ₹449 c) 10 GB — ₹649

2. 15 days …

👉 Reply 1b — or tell me the days and data you need.

Reply with the code ("1b"), or in words ("the 5 GB one", "10gb 15 days", "cheapest"), and the assistant resolves it. Sizes and days narrow the list rather than buying, so "unlimited" or "30 days" shows you the matching options, and nothing is ordered until you pick one.

For several countries, the reply is a trip card instead: the cheapest combination of plans that covers every stop, the total, and what the same cover would cost as separate country plans. That is the same solver the trip builder uses on the website.

Step three: payment, in rupees

Once you pick, the assistant creates the order and sends a short link to our own payment page — airzippy.com/pay/ followed by eight characters — where the Razorpay window opens with UPI, cards and net banking. Prices include GST and are charged in rupees, so there is no foreign-transaction fee. The link is valid for 24 hours; if you tap it later, the assistant simply issues a fresh one. Nothing is created on the payment gateway until you open the link, so a plan you merely looked at leaves no trace.

Coupon and partner codes work in the same chat: type the code at any point and the assistant re-prices the order and tells you exactly what changed, or why the code did not apply.

Step four: the QR, in the same chat

Within minutes of payment — usually well under one — the confirmation arrives, then the QR itself as an image in the chat, with the same on email. The message carries the activation code for manual entry, the APN if your phone needs it, and the install steps. Install on Wi-Fi at home; the plan starts only when it first connects at the destination. The install guide has the exact menus for iPhone and Android.

When a person steps in

The assistant hands the chat to a person the moment you ask for one, when it cannot understand two messages in a row, whenever a refund comes up, or if an order ever fails. Staff are alerted on their phones at once and again if nobody has picked the chat up; you are told once that someone is being found. While a person is on the chat the assistant stays quiet, with one exception: if you reply with a plan code from a list — even one a staff member sent you — the order still goes through, because a hand-off should never cost you the plan you wanted. Type "menu" at any time to get the assistant back.

After the trip has started

Everything about an existing order happens in the same chat, without a person unless you want one:

• "Status" or "where is my order" — the current state of your orders.
• "Resend QR" — the eSIM image again, if the first message was lost in a long group chat. It re-sends only for an eSIM that has not been installed and used; an installed profile cannot be reissued.
• "Data left" — usage where the network reports it, and an honest "we cannot see live usage for this plan" where it does not.
• "Top up" — another pack on the same eSIM, paid the same way, no new QR.
• "Cancel" — an unpaid order is cancelled at once; a paid, uninstalled one goes to a person for a refund.

What the assistant will not do

It will not quote a price it has not read from the catalogue, invent a delivery time, name a network partner, or promise something it cannot see — if usage is not reported for a plan, it says so. It will not apply a coupon that the rules refuse, and it tells you the rule. And it never sends a second list when the first is still on your screen; it points at the codes you already have.

FAQ

Do I need the app or an account?

No. WhatsApp is the whole interface; your order is tied to your number, and the account page on the website shows the same orders if you prefer a screen.

Can I pay from a different number's phone?

Yes — the payment link is a normal web page. The QR is delivered to the WhatsApp number that ordered, and to the email on the order.

What if I reply with the wrong code?

The assistant asks when a reply is ambiguous ("3d" could be option d or three days) and says so in one line when a code does not exist. Nothing is bought until an option matches.

How long is the payment link valid?

24 hours. After that, reply "yes" or the plan code and a fresh link arrives; unpaid orders expire quietly and cost nothing.

Is there a person available?

Yes. Reply "person" or "3" from the menu, and staff are alerted immediately; if nobody picks up within minutes, the alert escalates automatically.

Prices shown in the sample list are live from the catalogue; the flow described is the assistant as of September 2026.