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Optus Month-to-Month 150GB, 5GB International Roaming, Unlimited Text & Calls - $79 Per Month, Bonus 20,000 Qantas Points

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Hey all,

I recently was looking for a roaming plan as I am travelling internationally this year. Was considering the Vodafone plans and using the $5 per day roaming package (cheapest for a month travel would be $40 + $150 = $190), however stumbled across the Qantas/Optus $79 per month plan (month to month, no lock in). Additional bonus of no limit on the days you can be spent overseas, whereas on Vodafone it is a max of 90 days.

Most of Europe + North America is in Zone 1, but the full county list can be found here: Zone 1 Countries, click All Eligible Destinations.

This plan includes:

  • Unlimited talk & text within Australia (pretty standard on any phone plan these days)
  • 150GB Data, slowed down to 1.5Mbps after using allocation.
  • ROAMING 5GB and unlimited text + calls in Zone 1 countries PER MONTH

Bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer Points up to 20,000 (paid in 5,000 increments every 3 months connected) + 10 Points per $1 spent on plan (790 points per month).

You must be a Qantas Frequent Flyer member to join, if not a member DO NOT PAY THE JOINING FEE, use this Method

This plan is perfect if you are a frequent traveller but want to keep your own number and not use a local sim. 5GB isn't a massive amount but Wi-Fi is plentiful these days in tourist destinations. 5GB is enough to get you out of a sticky situation if you've got no Wi-Fi and need to use maps or a web search.

Critical Information Summary

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Comments

  • +2

    Pretty decent option, especially if you are travelling outside the 40 countries offered by Felix mobile.

    • Agreed. 100 destinations vs 40.

    • Had similar plans a few years ago, albeit with 60GB data, that costed about $49

  • This is a good deal for travelling IMO if you want to keep your local number. Includes many more intentional roaming destinations in comparison to Boost/Felix etc. You can call back to Australia for as long as you want in the included value and you get 5GB of data for overseas use. Got this for my parents last time they went overseas for simplicity.

    When you get back home just port to a cheaper local plan.

    More info-

    International roaming calls, text and data
    If you have the $79 plan you can use the included roaming
    value while overseas for standard national talk and text
    (excludes MMS) in Zone 1 destinations and to Australia, as
    well as your amount of roaming data for use in Zone 1
    destinations. Select destinations are subject to change, see
    current list at optus.com.au/zone1 See section ‘Using your
    service overseas’ below for additional informatio

    and

    If you have the $79 plan, you can only use your included
    international roaming inclusions in Zone 1 destinations
    (subject to change). You cannot make use of your international
    roaming value in any destinations not included in the Zone 1
    destinations (listed at optus.com.au/zone1). You can only make/
    receive calls and SMS to/from numbers within the destination
    that you are roaming in or back home to/from Australia.

  • You can cancel this after one month right?

    • Correct.

      • Wonder if they have esim.

        • +1

          Yes, all Optus services have eSIM

    • That's correct, no minimum contract length so you can cancel after a month and only pay $79. Just be wary of credit checks, I think because it is a post-paid plan they might do one.

    • +7

      Yes, but you don't get all the points at once.

      Bonus Qantas Points will be awarded in installments of 5,000 points at the end of month 3, month 6, month 9 and month 12 after your service activation date if you stay continuously connected, up to a maximum total of 20,000 bonus points. Qantas Points may take up to 7 days from date of eligibility to appear in your account.

      You'll need to stick around for 12 months for all the points.

    • +1

      @nighttelves
      Yes you can, but wont get any bonus points,

  • I am looking for a plan just for SMS , on an esim, for a local Aus plan but I only need SMS. If I travel I can still get SMS for stupid bank, government etc 2FA

    but use the local SIM plans with a SIM card when I am in whatever country. Any ideas ? I have no need of data etc, friends etc use IP for voice or video calls anyway

    • +1

      See if for a discussion already on the topic SMS receiving SIM overseas

    • Doesn't the bank your with have push notifications?

      Safer and cheaper option if available.

    • +1

      I don’t think you’re charged for receiving SMS while roaming overseas (good idea to double check with your carrier though).

      All you need is international roaming enabled on your mobile service.

      Just make sure you don’t make or answer any calls using your Aussie eSIM while abroad and you’re good to go…

      • Careful with this. You may still be charged if your phone rings whilst overseas, even if you don't answer it.

        • +2

          You'll be charged if your phone rings and it then diverts to voicemail. You won't be charged for it ringing if there's no answer/diversion.

          If you set your account with an unconditional divert to voicemail it won't ring and all calls will go to voicemail. There is no roaming change for this.
          You'll then get a message if you have a voicemail, or if someone doesn't leave a message (if you have the notification message enabled)

    • Vodafone has a 12 month prepaid option for $40 that would do what you want within Australia.

      I don't know if it will work overseas or if you need to buy a roaming add-on, bit might be worth a look on case it work without an add-on.

    • +1

      @ruprectaus get amaysim prepaid(optus network). Receiving sms is free on international roaming. Check their website for country details and stuff.

  • +1

    Bonus Qantas Points will be earned in installments of 5,000 points at the end of month 3 and month 6 from service activation date if you stay continuously connected, up to the maximum total of bonus points offered.

  • For the full 20k points, you need to stick around for 12 months. You only get the next lot of 5k points every 3 months.

    Bonus Qantas Points will be awarded in installments of 5,000 points at the end of month 3, month 6, month 9 and month 12 after your service activation date if you stay continuously connected, up to a maximum total of 20,000 bonus points. Qantas Points may take up to 7 days from date of eligibility to appear in your account.

    • Are 20,000 QFF Points worth anything these days?

      • $200-$400 worth if you are booking Qantas Classic Rewards flights. Return flights between Melbourne and Sydney.

  • +2

    I used to have the Optus One plan for 2 years which was 500gb local & 10gb Roaming in Zone 1 for $65p/m. It was a promo plan at the time but I can't find anything comparable to replace it, this is the closest I've seen but the allowances are much lower and not useful for the price. Plans with included roaming seemed to miraculously disappear during covid & never return…

    • Used to have the same plane. Doubt they’ll ever bring that deal back again :(

    • +1

      I still have it, but they have jacked the price of my payments to about $115 a month. I keep it as i share the data with 2 other services.

      • Yeah same as what happened to me, I ended up porting out.

  • Any recommendations for a plan for Europe travel with more than 5GB per month allowance? UK, Greece, Spain, France planned and wondering what’s my best option, is their a sim option when I arrive in the UK possibly..

    • Giffgaff if you're starting in the UK first. They will deliver a sim to you here in Australia for free. All the plans include roaming in Europe. I usually get the unlimited plan to avoid worry.

      • Thanks! Am I reading right that their is a 5GB Euro data cap on their plans too?

        • +2

          Looks like they've lowered the cap recently. It used to be 20gb.

          The other option I sometimes use is Smarty which is usually better value, but the only issue is you need a UK address to deliver the SIM. They have a 12gb EU cap.

      • Nice callout, I've been thinking about the best solution for my upcoming trip in August. From how I read their T&Cs though, it looks like you only get 5GB included on the unlimited plan vs. the 'Always On' on that gives you 80GB?

        "If you have an Always On goodybag while roaming in the EU, our standard Always On rules apply, after you use up 80 GB of full speed data your speed will be reduced to 384kbps between 8am and midnight GMT. If you have, a goodybag with an unlimited UK data allowance, once you have used over 5 GB of data, you will be charged 10p/MB for the remainder of your goodybag."

        Confusingly, on their product page, it suggests that all plans (including those two mentioned) only get 5GB and you get charged beyond that. What's your experience been?

        EDIT: I just saw your reply, took too long to type this out haha.

        • +1

          The cap used to be 20gb until recently, I've used it in Europe plenty of times with no issues.

          On my most recent trip in October I used Smarty as their Unlimited plan is only £20 & includes 12gb EU roaming. Amazon UK sell their sims so maybe you could get one delivered to a locker for when you arrive or perhaps an address you might be staying?

          • @vodamerc: Smarty looks to be the go, can you just buy the SIM when you land from any old store?

            • @Ozymandias: I recently bought a travel Sim from Travelkon for $39, includes a month in EU including UK. Not bad value for $39

            • @Ozymandias: I'm not sure if it's stocked everywhere, but somewhere like Argos (which is massive) stocks them.

              If you end up having an address you can post to beforehand, order via Uswitch in true Ozbargain fashion to save some money!

    • +1

      I used Lyca Mobile while I was in Europe (and the UK) last year and it was great. Super cheap and with more data than I could use in a month (i think it was 100gb for $15-20 or something)

  • anyone have recommendations for new zealand travel? about 90 days and mainly just need data

    • +2

      It's your lucky day, I just went through this myself and di all the leg work. Short trips of < a week, get a "Skinny" Sim from the airport Spark shop and do the travel 7 day option, incl data, SMS, calls longer like yours, probably go for Nomad, I think it was $20 for 10gb, 30 days. Sims and data in NZ aren't cheap as Aus, those were the best I could find. Edit: tell Leeroy I said hi

      • Used redteago esim. V easy and reasonable cost.
        Check esim db

      • thanks mate!

    • +3

      In Queenstown airport in the duty free area there was a voda plan with 100gb for $80ish NZD. Normally it's $99 NZD. Spark is $129NZD for 100GB if you prefer that. You can get the travel pack from Christchurch airport or any spark store.

      For a secondary sim for other travellers with you I got the 2 degrees data clock sim. https://www.2degrees.nz/mobile-plans/prepay
      It's $19 NZD per month, 1.5GB per month but starts with a bonus 7.5GB in the data bank. The good part though is that every day you can activate 1 hour of unlimited data. You can use this to hotspot when you have to download/upload a lot (I did this a week ago). If you want further unlimited data you can buy it in hourly chunks. It's definitely not an ideal primary sim as it costs more over the long term. But for periods of intense data usage it works out way better

  • +3

    Don’t forget to tick the box that says “I do not consent to being hacked”

  • +1

    Vodafone roaming is actually better IMO. You only need to pay the $5 if you use data or make/receive a call on that day. Obviously if you’re popular and have incoming calls everyday then Optus would be better.

    • +1

      Yeah same for me. Would rarely make calls, all about data. It's also a shame Qantas points are awfully hard to use for a lot of classic reward redemptions especially premium/business class… which is arguably the best use and only reason i care about them.

    • Keep in mind that VoWifi doesn’t need roaming to make or receive calls overseas on some carriers. Telstra works perfectly fine to take calls over VoWifi and even using an eSIM with data. The days of paying for roaming (as opposed to data) should be over.

      • The days of paying for roaming (as opposed to data) should be over.

        Ignoring that carriers make a good profit from roaming.

        It's much easier to change $x/minute for roaming (even if it's a VoLTE call) compared to something like "$y/MB. The average VoLTE call uses 0.5MB data per minute"

  • +3

    Optus has plans with unlimited international calls but extra for roaming. This one has roaming included but no international calls…

  • +2

    Consider your frequency of travel. The included roaming drew me to those plans, but I actually ended up going the Qantas $39 plan (4G only) and just buying the $35/7 day/15GB roaming add-on pack for when I am actually overseas. It works out more economically and get way more data when travelling.

    Two caveats of all these plans:
    1. There is no outbound international calling or SMS from Australia without buying an expensive add-on pack. No option to pay casual rates (e.g. 10c/min or whatever) I tried to call a place in NZ in the lead up to a recent trip and kept getting cryptic "temporarily unavailable" messages.
    2. When I was in Japan, my data appeared to be tunneling back through Australia. Maybe good for accessing banking apps etc. but the latency sucked especially for accessing local sites which made the phone quite unresponsive - pings around 400ms.

    • +1

      No option to pay casual rates (e.g. 10c/min or whatever) I tried to call a place in NZ in the lead up to a recent trip and kept getting cryptic "temporarily unavailable" messages.

      Yes, Telstra started this, and Optus has followed - it's all "subscription" based so you can't rack up excess charges or any "pay as you go" charges - whether that be international calls, sex hotlines or trying to use your phone overseas. Have to pay in advance, and you essentially always pay the same amount. Nothing on top.

      When I was in Japan, my data appeared to be tunneling back through Australia. Maybe good for accessing banking apps etc. but the latency sucked especially for accessing local sites which made the phone quite unresponsive - pings around 400ms.

      Sadly this is just how roaming works. For best speeds, you need a local SIM else all your data will tunnel back through your original carrier.

  • +1

    Two words: WiFi calling.

    • +1

      That's actually one acronym and one word…

      But what if you don't have WiFi?

      • +1

        Actually, WiFi is not an acronym or an abbreviation and doesn't actually mean wireless fidelity, contrary to popular belief. It's meaning in a sentence is defined as a word in the dictionary as well..so..yeah.

        If you don't have WiFi and absolutely need to be reached at all times while you're abroad, then obviously WiFi calling isn't going to work for you. But for someone who just needs to check their sms and makes calls occasionally while abroad like myself, WiFi calling has been a game changer and has saved me so much money.

        • VoWifi can also work over cellular data. Use a second local data sim and you’re sorted. Works for me on iPhone without any fuss.

  • I have a plan with 10gb optus roaming but note that it doesn't guarantee usable service. In the Philippines i still bought a local sim as i was getting 2G speeds at best.

  • +2

    don't forget Optus will give a bonus refund when they well your data overseas. enjoy!

  • +4

    I don't think this is a very good deal for the following reasons:

    1. Optus is scum.

    2. Optus has previously offered plans with 60,000 Qantas points that you didn't have to wait a whole year to receive.

    3. 5GB monthly allowance is nothing. You'll burn through that in no time.

    4. There are many cheaper options for data while travelling such as Airalo or, my personal favourite for travel in the EU, Orange Poland which gives you 15gb of EU-wide data for free if you cancel before the first month ends.

    • +2

      The Orang Poland deal isn't bad even if you pay full price. Something like $24 from memory and the app and setup process was easy. The only tricky part is you have to cancel quite a few days before the month ends otherwise you'll get charged for the coming month.

      Also agree with the airalo option for when you're travelling across multiple regions. Esims all the way. I'm done with buying local physical sims.

  • +2

    extra freebie, get your personal information hacked and Optus will do nothing about it. But hey QaNTaS PoiNTs

  • +4

    Still on the old $40 80GB, unlimited international calls & 4GB roaming, gone are the good days

    • +1

      Nice plan.

    • +1

      Yeh I have this too. Such a shame there's nothing close to it anymore as I wanted to get the whole fam on something similar given we travel a fair bit. They're going to have to take this plan from my cold dead fingers

      • lol, same not leaving unless the price goes up as cant find any better roaming plan, realistically Im paying way to much a month for everyday use, but to have the roaming option when travelling for a half decent price its worth it

      • Optus are doing this to me at the moment, they sent an email saying we're changing your $50 plan with roaming included to a $49 plan that has no roaming included. Went on chat and they refused to budge and won't even let me change to this $79 Qantas plan.

    • Same here, holding on to it with my dear life, even with the recent data breach… Also have few data SIM sharing the 80GB data on few devices, now that was a great promo that will never be offered again.

    • Holy shit that one is good!!! I'm on $50 for 80gb and 1gb roaming. I thought mine was decent…

  • +2

    This plan has been around quite a while. I got this plan last year July. I travelled south east Asia and Europe with it. The internet speed is like 2G not even 3G. Calls cut off quite often. There is no way you can have a 5 minutes conversation on the phone. Someone works in mobile carrier industry told me that Optus might have very limited bandwidth agreement with international carriers due to cost. That's way the quality was very bad. It was waste of my money getting on this plan before flying out the country. Another issue happened that I wanted to switch over to boost after returning. When boost is requesting my number from the optus, they reject the request without any reason. I am not sure it's about I got this plan from Quantas but I never had an issue transferring my number from optus in the past. I am still on this plan though , seems like I stucked in this plan. I have been waiting it to be resolved nearly 2 months. That's my experience about the plan, just wanted share with you all.

    • +1

      You must have had bad luck, I used it recently in Thailand, Malaysia no drop outs, no issue with internet speed, not sure if it makes a difference my plan is direct through Optus & yours is through the qantas/Optus

  • +2

    My partner and I both used our included international roaming from Optus when we were in the States in April and it was atrocious. If it worked (1 in 4 chance at best even in major cities with excellent coverage), it was very slow bordering on useless. We wanted to keep our Australian numbers because we were both working but it would have been better to get a local SIM and just use WhatsApp or something.

    • +1

      in the States in April and it was atrocious. If it worked (1 in 4 chance at best even in major cities with excellent coverage), it was very slow bordering on useless

      Sounds like typical American phone service really.

  • -1

    Hard to beat Telstra air, that's free.

    Make this $29.95 and you'll be forgiven for next 6 months otherwise 🖕

  • I have the optus postpaid plan for last 6 years with all listed inclusions+unlimited international call/text as well and i pay $50 a month.Not sure whether they still have the same plan these days. I do international travel alot for my business and optus roaming is not very good. Most of the time it will have connection issues.tried in many countries in all these years

  • Can’t believe I’m saying this but Telstra has the best value here because they don’t geoblock Wifi Calling.

    Use it in conjunction with a local data only sim on your dual sim phone and talk/text as much as your plan includes (for me it’s unlimited)

    Roaming is so much more expensive, slower, with poor coverage and dependant on the roaming agreements between your carrier and the local provider.

  • -4

    Just a reminder that Optus let your personal identifying data get stolen, and they don't care.
    ~"we're sorryyyyyy".

  • Roaming but as for the 69 dollars for 500gb 5g it would be nice to get half that for plaine or train time

  • Still no international call!!!

  • Optus…no thanks

  • Tried signing up, wouldn't auto validate so got redirected to chat with an optus 'Expert', they couldn't find the 79$ Qantas plan in the system and said need to call up instead then proceeded to try to get me onto one of their crappy plans which charge $5 a day for international data roaming.

  • +1

    :(

    From 12 April 2024 Qantas Frequent Flyer members can no longer sign up to aQantas SIM Only Plan by Optus.
    Existing Qantas SIM Only Plan customers will continue to earn Qantas Points for a period of 12 months after 11 April 2024.

    • Just updated the deal - shame as it was a pretty solid roaming plan.

      “From 12 April 2024 Qantas Frequent Flyer members can no longer sign up to aQantas SIM Only Plan by Optus.
      Existing Qantas SIM Only Plan customers will continue to earn Qantas Points for a period of 12 months after 11 April 2024.”

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