There's a lot to consider if you're planning a trip overseas, but one of the most important things you need to remember is connectivity. Even on the best-planned vacation, accidentally taking your phone out of flight mode at the wrong time could inadvertently cost you an arm-and-a-leg.
So if you're a Telstra customer planning on bailing on Australia for a bit, here's everything you need to know about Big T's international roaming options.
Telstra international roaming
Telstra customers on an Upfront plan can roam overseas in over 80 countries using the telco's "International Day Pass" system.
You'll pay $5 per day when travelling in Zone 1 for 2GB of data, which covers Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
This jumps to $10 per day for Zone 2 destinations, which covers most other eligible roaming countries. This includes most of Europe and Asia, the United States, the UAE, South Africa, and more. You can see a full list of countries on the Telstra website.
Note that there are still a small number of Zone 3 destinations that Telstra's $10 per day roaming allows for talk and text, but without data. These include Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jamaica, and Jersey.
If you exceed your daily 2GB allowance in Zone 1 or Zone 2, you'll be charged $10 for a 2GB top-up. This comes with a 31-day expiry, and can be used on each day overseas where your initial 2GB is exceeded.
Telstra roaming also includes unlimited talk and text, but MMS is billed at $0.75 per message.
Telstra's daily roaming inclusions expire at midnight Australian time (AEST or AEDT, depending on the time of year), rather than midnight in your destination. This is worth keeping in mind if you're trying to avoid going over your allowance.
These Telstra Upfront plans are all compatible with Day Pass international roaming:
|
#1
|
Telstra
$74 Basic Upfront SIM Plan
$74.00/mth
Min. cost $74
Link not supplied
|
|
#2
|
Telstra
$84 Essential Upfront SIM Plan
$84.00/mth
Min. cost $84
Link not supplied
|
|
#3
|
Telstra
$99 Premium Upfront SIM Plan
$99.00/mth
Min. cost $99
Link not supplied
|
Telstra prepaid international roaming
Telstra customers with a prepaid plan will need to purchase a roaming pack to use their service when travelling overseas. These packs start at $10 and can last up to 14 days.
Each pack has fixed inclusions - a certain amount of data, talk, and text. After you run out, you'll need to buy a new pack. Here are Telstra's prepaid roaming packs:
| Pack | Price | Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Three-day expiry | $10 | 15 mins, 15 texts, 400MB |
| Seven-day expiry | $15 | 25 mins, 25 texts, 2GB |
| 14-day expiry | $25 | 50 mins, 50 texts, 4GB |
Note that the expiry on these packs starts from when you purchase the pack, rather than when you start using it. As such, you should wait until you're overseas to buy a Telstra prepaid roaming pack.
These packs work in 38 countries. These include New Zealand, the United States, many countries in Europe, Hong Kong, China, Japan, India, and Indonesia. You can find the full list on Telstra's website.
Here are Telstra's prepaid plans you can add an international roaming pack to:
|
#1
|
Telstra
$44 Pre-Paid Mobile
$44.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#2
|
Telstra
$54 Pre-Paid Mobile
$54.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#3
|
Telstra
$64 Pre-Paid Mobile
$64.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#4
|
Telstra
$74 Pre-Paid Mobile
$74.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#5
|
Telstra
$200 Pre-Paid Mobile Plan
$200.00
Per 6 Month Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#6
|
Telstra
$395 Pre-Paid Mobile Plan
$395.00
Per 12 Month Renewal
Link not supplied
|
Telstra international roaming alternatives
Much like Telstra's mobile plans, its international roaming offers are pretty pricey. In general, you'll be paying $10 per day, which is double what Optus and Vodafone charge.
Vodafone’s international roaming add-on tends to be considered the gold standard for overseas connectivity on postpaid plans. You'll pay $5 per day for each day you're overseas, which lets you use any of your local inclusions while travelling. If you have a 60GB plan in Australia, for example, this means you'll keep tapping into the same allowance while overseas.
Optus also charges $5 per day for roaming on postpaid plans, but this gets you 5GB. The data has a 24-hour expiry and does not rollover.
Here are the cheapest postpaid plans from Vodafone and Optus:
|
#1
|
Optus
$60 Optus Choice Plus Plan
$39.00/mth
Min. cost $39
|
|
#2
|
Vodafone
$58 Small SIM Only Plan
$45.00/mth
Min. cost $45
|
Many smaller providers now also offer prepaid international roaming add-ons. felix mobile, amaysim, Belong, and Tangerine have solid options.
We've compared their best value packs below:
| Provider | Data | Talk | Text | Expiry | Cost | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| felix | 4GB | 100 minutes | 100 texts | 1 year | $20 | 40+ |
| amaysim | 9GB | 100 minutes | 60 texts | 1 year | $70 | 120+ |
| Belong | 3GB | 150 minutes | Unlimited | 15 days | $30 | 45+ |
| Tangerine | 10GB | 60 minutes | 60 texts | 14 days | $55 | 65+ |
And here are the cheapest SIM-only plans from each of these providers:
|
#1
|
Tangerine Telecom
30GB 5G Mobile SIM
$30.00/mth
Min. cost $15
|
|
#2
|
felix mobile
felix 25GB Mobile Plan
$30.00
Per 1 Month Renewal
|
|
#3
|
amaysim
UNLIMITED 15GB Plan
$30.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
Link not supplied
|
|
#4
|
Belong
25GB Mobile Plan
$34.00/mth
Min. cost $34
Link not supplied
|
Another option to consider is purchasing a local SIM in the country you're visiting or travel eSIM.
In terms of local SIMs, we've put together destination specifications guides for a number of countries. Check them out below.
If you're headed to a particular country, we've got a whole host of travel guides that cover specific destinations. In them, we look at the best Australian SIMs for when you're overseas, as well as other options for the country in question.
- Best SIM cards for travelling in New Zealand
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Europe
- Best SIM cards for travelling in the US
- Best SIM cards for travelling in the UK
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Bali
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Japan
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Singapore
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Thailand
- Best SIM cards for travelling in South America
- Best SIM cards for travelling in Canada
In terms of eSIM, the technology has made it easier than ever to stay connected when overseas. If you've got an eSIM-compatible phone, you don't need to waste time finding a physical SIM when you get to your destination. You can just download an eSIM before you even leave, meaning you'll have mobile data as soon as you land.
Airalo, Jetpac, and SIMCorner are all solid options for buying a travel eSIM.
How do I turn on international roaming on my Telstra plan?
If you have a Telstra postpaid or Upfront plan, you'll need to activate international roaming using the My Telstra app. To do so, follow these steps:
- Log in
- Select Service
- Select your Mobile service
- Tap on Extras
- Go to International Roaming
- Activate International Day Pass (Upfront or eligible postpaid plan) or International Roaming (prepaid or other postpaid plan)
Day Pass can take up to two hours to become active but both Day Pass and standard PAYG rate roaming will send you a text when they are ready to use
If you have a prepaid service, you'll need to ensure you have an active recharge and enough credit to purchase a roaming pack. Purchasing a prepaid roaming pack through the My Telstra app will activate it immediately but it can still take up to 10 minutes to connect to a new overseas network.
You'll also want to make sure you have global roaming enabled on your mobile device. On iOS, you'll want to follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap Mobile
- Tap Mobile Data Options
- Toggle Data Roaming to On
On Android, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap Network & Internet
- Tap Mobile Network
- Toggle Roaming to On
There may be some slight variance in these steps depending on what version of Android your device is running.
Alex Choros
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