Telstra international roaming: what the Day Pass and Pre-Paid packs cost

How much is Telstra international roaming?

On a Telstra postpaid (Upfront) plan, Telstra international roaming runs on the International Day Pass: A$5 a day in Zone 1 and A$10 a day in Zone 2. Both give you 2GB of data that day plus unlimited standard calls and SMS. Pre-Paid customers can't use the Day Pass; they buy a fixed travel pack instead, from A$10 for three days.

We read Telstra's roaming pages on 10 November 2026. This is desk research from Telstra's own site, not a test of the service. For the same SIM bought by visitors to Australia, see our Telstra page.

Telstra international roaming zones and Day Pass prices

Japan, the US and the UK sit in Zone 2. So Telstra roaming in New Zealand is the cheap case at A$5 a day, and Telstra roaming in Japan costs double that.

A few rules decide what you actually pay:

• You are charged only on days you use the phone overseas. Making or receiving a call, sending an SMS or using data counts, and Telstra says background data counts too. Receiving an SMS does not.
• The day ends at different times. On Upfront plans a pass lasts 24 hours from first use. On other plans it ends at 11:59pm AEST, whatever the local time where you are. Unused data expires at the end of each day.
• Run out and you buy more. A Data Top-Up is A$10 for 2GB, valid 31 days. Upfront customers get an SMS offer; on other plans Telstra adds it automatically.
• The Premium Upfront plan includes five Day Passes a month. After those, the normal daily charge applies.
• Planes and cruise ships are excluded. Ships use satellite networks, and Telstra lists airline services separately at A$5.

Turn the Day Pass on in My Telstra (your service, then Extras, then International Roaming). Telstra says it can take up to two hours, so do it before you fly.

One caution. Telstra's Day Pass critical information summary, read the same day, agrees on A$5 and A$10 and 2GB a day, but also mentions 200MB and 500MB blocks for A$10 in another section. We could not reconcile the two. The main roaming page is the one we follow here.

What does Telstra charge without a Day Pass?

Pay-as-you-go roaming data is A$3 per MB. That is A$3,000 for a gigabyte, so this is the bill you are avoiding, not an option. SMS cost 75c each, and calls are priced per minute by country: Telstra lists A$1.50 in New Zealand, A$2.00 in the UK and A$3.00 in Japan and the US. If you are going somewhere outside the Day Pass list, turn data roaming off and use Wi-Fi; our data roaming guide shows where the switch is.

Telstra Pre-Paid international roaming packs

Telstra roaming on Pre-Paid works differently. There is no daily charge and no pay-as-you-go fallback: you buy a pack, and without one your phone simply won't roam.

The catch is timing. A pack starts the moment you buy it, so Telstra tells you to wait until you are overseas. The easiest way to buy is the My Telstra app, and Telstra warns that the app can't be downloaded outside Australia, so install it before you leave. The packs work in 38 listed destinations, including New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, the US and the UK. Anywhere else, it's Wi-Fi or a local SIM.

When is a travel eSIM cheaper than Telstra international roaming?

On most trips longer than a few days, if all you need is data. The eSIM prices below are US dollars, taken from our checked price files (dates in brackets); Telstra's are Australian dollars.

Ten days in Japan:

The Day Pass gives more total data, but a gigabyte you don't use by midnight is gone. For the US$16 Nomad plan to cost more than A$100, the Australian dollar would have to fall below 16 US cents. It won't.

The crossover comes early. By day four the Zone 2 pass has cost A$40; Airalo's 10GB Japan plan only loses if the Australian dollar is below 45 US cents.

A week in New Zealand is closer. Seven Zone 1 days come to A$35. Nomad's New Zealand 5GB plan was US$13 and Airalo's 5GB, 7-day plan US$13 (both checked August 2026). The eSIM still wins on price, but by less, and the Day Pass keeps your number for calls.

That is the honest trade. Roaming keeps your Australian number working for calls and texts without any setup. The eSIM plans we list are data plans, so you'd keep your Telstra line for SMS codes and switch its data roaming off. Check your phone first on our eSIM compatible phones list, then compare per-gigabyte prices on the cheapest eSIM page.

Telstra or the other networks overseas?

Telstra's A$10 for 2GB in Zone 2 is not the cheapest daily rate among the big three. Optus roaming charges A$5 for 5GB a day on its Choice Plus plans (other Optus postpaid plans pay A$10 for 1GB), and Vodafone international roaming is A$5 a day on top of your plan's own data. If you rely on Telstra international roaming and are away for more than a few days, a travel eSIM is the obvious saving. If you are only crossing to New Zealand for a long weekend, the A$5 pass is hard to fault for convenience.

For US carriers' equivalents, see our international roaming plans page. The Australia hub has everything else.