Prepaid international roaming: Your options compared

Plenty of prepaid plans now support international roaming, but it's not always a good deal. Many charge pay-as-you-go rates, which can end up costing you over $1,000 for a single gigabyte. In this guide, we'll look at the best prepaid plans and providers to avoid bill shock when travelling overseas. 

felix mobile prepaid international roaming

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If you have a felix mobile plan, you can add on its $20 roaming pack. This will get you 4GB of data, 100 texts, and 100 minutes of talk with a one-year expiry.

The downside is that felix's international roaming isn't as widely available as other providers, with just over 40 countries on its roaming list. It includes popular destinations, like the USA, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India and China. felix is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) powered by the Vodafone network.

Here are felix mobile's prepaid plans: 

Optus prepaid international roaming

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If you're on an Optus Flex Plus prepaid plan, you can pick from these four roaming options. 

These plans work in over 150 countries, which Optus calls "Zone 1" destinations. These include New Zealand, most of Europe, North America, and countries in the Asia Pacific. See the full list here. 

Unless you're stopping in a country for less than 24 hours or just need a little bit of data to get you through the end of your trip, we'd advise against the $5 pack. Every other option works out to be better value for money. 

Here are Optus' prepaid plans:

Boost Mobile prepaid international roaming

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Boost Mobile is one of Telstra's budget brands, and has three roaming packs available for its prepaid customers. 

Here are Boost's international roaming packs:

In general, we'd advise against going with the small plan - $20 is a lot to pay for 1GB. The medium and large packs aren't too bad value-wise, however. 

Boost's roaming works in 42 destinations, so you will want to check the eligible countries before you head overseas.

Here are Boost Mobile's prepaid plans:

Kogan Mobile prepaid international roaming

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Kogan Mobiles offers three international roaming packs with varying data, texts and minutes of calls and expiry periods. Here's a breakdown of their inclusions:

While these only work in 30 countries, this selective list includes some popular destinations, including New Zealand, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK, the USA, and Singapore. Multiple roaming packs can be activated simultaneously to combine their inclusions.

Kogan isn't the most affordable option, so we'd advise getting a local SIM at your destination instead for most trips.

Here are Kogan Mobile's prepaid plans:

amaysim prepaid international roaming

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amaysim's roaming add-on packs range from $20 to $70 with a 365-day expiry. Each pack differs in the amount of data, calls and texts but can be layered to achieve the perfect plan. We've broken down each plan's inclusions below:

amaysim is powered by the Optus network and supports international roaming in over 120 overseas locations, including New Zealand, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the USA.

Here are amaysim's prepaid plans:

Vodafone prepaid international roaming

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Vodafone's prepaid customers can pick from three roaming add-ons:

These are all pretty bad value, however. For comparison, Optus' equivalent $5 pack gets you 1GB, rather than just 200MB. Vodafone prepaid customers should consider switching to Vodafone postpaid for its $5 per day international roaming, or buy a travel eSIM or local SIM at their destination. 

Here are Vodafone's prepaid plans:

Telstra prepaid international roaming

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If you're a Telstra prepaid customer, you can buy one of these packs when you head overseas. 

These packs all work in 38 countries, and you can see the full list here. Telstra's prepaid roaming won't work outside of these destinations. If you run out of data in an eligible country, you'll need to buy another pack to keep using your service. 

Note that Telstra prepaid roaming is activated from the day you buy it, so you should wait until you're overseas to purchase a pack.

Here are Telstra's prepaid plans:

Everyday Mobile prepaid international roaming

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The telco formerly known as Woolworths Mobile, Everyday Mobile, has two "global" international roaming packages that work with both its SIM-only and prepaid plans. One only has data, while the other also has talk and text. Both cover 69 destinations. Customers who get the data-only plan will still receive SMS at no extra charge. 

Everyday Mobile also has three cheaper "destination" specific packs that all also have a seven-day expiry. There's one for the Pacific with 1GB for $6, one for Asia with 1GB for $9, and for North America with 2GB for $6. Check out the full details here. 

Here are Everyday Mobile's prepaid plans:

Prepaid providers to avoid when roaming

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There are a number of providers that offer roaming on their prepaid plans, but only at pay-as-you-go rates, such as ALDI Mobile and TPG. 

Pay-as-you-go rates are much more expensive than roaming packs or local SIMs and add up very quickly. Even providers with "cheaper" pay-as-you-go options charge $0.50 per MB, meaning you'll end up paying over $500 a gigabyte.

These are examples of what you can expect from pay-as-you-go rates, but in some cases, they can be even more expensive. Some providers charge $1 per megabyte, making the cost of a single gigabyte over $1,000.

Postpaid roaming options

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Postpaid roaming still isn't cheap, but it can be more affordable than prepaid roaming. Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone are your main choices.

On Telstra Upfront plans, you'll pay $10 per day while overseas for 2GB daily allowance. If you need extra, you can pay $10 for an additional 2GB with a 31-day expiry. This can be used in over 70 destinations, including Canada, China, India, the UK and the US. If you want to use Telstra's International Day Pass in New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, Nauru, Western Samoa, or Papua New Guinea, you only have to pay $5 per day for 2GB of data. 

On Optus' current postpaid plans, you're looking at $5 per day for 5GB of data with its International Roaming add-on. You also get unlimited calls and texts for use in over 150 Zone 1 destinations, including the USA, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, and India. This add-on can be activated via the My Optus app.

On Vodafone's $5 roaming, postpaid customers can use local inclusions overseas in over 100 countries. The $5 per day charge will only be added to your bill on days when you make a call, send a text, or use data overseas. You can use $5 roaming for up to 90 days of the calendar year.