Receiving Calls and SMS While Abroad

danjerman on 05/05/2023 - 14:39

Hi, My son is going on a long-ish trip to South-East Asia, Europe and possibly North America (3 months +). We tend to buy pre-paid SIMs with 365 day expiry when here in Australia. His is due for renewal soon and I wanted to ask about receiving calls and SMS while abroad if he hasn't bought a roaming pack. I will advise him to buy a local SIM in each place he goes to for making calls, sending SMS and data. He can put dual SIMs in his phone so we'd want him to be able to continue to receive calls and texts on his Aussie number without incurring any charges.

Does this work? If so, is it all carriers or just some that permit this? We tend to buy Boost Mobile ro any other good deals that come up on Ozbargain normally.

Thanks
danjerman

Mobile

Comments

  • Love a bargain on 05/05/2023 - 15:28

    Receiving sms is always free.
    Receiving calls overseas requires roaming (either with a roaming pack or PAYG) unless you've got something like wifi calling (from say telstra). Not sure if it'll work with data using a second sim on the same device though.

  • YadaYadaYada on 05/05/2023 - 15:36
    +1

    Can you just install an app and use that to make calls, eg skype, whatsapp etc? This way you just use data that you can get from local sims.

    • OMGJL on 05/05/2023 - 15:40

      what if you want to receive a verification sms?

      • djkelly69 on 05/05/2023 - 16:26
        +2

        You can still receive SMS on your Aus sim (for free).

        • OMGJL on 05/05/2023 - 16:31

          I am planning to travel abroad for the entire June, and my Amaysim plan will be expiring on 10th June.

          I wonder if I can just leave it expired for the rest of the month while abroad? Can I still receive SMS on a expired SIM?

          • djkelly69 on 05/05/2023 - 16:36

            @OMGJL: Yeah I don't think that will work. Just like in Aus, you would need to have an active sim to get SMS.

            Surely you can just move it to one of their cheap monthly plans, or just reload for your normal plan and use it when you get back?

            • OMGJL on 05/05/2023 - 16:39

              @djkelly69: In Aus you can keep receiving SMS/calls (no outbound though) on a expired SIM, until the SIM actually get terminated in 6 month ish when you don't recharge it at all.

              Wonder if this apply to overseas too…

          • ozprash on 05/05/2023 - 18:29
            +1

            @OMGJL: It might work since Amaysim keeps SMS and incoming calls active on expired SIM for 12 months (90 days on other carriers).
            You can move to their PAYG plan (so you don't pay anything unless you make/receive calls and send SMS) and receiving overseas SMS would still be free. But you would need to enable the plan while in Aus.

            • bargainr on 06/05/2023 - 01:35

              @ozprash: +1 for Amaysim, they now have a global roaming add on option that includes data, etc. with 365 expiry. I'd still do a local SIM, but if you need your Australian number for the occasional banking authentication SMS or for family members to call, it's a good backup.

          • Love a bargain on 06/05/2023 - 17:27

            @OMGJL: Yes. If you would have been able to receive an SMS in Australia, you'll be able to receive it overseas (for free).

  • OMGJL on 05/05/2023 - 15:41
    -3

    in the same boat, want to know the same, please reply me if there's an answer. Thanks in advance

    • AustriaBargain on 05/05/2023 - 21:42

      You could just bookmark this thread.

      • OMGJL on 06/05/2023 - 00:06

        thanks, wasn't aware of this feature, noted for future.

  • Gratt on 05/05/2023 - 20:06

    VOWIFI may allow calls to be made and received using an Australian Sim overseas. My experience was that in a dual Sim phone it would not work whilst the overseas Sim was active. In order to use it I had to disable the Overseas Sim and connect to a local wifi service. It also worked if I put the overseas Sim in a separate phone and created a data hotspot with it. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to work if both sims were active in my dual Sim (poco brand) phone.

  • vodamerc on 05/05/2023 - 20:14
    +1

    I pay 35 cents a month for an Australian Landline number voip line. I then forward my mobile calls to that number when overseas. Crazytel

  • SouthernCross on 06/05/2023 - 09:05

    I was able to receive Boost SMS messages overseas in November-December 2022 via wifi calling. Boost tells me this is no longer possible as they have since introduced roaming plans, but their roaming plans are limited, poor value, and not useful for a long trip.

    I've phoned/chatted with several other carriers that say customers can't receive texts overseas unless they buy roaming plans.

    Telstra is the only one I've found that definitely allows wifi calling overseas without a roaming plan. While I'd rather stay with Boost, I'm thinking of moving to Telstra's 'prepaid mobile casual' plan for the time I'm abroad, just so I can rely on wifi calling to receive 2FA messages while abroad.

  • SouthernCross on 06/05/2023 - 09:06

    Has anyone been able to get Boost wifi calling overseas in April-May 2023? Despite what Boost told me (see my comment above), someone on another thread here says it worked for them in April this year.

    • bxox0000 on 08/05/2023 - 02:48

      Can confirm it works for me both sms and calls on Boost in April and till now. Have been overseas for a few weeks. So far so good.

  • unity1 on 23/05/2023 - 20:52

    Kids are on the $200 boost prepaid plan. They will be taking their phones overseas just to use on wifi. Is there anything they could do accidentally that would cause them to rack up international charges and could we in anyway end up with out of pocket expenses?

    • Love a bargain on 24/05/2023 - 16:53
      +1

      When you're on prepaid, you can't spend more than what you've put in.

      • unity1 on 24/05/2023 - 19:05

        That's good to know. Kids tend to fiddle around and muck stuff up. If they somehow use all their credit accidentally they will just have to wait till they get home and organise another sim.

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