Australia’s best phone plans with international roaming

Global roaming charges are one of the worst things about
taking your phone overseas; if you want to keep using your Australian number, it’s going to cost extra. We’ve put a
list together of some global roaming options that will
be the best for your wallet.

Before we start, here are the cheapest roaming-compatible plans with at least 20GB of data from each postpaid telco featured in this guide:

And here are the cheapest roaming-compatible plans with at least 20GB of data from each prepaid telco featured in this guide with a minimum
28-day expiry:

International roaming with felix

felix mobile is one of the few smaller providers
with a genuinely decent and surprisingly cheap roaming offer. While most MVNOs charge pay-as-you-go rates or
don’t offer roaming at all, felix mobile has a roaming pack that will set you back just $20. This gets you 4GB of
international data, 100 texts, and 100 minutes of talk with a one-year expiry. If you take advantage of public WiFi
as much as you can while travelling, 4GB could even last your entire trip!

Here are felix’s mobile plans:

felix offers three plans including one with unlimited data that is capped to speeds of 20Mbps (both locally and
abroad) but
that’s still fast enough for most basic online activities. Within Australia, felix is powered by the Vodafone network.

felix’s roaming isn’t as broadly available as options from The Big Three: it only works in around 40
destinations, however, most popular countries are covered.

International roaming with Vodafone

While global roaming isn’t exactly cheap, Vodafone
postpaid plans have one of the very best offers on the market – $5 roaming with all postpaid plans. For $5
per day, you’re able to use your local inclusions overseas in over 100 countries. This means you don’t have to worry
about a separate overseas data allowance – your usage will come from your phone’s standard cap.

You’re only charged $5 on days where you make a call, send a text, or use data
overseas and you can use $5 roaming for up to 90 days of the calendar year.

Note: If you go
over your primary
data allowance while overseas, a further charge of $5 per gigabyte will apply. 

These Vodafone postpaid plans all include $5 roaming:

Make sure the $5 roaming covers the countries you’re
visiting before you leave, otherwise, you’ll be
stung by hefty pay-as-you-go rates. 

International
roaming with Optus

Optus customers on Choice Plus plans can roam overseas
for $5 per day using an Optus International
Roaming add-on, activated via the My Optus app. 

Your $5 will get you 5GB of data with unlimited talk and text for a 24-hour expiry period.

These Optus postpaid plans are all compatible with International Roaming Add-ons: 

Optus’ roaming add-on and pass only work in “Zone 1” countries. This includes but is not limited to:

You’ll need to find a different solution for staying connected in “Zone 2” countries. Zone 2 is
predominantly made up of countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America. 

See a
complete list of Zone 1 and 2 countries.

International roaming with Telstra

If you’re looking to roam on an Upfront Telstra plan,
you’ll need to purchase an International Day Pass. Under the International Day Pass system, you’ll pay $10 per day
while overseas for a daily 1GB international data allowance, unless in New Zealand in which case it
drops to $5.

If you go over your 1GB, you’ll be charged an extra $10 for 1GB, which can be used over 31 days. You’ll
get unlimited talk and text, but MMS is billed at $0.75 a pop. Telstra roaming works in over 70 destinations.

There are also a small number of destinations where your $10 per day will get you unlimited calls but no
data. These countries are as follows: 

Here is Telstra’s range of Upfront plans: 

If you’re on a Telstra Upfront plan and you travel outside of an eligible destination, you simply won’t be able to use
your service. Telstra won’t bill you pay-as-you-go rates.

If you have an International Day Pass active, note that
your inclusions expire at midnight Australia time (AEST)
rather than based on your destination’s time zone. 

International roaming with Belong

Telstra’s budget brand Belong has a simple
approach to international roaming
plans.

Belong has a single roaming add-on. It will cost you $30, which gets you 3GB of data, unlimited standard SMS, and
150 minutes of calls. It has a 15-day expiry, but you can always buy a second add-on if you run out of your data
early. 

Belong’s roaming travel pack works in over 30 destinations, including parts of Asia and Europe, New Zealand, the United
States, and Canada.

On top of the travel pack, all Belong customers get free access to a basic roaming service. This allows you to
receive SMS while still overseas (for verification codes, for example), and use WiFi calling when on a suitable network. 

These are Belong’s mobile plans you can roam with:

International roaming with Tangerine

Telstra MVNO Tangerine is another small provider that has now good value international roaming
options. Customers can pick between a seven-day roaming pack with 5GB of data for $35, or a 14-day pack with
10GB for $55. Roaming packs work up until 11.59pm (AEST) on your last included day. 

Tangerine’s roaming travel pack works in plenty of
popular destinations, including New Zealand, parts of Asia and Europe, the United States and
more. 

These are Tangerine’s plans you can roam with:

International roaming with More

Tangerine’s sister telco More also operates on the Telstra network and similarly has a few good options for
international roaming. More customers can pick between a seven-day roaming pack with 5GB of data for $35, or a 14-day pack with
10GB for $55. Like Tangerine, these roaming packs work up until 11.59pm (AEST) on your last included day. 

More’s international travel roaming packs include use within popular destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, as well as North and South America. 

Here are More’s plans you can roam with:

International roaming with amaysim

amaysim is one of the latest smaller telcos to make the switch from pay-as-you-go roaming to
roaming
add-on packs. When you add a roaming pack via the app it’s available for a full 365 days;
the packs can
even be stacked together. 

amaysim
offers
four packs ranging from $20 – $70 with varying inclusions. Some plans have a little bit of everything or
there are
options for just data or calls and texts. You can see the breakdown of inclusions below.

Here are amaysim’s 28-day expiry plans:

You can also add a roaming pack to a seven-day expiry plan or long-expiry plan. One thing to keep
in mind is that your roaming pack can only be used while you’ve got an active recharge.

In
Australia, amaysim is
powered by the
Optus
network. amaysim supports international roaming in over 90 international
destinations.

International roaming with Boost

Boost Mobile has three roaming packs that you
can activate through the My
Boost Mobile app when you arrive at your holiday
destination.

You can have
multiple
recharges at the same time and can mix and match to cover your entire trip. The pack that has the
soonest
expiry
will be used first. 

See a breakdown of Boost’s international roaming packs here:

These are Boost’s compatible mobile plans:

Boost also offers 12-month-long expiry plans if you’re looking for a more set-and-forget
option.

Boost is covered by the Telstra
mobile
network within Australia but only covers 40 countries for international
roaming. You will
want to
check the
available
countries before you hop on the plane.

What is international roaming?

International roaming refers to using your sim card and phone service when out of your
network’s area of
service.
For Australians, this is whenever we travel overseas. Service providers in Australia have
arrangements with
those in
other countries to allow mobile users to continue to use their phones for calls, texts and
data. These
roaming
agreements mean that using your phone overseas can be set up in seconds.

The biggest thing to be wary of in these situations is the additional charges for phone use
out of network.
Each
provider charges differently for this, as seen above, and not every country in the
world is covered
by every
provider. If these roaming plans aren’t added automatically and you forget to
notify your
provider you may need to
brace for an uncomfortably large bill once you get home from your trip.

How to choose a plan with international roaming 

When picking a phone plan with international roaming, the most important thing is to
ensure it will
work in your
destination. While most telcos tend to support popular destinations, it’s
always worth
double-checking if the
country you’re travelling to is included in your plan before you go. 

It’s also worth weighing up different pricing considerations. If you’re spending more than
a week overseas,
even $5
per day roaming starts to get expensive. At that point, you may want to think about getting
a local SIM at
your
destination, a travel
SIM, a prepaid SIM card or
even
a
travel
eSIM.
Most local and travel SIMs last for around a month, so they tend to be the better option for
lengthier
international
jaunts. 

Naturally, you should also consider whether the plan is right for you,
day-to-day. Unless
you’re spending a
significant amount of time overseas, your plan’s local inclusions are going to be more
important than its
international inclusions. There’s no point getting a plan that doesn’t match your needs in
Australia just to
try and
save a few dollars when travelling. 

Key considerations when taking your phone overseas

There are two main boxes you need to tick if you’re planning on taking your Australian
phone overseas.
While most
phones should work, you need to ensure it will (a) work on the
networks at your
destination, and if you’re planning
on using a local SIM, (b) your phone needs to be unlocked. 

For the most part, your phone should work on most networks worldwide, but
overseas network
frequencies can
sometimes differ a little. US 5G bands are different to Australian 5G bands, for example, so
even with a
US SIM, you may not be able to get 5G connectivity. (You will also want to avoid
Verizon when picking a
mobile plan
while
travelling in
America.)

If you bought your phone outright or on a postpaid plan in recent years, it will be
unlocked. The only phones
that are sold locked these days are prepaid devices. 

You can get more information on these international network frequencies and unlocking your
phone in our
guide to
taking
your
phone overseas. 

Source: whistleout.com.au

George Barham

George Barham, an accomplished journalist and avid gambling enthusiast, serves as the esteemed Editor-in-Chief at fly-to-australia.com, Australia’s leading source for comprehensive gambling news and insights. With an unwavering passion for both the written word and the ever-evolving world of betting and gaming, George brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the helm of our editorial team.