Optus roaming: A$5 a day, A$10 a day, or a prepaid add-on

What does Optus roaming cost?

Optus roaming has three price points, and which one you get depends entirely on your plan. On Choice Plus plans it is Optus Daily Roaming: A$5 for 5GB of data in 24 hours, plus unlimited standard talk and text. On other selected postpaid plans it is the A$10 Optus Roaming Pass, with 1GB. On prepaid there is no daily charge; you buy an add-on, from A$5.

We read Optus's roaming pages on 10 November 2026. This is desk research from Optus's own site, not a test. Earlier, the Optus site would not load for us; our Optus page for visitors was written then.

Optus Daily Roaming: the A$5 option

This is the good one, and it is tied to the plan. Optus says Daily Roaming comes on Optus Choice Plus, Optus Plus Family and Optus Plus Promo plans. What you get:

• 5GB of data to use within 24 hours, for A$5;
• unlimited standard talk and text in Zone 1 destinations;
• if you use the 5GB, Optus adds another 5GB for another A$5 automatically;
• use on select partner airlines in flight, through Aeromobile.

It switches itself on. Optus says the add-on activates on first use of talk, text or data while overseas, and the charge is taken upfront from your account's direct debit. The only off switch Optus describes is aeroplane mode, or turning the Optus SIM off on a dual SIM phone. You don't need to cancel anything when you get home. A Fair Go Policy applies.

Zone 1 has 150+ destinations on Optus's list, including New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Fiji, the US, Canada and the UK. If your destination is Zone 2, Optus's own answer is blunt: you won't be able to roam on Daily Roaming, and should use Wi-Fi.

The A$10 Optus Roaming Pass

Not on Choice Plus? Optus offers selected postpaid customers a A$10 Roaming Pass: 1GB of data and unlimited national talk and text for 24 hours. On plans that already include roaming, the pass kicks in once those inclusions run out. You turn it on in the My Optus app under the plan's international roaming settings.

One inconsistency. The main roaming page says the pass covers over 150 Zone 1 destinations; the FAQ on the same page says over 100. We could not tell which is current, so check the destination list before you rely on it.

Without either option, Optus's standard roaming rates apply on selected postpaid plans: A$1 per MB of data in Zone 1 and Zone 2, and A$2 per MB on ships and planes. A$1 per MB is A$1,000 a gigabyte. Data roaming off is the right default on any line without a pass; our data roaming guide shows the settings.

Optus prepaid roaming add-ons

Optus prepaid roaming is turned on by default, but you can only use it with an add-on. Optus lists four, all for Zone 1 only:

You need an active standard recharge to buy one, unless you are on Optus Flex Plus Traveller. Optus also says roaming must be enabled on the service before you buy, or the add-on won't connect to partner networks. Buy through the My Optus app.

Optus prepaid international roaming on a mobile broadband service is a separate product: an A$85 Travel Credit charged at A$0.50 per MB, with a 30-day expiry. At that rate A$85 buys about 170MB. We would not use it.

When is a travel eSIM cheaper than Optus roaming?

It depends which Optus customer you are. eSIM prices below are US dollars from our checked price files; Optus prices are Australian dollars.

Ten days in Japan:

On the A$10 Roaming Pass, the eSIM wins easily: for US$18 to cost more than A$100, the Australian dollar would have to be below 18 US cents.

On Choice Plus, it's closer. Daily Roaming at A$50 for ten days gives a lot of data and keeps your number for calls. The 10GB eSIM is still cheaper unless the Australian dollar falls below 32 US cents (US$16 against A$50), but the saving is smaller. On a three-day trip, A$15 of Daily Roaming sits against Airalo's 3GB, 3-day Japan plan at US$7.50 (13 Aug 2026): a gap of a few dollars, and roaming keeps your number with no setup. A short trip on Choice Plus is the one case where we'd simply roam.

The prepaid A$25 add-on against Nomad's 5GB Japan plan (US$10) comes down to the exchange rate on the day; convert before you choose.

The eSIM plans we list are data plans, so you'd keep the Optus line for calls and SMS codes and switch its data roaming off. Check compatibility on our eSIM compatible phones list and compare per-gigabyte prices on the cheapest eSIM page.

Optus roaming against Telstra and Vodafone

At A$5 for 5GB, Optus Daily Roaming is the most data per dollar of the three networks' daily options we read. Telstra international roaming is A$10 a day for 2GB in Zone 2, and Vodafone international roaming is A$5 a day but uses your plan's own data. The Australia hub links the rest.