Every Australian carrier lets you use your phone overseas, and every one charges for it. This page puts their prices side by side, shows what a week away costs on each, and explains the one setting that stops a surprise bill.
What is international roaming?
When your phone leaves Australia, it connects to a local network that has a deal with your carrier. That is roaming. Your carrier pays the local network and charges you, usually as a daily fee that starts the moment you use your phone. Data roaming is the data part of it, and it is where most of the cost sits.
What each carrier charges
Postpaid prices for Japan, Bali, the US, the UK and most of Europe.
Telstra
A$10 a day
A$5 in New Zealand and the Pacific
2GB of data, unlimited standard calls and texts.
Starts automatically
Optus
A$5 or A$10 a day
Depends on your plan
Plus plans: 5GB for A$5. Other plans: 1GB for A$10. Both with standard calls and texts.
Automatic on Plus plans
Vodafone
A$5 a day
On top of your plan
Your plan’s own data, calls and texts, for up to 90 days a year.
Starts automatically
amaysim, Boost, ALDI and others
Packs from A$5
Or pay as you go
11 smaller carriers, each with its own packs and rates.
Usually opt in
What a week away costs
Daily fees add up. Here is a 7-day trip on each carrier’s main option, next to a SimKit eSIM with the same 2GB a day and SimKit’s cheapest plan with enough data for the week.
| 7 days in | Telstra Day Pass 2GB a day, calls and texts | Optus Roaming Pass Other plans: 1GB a day, calls and texts | Optus Daily Roaming Plus plans: 5GB a day, calls and texts | Vodafone $5 Roaming Your plan’s own data, calls and texts | SimKit day pass 2GB a day, data only | SimKit data plan Cheapest with 7GB+, data only |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | A$70 | A$70 | A$35 | A$35 | A$33.49 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Bali (Indonesia) | A$70 | A$70 | A$35 | A$35 | A$28.98 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United States | A$70 | A$70 | A$35 | A$35 | A$26.40 | A$16.80 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United Kingdom | A$70 | A$70 | A$35 | A$35 | A$18.68 | A$11.90 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| New Zealand | A$35 | A$70 | A$35 | A$35 | A$30.27 | A$21.20 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Fiji | A$35 (lowest) | A$70 | A$35 (lowest) | A$35 (lowest) | A$63.11 | A$42.50 10 GB, 30 days |
In Japan, for example, a week on Telstra’s Day Pass is A$70. The same 2GB a day on a SimKit eSIM is A$33.49, and a fixed plan with enough data for the week costs less again.
What starts the daily charge
Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all treat the same things as a day of use.
Using any data
Starts the fee
Including apps refreshing in the background.
Making or answering a call
Starts the fee
A two-minute call from home costs a full day’s fee.
Sending a text
Starts the fee
One message is enough to start the day.
Receiving a text
Free
Free on all three, so bank codes and one-time passwords still reach you.
How to keep your number without paying for roaming
Most phones sold in the last few years hold two lines at once. Your Australian SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts, and a travel eSIM handles data. Four steps, all done at home:
- Check your phone takes an eSIM and isn’t locked. Dial *#06#: if you see an EID, it has one. Our eSIM compatible phones list covers the rest.
- Install your travel eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly. A SimKit plan only starts when it first connects at your destination, so installing early costs nothing.
- Turn data roaming off for your Australian line. Leave the line itself switched on so texts still arrive. On iPhone: SettingsthenMobile ServicethenYour main linethenData Roaming
- When you land, pick the eSIM for mobile data. Turn data roaming on for that line only. How to use an eSIM walks through it on iPhone, Samsung and Pixel.
Receiving a text doesn’t cost anything on Telstra, Optus or Vodafone, so bank codes and one-time passwords still reach you. Answering a call does start the daily fee, and so can listening to voicemail, because that is a call too. Let calls go to missed, and call back on WhatsApp, FaceTime or Messenger over the eSIM’s data.
Turning data roaming off stops data charges only. If you’d rather not risk a fee from an answered call either, switch roaming off for the whole service in your carrier’s app. Incoming texts may stop too, so do it only if you don’t need them.
When roaming is the better deal
A travel eSIM is cheaper for most trips, but not every one. Roaming can win when:
- You’re going to New Zealand or the Pacific with Telstra. The Day Pass is A$5 a day there, and eSIM data in Fiji and the smaller islands is expensive.
- You’re on an Optus Plus plan and use a lot of data. 5GB for A$5 is hard to beat if you need more than 2–3GB a day.
- You need to make a lot of phone calls on your Australian number. SimKit plans are data only.
For everyone else, the numbers above do the arguing.