Here are the top five phone plans ideal for travelling
Let's face it, when planning a holiday, time is better spent deciding which sites to see and restaurants to dine at. No one wants to waste time finding a phone plan to use while overseas.
Save yourself the hassle and make the switch to a telco that includes international allowances so you don't have to fuss around purchasing a SIM when you land.
Below, we've outlined which Aussie prepaid and postpaid phone providers offer generous international perks that won't blow your budget.
International roaming with felix mobile
Vodafone MVNO, felix mobile, offers an international roaming pack to add onto its prepaid plans for just $20. This includes 4GB of international data, 100 texts, and 100 minutes of talk with a one-year expiry.
This much data can go a long way if you take advantage of public Wi-Fi.
Why we love this plan:
At the time of writing, new customers who sign up online will score 50 per cent off any felix plan for the first 3 months using the code FELIX50.
Here are the plans you can pair with felix' international roaming:
International roaming with amaysim
Each of amaysim's four roaming packs are designed to cater to different needs.
Small Talk costs $20 for 100 mins, 100 texts but no data so it's great just for keeping in touch.
The Works costs $55 for 50 mins, 30 texts and 2GB of data meaning it has a bit of everything.
Just Gigs costs $50 for 6GB of data — no calls or texts, so aimed at those just looking to surf the net. And The Epic costs $70 for 100 mins, 60 texts and 9GB so it has a bit more of everything than the Works.
Why we love this plan:
amaysim's international add-on packs are super flexible in terms of inclusions and can also be stacked together to create a custom solution. They cover over 90 countries and last a huge 365-days from the date of activation.
amaysim also allows its customers to add international roaming packs to any of its 28-day expiry plans, seven-day or long-expiry plans.
Check out amaysim's plans which you can add its international roaming packs to:
International roaming with Vodafone
Vodafone is renowned for its famous $5 roaming option, which allows customers to continue using their local inclusions overseas for just $5 per day. This gives added peace of mind when travelling that a separate data allowance won't need to be monitored or topped up.
One thing to note is if users do go over their primary data allowance when travelling overseas, a further charge of $5 per gigabyte will apply.
Something else frequent travellers need to keep in mind is Vodafone's $5 roaming option is only available for up to 90 days of the calendar year.
Why we love this plan:
Vodafone's $5 roaming option means not having to pay for a separate pack of calls, texts and data — it's simply extending coverage for use in other countries. Also, it covers over 100 countries.
Check out Vodafone's postpaid plans below, all with its $5 roaming option:
International roaming with Optus
Optus also offers a $5 per day roaming option, however, it is an add-on to an existing postpaid plan. For 24 hours users will get 5GB of data and unlimited talk and text. This add-on is limited to its 'Zone 1' countries, which covers many popular destinations such as China, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.
Why we love this plan:
Optus 'Zone 1' destinations includes Aeromobile. This means users gain access in-flight roaming with Aeromobile's partner airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Emirates.
Add Optus' $5 roaming onto any of the below postpaid plans:
International roaming with Boost Mobile
Boost customers can choose to add one of three international packs onto one of its prepaid plans shown above.
Choose from a $20 plan with a three-day expiry and 15 mins, 15 texts and 1GB of data, a $30 plan with a seven-day expiry and 30 mins, 30 texts and 3GB of data or a $40 plan with a 14-day expiry and 60 mins, 60 texts and 5GB of data. Each of these packs covers 40 countries.
Why we love this plan:
Boost is the only small provider (aka MVNO) that has access to Telstra's full network, yet its plans cost at a fraction of the price.
Add an international roaming pack to any of these Boost mobile plans:
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