Best Australian phone plans with international roaming

Planning an overseas holiday in 2025? If there's one thing most of us want access to while travelling abroad (besides our passports), it's our phones. Not only can a handset with internet access help you navigate unfamiliar territory, it'll also keep you in contact with your loved ones back home.

Of course, nothing spoils a getaway faster than excessive international roaming charges, making it incredibly important to make sure your phone plan has you covered while you're venturing outside of Australia.

Alternatively, purchasing a local SIM card at your destination is an option, but it often comes with obstacles. Not all countries facilitate this process, and some carriers might even demand a local address. Furthermore, you would also end up with a different phone number.

The simplest option is to retain your existing Australian phone number, avoiding the hassle of changing SIM cards or signing up for an overseas eSIM solution. However, you'll need to consider your telco's international roaming daily fees and your mobile data allowance while overseas.

To get you up to speed, we've put together this guide to what each of Australia's three major telcos (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone) offer in terms of international roaming (including how much they cost per day, and what kind of daily data allowance you can expect.

The best plans for international roaming

Winner: Vodafone

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While Vodafone may not lead in Australian network coverage, its global reach is significantly broader than its competitors. The carrier operates its own networks in 21 countries and has partnership agreements with local carriers in 47 more.

This extensive international presence allows Vodafone to offer a more seamless international roaming experience compared to Telstra or Optus. For a daily charge of just AU$5 in over 100 countries, Vodafone customers can access their usual Australian plan inclusions without concerns about daily data limits. However, it's important to note that Vodafone's AU$5 roaming is capped at a maximum of 90 days per calendar year, so users should plan their international travel accordingly.

That said, if you do go over your usual monthly data cap, Vodafone will charge you AU$5 for each additional gigabyte of usage. If you're anticipating heavy data usage while abroad, you may want to consider Vodafone's Large SIM Only Plan, which comes with 400GB of monthly data and is priced at just AU$55p/m for the first 12 months.

International roaming on other carriers

Telstra

While Telstra is undoubtedly a top dog within Australia, its value offering is far less appealing once you venture beyond our shores. That said, it now offers twice the daily data than it previously did.

Upon arrival in a Zone 1 or Zone 2 country with data roaming activated, Telstra's International Day Pass is automatically applied. The pass costs AU$10 per day, offering unlimited talk, standard text and 2GB of data. However, if you are in New Zealand, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga or Vanuatu, the daily pass is reduced to AU$5. Should you exceed the 2GB data allowance, an additional 2GB will be provided at a cost of AU$10 (or AU$5 in New Zealand).

Thankfully, Telstra roaming is widely available, with full access in 80+ countries, and limited access (only calls and text, no data) in four additional destinations (on Upfront plans only). Here are the top three Telstra plans which include international data roaming.

Optus

Optus is far more generous than Telstra when it comes to international roaming, with Australia's second biggest telco offering 2.5x the daily data allowance at half the price. Customers on postpaid Optus plans will get unlimited talk and text and 5GB of data for only AU$5 per day, which is quite a good deal. All you have to do is activate the Optus International Roaming Add-on in the My Optus app.

Additionally, Optus customers also have the option of paying for a week upfront, with a 7-day pass getting you 35GB of data with unlimited talk and text for AU$35. Of course, there isn't really any benefit to doing this outside of convenience, with the price working out the same either way.

Impressively, Optus' roaming add-on works in over 100 'Zone 1' destinations, which is significantly more than what Telstra is offering. Of course, if you do find yourself in one of the remaining 'Zone 2' destinations, you'll have to pay the standard international rates, which'll certainly cost you. Here are the top three Optus plans which include international data roaming.

Given the seamless nature of Vodafone's international roaming experience, in that you get access to the same amount of data you'd normally have within Australia in over 100 countries, and its low AU$5 daily cost, Vodafone is the clear winner.

That said, Optus' international roaming add-on is not to be sneezed at, offering decent value for money and far more overseas data than Telstra.

For those who aren't planning to travel overseas anytime soon, here are the best SIM only plans in Australia.