Travellers Error

[Thokaan]

I recently went abroad and I use Airalo eSIMs to have regional data while I was away. Like the tech novice I am, I thought if I assigned my PM phone number to the account I would have access to my texts and phone calls abroad. 
Now my eSIM account which expires soon is my primary account and is tied to my phone #. I can’t send texts (I can send iMessages) and I can’t make my PM account my primary account again. 
Can I fix this in my settings? Will buying an eSIM from PM let me port my number back in? 

[Joe_G]

@Thokaan, From your screenshot I can see that you have a voice and data esim. If that is your PM number in the My Number field then you have ported your number to that esim. I can also see that you are on Wi-Fi so your iMessages is using Wi-Fi; that's why you can send and receive only with other iPhones. If you want to port that number back to PM you need to contact Airalo and ask how to do it. You will have to open a new PM account as your old one was closed when you ported out.

[DennyCrane · Accepted solution]

To clarify, you didn't port the number, just just somehow associated the number with the Airalo esim in your phone settings?

I'm not too familiar with that, but I would start with deleting the Airalo esim. Good news that you still have Public Mobile data, as that means your line is active and your number likely hasn't gone anywhere. If that doesn't work, maybe you'll also need to delete thr Public Mobile sim and get a new one.

[Thokaan]

There is a space to add a number to Airalo esims. I did that using my PM number and now I cannot move it back to my PM account. 

 I am still using my PM data. And I have received calls but only from other iPhones. When I went to send a message (green text bubble) I get a message failed to send warning. But iMessages in blue will send fine. 
It’s very strange. 

[DennyCrane]

What do you mean? You can't port a number to Airalo as far as I'm aware; it's not phone/text service, it's data only. What do you mean when you say you assigned your PM phone number to your account? What account?

Is your Public Mobile account active? What happens if you call your Public Mobile number from another phone? Did you delete your Public Mobile esim by accident?

[Joe_G]

@Thokaan.  To port your number back to PM you need to be able to receive texts from Airalo. If you can't receive texts from Airalo then you need to contact them and see if there is a workaround. Either way you will have to open a new account with PM request to port your number to your new account.

[Thokaan]

The eSIM is turned off but if I try to delete it I get a message that my phone number will no longer be associated with my phone but my cellular plan will not be canceled and I need to contact my service provider to cancel. 

[will13am]

@Thokaan , disable the airalo e-SIM.  See if that fixes the problem.  If you disabled the Public Mobile SIM reenable it.