Heading overseas is exciting, but the last thing you want is to come home to a shocking phone bill from a major Australian carrier like Optus. Using your Aussie mobile plan for calls, texts, and data while travelling is convenient, but you need to understand your options before you board the plane.
Your choice boils down to two main paths: the simple and predictable Optus Travel™ Daily Pass, or the standard pay-as-you-go rates, which can get very expensive, very quickly. This guide focuses on Optus international roaming options for Aussies heading to popular destinations like Bali, New Zealand, Thailand, the UK, and the USA.
Navigating Your Optus Roaming Options Abroad
When your plane touches down in another country, having a working phone matters for navigation and staying in touch. Optus international roaming is designed to keep you connected in over 100 of the most popular spots for Aussie travellers, from New Zealand and Bali to the UK and the USA.
Think of it like this: you can either buy a simple, all-inclusive day pass for the local network or pay a premium for every single call you make, text you send, and megabyte you use. The day pass is the safer bet for avoiding nasty surprises.
Your Two Main Paths for Staying Connected
For most people on a modern Optus postpaid plan, the choice is pretty simple. You'll either opt into the daily pack or default to the standard rates.
Optus Travel™ Daily Pass: For a flat fee per day, you get a daily bucket of data to use, plus unlimited standard talk and text. It's the "set and forget" option that works for most holidaymakers and business travellers.
Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Rates: If your plan isn't eligible for a travel pack or you travel outside a supported destination, you'll be charged individually for everything you do. These rates can add up with frightening speed, turning a few quick map checks into a significant expense.
The right choice really comes down to where you're going and for how long. A week-long trip to a popular spot like Bali or the UK makes a daily travel pack a no-brainer. For a longer backpacking adventure through less-common destinations, you might need a different strategy altogether.
Let's break down the key differences between these two options.
Optus Roaming Options At A Glance
This table gives you a quick snapshot of how an Optus Travel™ Daily Pass stacks up against the standard pay-as-you-go rates for postpaid customers.
| Feature | Optus Travel™ Daily Pass | Standard Pay-As-You-Go Rates |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Structure | Flat fee for a 24-hour period (cost depends on the zone). | Charged per unit (e.g., per MB, per minute, per SMS). |
| Best For | Short trips, holidays, and business travel in over 100 supported "Zone 1" countries. | Very light users, emergencies, or when travelling in countries not covered by a travel pass. |
| Predictability | High. You know exactly what you'll pay each day you use your service. | Low. Costs can escalate unexpectedly and are hard to track in real-time. |
| Inclusions | A daily allowance of data, plus unlimited standard calls and texts. | No inclusions. You pay for everything you use. |
Seeing them side-by-side makes it clear: for most travellers heading to major destinations, a daily travel pass offers far better value and predictability.
Ultimately, the goal is to stay connected without that dreaded "bill shock" when you get home. While these are the primary options Optus provides, it’s also smart to consider alternatives like relying on Wi-Fi for VoIP services such as CallSky or using the built-in Optus WiFi Calling feature, which we’ll dive into later.
What Optus International Roaming Will Actually Cost You
Knowing exactly what you'll be paying is the first step to a stress-free trip. For most Optus postpaid customers, the go-to option is an Optus Travel™ Pass. It's a simple, flat-fee deal that works in over 100 of the most popular travel spots, which Optus groups into zones.
The pack is designed to be hands-off. The moment you land and use your phone for the first time in a supported country, it kicks in automatically. That daily charge gets you a full 24 hours of service, including a data allowance and unlimited standard talk and text. It’s a set-and-forget solution that keeps things simple.
Costs Per Day by Zone
Optus groups countries into zones, with a different daily cost for each. The majority of popular destinations for Australians fall into Zone 1.
Zone 1: Costs $5 per day for 5GB of data, unlimited talk and text. This zone includes over 100 countries, covering popular Aussie holiday spots like New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Thailand, Bali (Indonesia), and most of Europe and Asia.
Zone 2: This zone covers a smaller list of less-frequented destinations and has different pricing and inclusions.
You don't have to do a thing. Just use your phone in a Zone 1 country, and the pack takes care of the rest.
The Danger Zone: Roaming Without a Pack
If you wander outside a Zone 1 country or you're on a plan that isn't eligible for a travel pass, things get expensive fast. You'll be hit with standard pay-as-you-go (PAYG) rates, which can be absolutely brutal on your wallet.
For postpaid customers caught without a pack, data can cost $1.00 per MB, and calls can be as much as $1.50 per minute. Just a few minutes of using Google Maps or a quick call back home could easily cost you more than the entire daily pass. It’s a classic trap for unwary travellers.
This picture really drives home the difference.
The daily pass puts a predictable cap on your spending. With pay-as-you-go, even a little bit of usage can lead to an unpredictable and painful bill.
Don't Forget About Other Zones
Not every country is in Zone 1. If your itinerary takes you to a destination in 'Zone 2' or somewhere with no roaming agreement at all, the $5 pass won't cover you.
In these places, any data you use or calls you make will be charged at much higher PAYG rates. Always, always check the official Optus roaming page before you fly to see which zone your destination is in. It’s a two-minute check that could save you hundreds of dollars.
The $5 Daily Travel Pass covers over 100 countries. But the single most useful thing you can do is check your destination's zone before you leave home.
Getting Your Optus Roaming Set Up and Managed
Managing your Optus international roaming is simple, and you can sort it out before you even pack your bags.
Everything happens inside the My Optus app, which handles all the roaming settings. The most important thing to remember is to activate roaming before you leave Australia. Trying to sort it out after you've landed is a recipe for frustration and connection problems.
Activating Roaming Before You Fly
Think of this as another item on your pre-flight checklist. It only takes a minute and gets your phone ready for immediate use the second you touch down.
- Open the My Optus app on your phone.
- Tap on the 'Service' tab and choose your mobile number.
- Scroll down until you see 'International Roaming'.
- Just flip the switch to 'On'. You’ll get a quick confirmation that it’s good to go.
Once you’ve done this, roaming stays enabled on your account for any future trips. Don't worry, you only ever get charged when you actually use your phone overseas in one of the eligible countries.
Keeping an Eye on Your Usage Abroad
Nobody likes coming home to a massive phone bill. The biggest cause? Losing track of data usage. The My Optus app is brilliant for this, giving you a clear, up-to-date look at how much data you’ve chewed through.
Just open the app, and your current roaming data usage is right there on the dashboard. This is essential for making sure your daily allowance lasts the whole day.
An Optus Travel™ Daily Pass resets every 24 hours. The app shows exactly how much data you have left in that cycle, so you can stream and navigate without guessing whether extra fees are coming.
How to Disable Roaming When You Get Home
Just as important as turning roaming on is remembering to switch it off when you're back. While you won't be charged for roaming in Australia, turning it off is smart. It prevents any accidental charges if you have a quick layover in another country on a future trip.
Disabling it is just as easy as turning it on. Head back into the My Optus app, find the 'International Roaming' setting, and toggle the switch back to 'Off'. That’s it—you’ve officially wrapped up your travel connectivity with no loose ends.
How to Avoid That Dreaded Post-Holiday Bill Shock
We’ve all heard the horror stories. Someone goes on an amazing trip, only to come home to a phone bill with more zeroes than they were expecting. It’s a classic traveller's nightmare, but it’s one you can easily avoid.
A little bit of planning and a few smart habits can keep your Optus roaming charges completely under control. The most obvious strategy is often the best: become a master Wi-Fi hunter.
Your hotel, the local coffee shop, airports, and public squares all offer free internet. Get into the habit of using these connections for the heavy lifting—uploading your happy snaps, downloading a movie for the train, or making video calls back home. This saves your precious daily roaming data for when you’re out and about and genuinely need it, like using Google Maps to find that hidden restaurant.
Make Friends with Optus Wi-Fi Calling
A lot of people overlook Optus Wi-Fi Calling. This feature lets your phone make and receive calls and texts over a Wi-Fi network instead of a mobile one. And the best part? When you use it, you're charged as if you were still in Australia.
This means you can call any Aussie mobile or landline from your hotel in Paris and just pay your standard local rate. It's a good way to chat with family without eating into your roaming allowance or triggering that daily roaming fee.
You’ll know it’s working when you see this on your phone's screen.
That "Optus WiFi Call" text in your status bar is your confirmation that you're saving money.
Tame Your Phone's Data Appetite
Your smartphone is a data-hungry beast, constantly syncing and updating in the background. While that's great at home, it can chew through your roaming data allowance faster than you can say "gelato." Before you even pack your bags, take five minutes to get your phone's data habits in order.
- Switch Off Auto-Updates: Head into your app store settings and make sure apps only update over Wi-Fi.
- Stop Background App Refresh: This prevents apps you aren’t actively using from pulling down data behind the scenes.
- Download Offline Maps: Both Google Maps and other navigation apps let you download maps of your destination. You can then navigate around a whole city without using a single byte of data.
It turns out that "bill shock" is a very real fear. A recent Optus survey found that 82% of Aussies have either been hit with a surprise roaming bill or are worried it will happen to them. With 51% of us planning to travel in the next year, getting a handle on data costs is a huge deal. You can read more about these travel connectivity trends and see how other travellers are tackling the problem.
When you mix these simple phone tweaks with smart Wi-Fi use and setting up alerts in the My Optus app, you take all the guesswork out of it. Your phone bill becomes one less thing to worry about, leaving you free to actually enjoy your trip.
Exploring Smarter Alternatives to Standard Roaming
Optus roaming is a simple option for short trips, but it's not the only way to stay connected overseas. Looking beyond your default carrier can save you a lot, especially if you're staying a while or hopping between countries.
It’s about shifting your thinking from just accepting the roaming charges to actively choosing the best tool for your specific trip.
For many, this starts with a classic travel hack: grabbing a local SIM card as soon as you land.
Local SIMs and Modern eSIMs
The old-school approach is to buy a local SIM card at the airport or a nearby shop. This gets you a local number and access to that country's domestic data rates, which are almost always a fraction of the cost of roaming. It's a good choice for longer stays in one spot, but it does mean physically swapping out your Aussie SIM and juggling a new number.
The modern, slicker version is the travel eSIM. An eSIM, or embedded SIM, is a digital SIM that lets you activate a plan from a provider without a physical card. You can purchase and set up an eSIM for your destination before you even pack your bags, giving you data connectivity the second your plane touches down. It's convenient and often cheaper than paying for a daily roaming pack.
VoIP calls with CallSky
Getting cheap data is one thing, but what about making actual phone calls to landlines and mobiles? This is where Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services really shine.
VoIP lets you make phone calls using an internet connection (hotel Wi-Fi, your eSIM's data) instead of a mobile network. It sidesteps roaming call charges entirely.
A great example of this in action is CallSky, a service for cheap international calls. Rather than paying steep per-minute roaming rates, you use CallSky over any internet connection to dial landlines and mobiles in over 180 countries. Rates start from $0.02 per minute.
For business travellers calling clients or anyone phoning home to chat with family, the savings add up fast. You can learn more about how to find the best app for Wi-Fi calling to understand what makes these services so powerful.
Cost Comparison: Roaming Vs. VoIP (10-Minute Call to a UK Landline)
Let's put this into perspective. Imagine you need to call a UK landline from Australia. With Optus Pay-As-You-Go rates, this could be costly. With a VoIP service like CallSky, the same call would cost just a few cents per minute. The savings are even more dramatic when compared to roaming call charges from overseas.
| Service | Per-Minute Rate | Total Cost For 10 Mins |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Roaming (PAYG) | ~$1.50 AUD | ~$15.00 AUD |
| CallSky (VoIP over Wi-Fi) | ~$0.02 AUD | ~$0.20 AUD |
For anyone making regular or long calls while abroad, combining a local data solution like an eSIM with a VoIP service like CallSky is the most cost-effective way to stay in touch.
Finding the Right Connectivity Plan for Your Trip
Let's be honest, there's no single magic bullet for staying connected when you're overseas. The best option really boils down to your travel style, where you're headed, and what your budget looks like. By figuring out what you actually need, you can sidestep the expensive traps and find the perfect mix of convenience and cost-effectiveness.
To make it easier, let's look at a few common Aussie traveller types. See which one sounds most like you, and you'll get a much clearer idea of what will work for your next adventure.
Traveller Profiles and Recommendations
The secret to saving money is matching your connectivity plan to your trip. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works, so a little planning before you go can make a big difference.
The Two-Week Holidaymaker: Heading to a popular spot like Bali, NZ, Thailand, the UK, or the USA for a couple of weeks? If you're staying in a Zone 1 country, the Optus Travel™ Daily Pass is tough to beat for sheer simplicity. For just $5 a day, you land, turn on your phone, and you're good to go with your own number and plenty of data. No fuss, no drama.
The Long-Term Backpacker: If you're spending months bouncing between countries on a shoestring budget, you'll want a more hybrid approach. A local data SIM or a travel eSIM will almost always give you the cheapest data rates. For calling home, skip the pricey per-minute charges and use a VoIP service like CallSky over Wi-Fi. The calls cost next to nothing.
The Business Traveller: When you're travelling for work, reliable communication is important. Optus roaming is a simple fix, but if you need to manage team costs and want more control, a service like CallSky is a smarter move. It gives you predictable pricing and features built specifically for business needs.
The real trick is finding that sweet spot between convenience and cost. For a short getaway, the ease of a roaming pack is often worth the price. But for longer journeys, you'll be glad you took a few minutes to explore the more budget-friendly local options.
And remember, smart connectivity is just one piece of the puzzle. You can stretch your holiday budget even further by checking out discount travel websites for unbeatable savings. By combining a savvy phone plan with other travel hacks, you can spend your money on memories, not phone bills.
Got Questions About Optus Roaming? We've Got Answers.
Heading overseas can be a whirlwind of planning, and it's easy for questions about your phone to pop up at the last minute. Let's clear up some of the most common queries we hear from Aussie travellers.
Does Optus Roaming Turn On By Itself?
Nope, it doesn't. You need to give it the green light before you leave. If you're on a postpaid plan, you'll have to manually switch on International Roaming through the My Optus app.
A daily travel pass charge only kicks in on days you actually use your phone—that means making a call, sending a text, or using data in a Zone 1 country. No usage, no charge.
What Happens If I Go Somewhere Outside of Zone 1?
This is a big one to watch out for. If your travels take you to a 'Zone 2' country or somewhere Optus doesn't have a specific agreement, the $5 Daily Pass won't cover you.
Instead, you'll be hit with much steeper pay-as-you-go rates for every call, text, and megabyte of data. Always, always check the official Optus destination list before you fly to see which zone your destination falls into.
Can I Roam with an Optus Prepaid Plan?
You absolutely can, but it works a bit differently. Prepaid customers need to buy a specific roaming add-on before they can get connected overseas.
These add-ons give you a fixed amount of data, calls, and texts that last for a set time (like 14 days), completely separate from the postpaid daily deal.
The most important thing here is a little prep work. Spending just a couple of minutes in the My Optus app before you head to the airport can save a lot of headaches so you're connected from the moment you touch down.
CallSky connects you to landlines and mobiles in over 180 countries from $0.02 per minute, no subscription needed. Try CallSky with your first $5 credit.