[SOLAR_FIELDS]

Even in the examples I gave (Ecuador and Peru) it is possible to get a SIM at the airport. But you will pay handily for that privilege due to basically skirting government regulations (the most common scenario is that you are given an under the table SIM that is legally registered to some citizen of the country). In a lot of these cases Google Fi or whatever roaming solution you are using is cheaper, and that doesn’t even count the time value of getting the local SIM card and activating it (and I have also travelled extensively and understand that this process can be a non insignificant time sink) vs just turning your phone on and having it work in whichever country you are traveling to.

[skohan]

But you still have the option of using an eSIM/Google Fi in countries where local sims are problematic when you also have a sim tray.

If you lose the sim tray, you are at a disadvantage in places where local sims are the best option, which are many.