What Optus charges overseas depends on which plan you’re on, and the two postpaid options work quite differently. Check your plan name first: if it has “Plus” in it, you have Daily Roaming.
Optus postpaid roaming prices
| Option | Price | Includes | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Roaming | A$5 per 24 hours | 5GB data, unlimited standard calls and texts in the destination and back to Australia | Choice Plus, Plus Family, Plus Kids and other Plus plans; Qantas plans. Automatic. |
| Roaming Pass | A$10 per 24 hours | 1GB data, unlimited standard calls and texts | Other postpaid plans. You opt in. |
| Pay as you go | A$1 per MB of data | Calls and texts at per-country rates | Postpaid plans without a pass |
Both passes work in Optus’s Zone 1, which covers 150+ destinations including Japan, Indonesia, the US, the UK, Europe, New Zealand, Thailand, Fiji, Singapore and India. On Plus plans, roaming outside Zone 1 isn’t available at all.
When Optus charges you
On Plus plans, Daily Roaming is on automatically. The A$5 is charged when, in a Zone 1 destination, you use data, send a text, or make or answer a call. The Roaming Pass is charged the same way once you’ve turned it on. Receiving a text doesn’t trigger either.
Both passes renew themselves when you use the data. Go past 5GB on Daily Roaming and another A$5 buys another 5GB. Go past 1GB on the Roaming Pass and it’s another A$10. The 24-hour clock restarts each time.
What a week away costs on Optus
Both Optus passes for seven days, against a SimKit eSIM with 2GB a day and SimKit’s cheapest plan with at least 7GB.
| 7 days in | Optus Roaming Pass Other plans: 1GB a day, calls and texts | Optus Daily Roaming Plus plans: 5GB a day, calls and texts | SimKit day pass 2GB a day, data only | SimKit data plan Cheapest with 7GB+, data only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | A$70 | A$35 | A$33.49 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Bali (Indonesia) | A$70 | A$35 | A$28.98 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United States | A$70 | A$35 | A$26.40 | A$16.80 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United Kingdom | A$70 | A$35 | A$18.68 | A$11.90 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| France | A$70 | A$35 | A$21.90 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| New Zealand | A$70 | A$35 | A$30.27 | A$21.20 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Thailand | A$70 | A$35 | A$28.98 | A$15.40 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Fiji | A$70 | A$35 (lowest) | A$63.11 | A$42.50 10 GB, 30 days |
| Singapore | A$70 | A$35 | A$28.34 | A$17.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| India | A$70 | A$35 | A$33.49 | A$29.50 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
On the A$10 Roaming Pass, a SimKit eSIM is much cheaper and carries twice the daily data. Daily Roaming on a Plus plan is good value: if you really use 3GB or more a day, stay with it. For typical use, SimKit’s fixed-data plans still come in under A$35 a week in most destinations.
Optus prepaid roaming add-ons
Optus Prepaid uses add-ons you buy before or during your trip. They work in Zone 1 destinations only.
| Add-on | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | A$5 | 1GB, 25 minutes, 50 texts |
| 14 days | A$25 | 5GB, 50 minutes, 50 texts |
| 28 days | A$45 | 10GB, 100 minutes, 100 texts |
| 186 days | A$75 | 15GB, 100 minutes, 100 texts |
Incoming calls use the add-on’s minutes, the same as calls you make.
How to turn off Optus roaming
In the My Optus app: Your servicethenSettingsthenInternational Roaming. You can also turn roaming on or off by dialling 1509. For Daily Roaming, Optus’s own advice is to keep the phone in aeroplane mode. On a dual-SIM phone, turning off data roaming for the Optus line does the same job for data and still lets texts in.
How to keep your number without paying for roaming
Most phones sold in the last few years hold two lines at once. Your Optus 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 Optus 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.
Optus roaming or a travel eSIM?
On a Plus plan with heavy data use, Daily Roaming is a fair deal. On any other Optus plan, the A$10 Roaming Pass is the expensive way to get 1GB a day, and a travel eSIM will cost a fraction of it. Compare Telstra and Vodafone, or see every carrier side by side.