Telstra Pre-Paid: plans, how to recharge, and roaming packs for travel

What Telstra prepaid plans were listed on 10 November 2026?

Telstra calls it Pre-Paid. You buy a recharge, it lasts a set number of days, and unlimited standard national calls and texts are included. Telstra's offers and rates page showed these recharges when we read it. Most carry bonus data for the first three recharges, provided you activate by 15 February and make those recharges by 15 April.

Every recharge includes 100 international texts. The $64 and $74 recharges are eSIM only; on a physical SIM they cost $66 and $76 including the $2 SIM kit. Unused data rolls over, up to 200GB, when you recharge $15 to $74 before expiry.

Black Friday: Telstra's Pre-Paid page advertised a Black Friday sale ending 30 November 2026. The offers we saw were the $44 28-day recharge for $13, the 12-month recharge for $349 instead of $395, and a 6 Month Casual plan with 1GB for $13 instead of $44 on a physical SIM. All three were for new activations only. Some other offers on the page had end dates in October and early November that had already passed, so we have left them out.

This is desk research from Telstra's own pages. We have not bought or tested a Telstra Pre-Paid service.

How do you recharge Telstra prepaid?

Telstra lists four ways to recharge:

My Telstra app

open Services, pick your Pre-Paid service and choose Recharge Now

Telstra recharge online

go to recharge.telstra.com.au, enter your number, pick an amount and pay

Digital voucher

for selected recharges, emailed to you to use later

Auto recharge

set up in the My Telstra app, or in a browser through Manage Pre-Paid

Telstra Plus members earn 10 points per $1 on eligible recharges. To recharge a Telstra number from overseas, the app is the safest route; see the roaming section below for why you should update it before you leave.

How do you get a Telstra prepaid SIM card?

The cheapest way into a Telstra SIM card on Pre-Paid is the $2 Pre-Paid SIM+ Kit, which needs any recharge on top to activate. The Telstra prepaid SIM itself carries no allowance until you add one of the recharges above, and you can pick any of them. If your phone supports eSIM you can skip the kit and activate without waiting for a SIM; to check, dial *#06# and look for a 32-digit EID. Telstra warns that phones bought overseas may not be compatible. If you are visiting Australia rather than living here, our Telstra guide covers the network and its other SIM options.

Can you use Telstra prepaid overseas?

Yes, but only with a Pre-Paid International Roaming pack. Telstra says you won't be charged any pay-as-you-go rates to use your phone overseas; in a destination without packs, your service simply will not roam, so you need Wi-Fi or a local SIM.

Call minutes cover incoming and outgoing calls. Packs work in 38 destinations, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore and India. Unused allowances do not roll over, auto recharge is not available, and Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband is not eligible. You can hold several packs at once; the one expiring soonest is used first.

Do not buy a pack before you fly. Telstra says packs activate on purchase. The easiest way is the My Telstra app once you land: Services, your Pre-Paid service, Extras, International Roaming Packs. Update the app before you leave, as Telstra says it cannot be downloaded overseas. Alternatively, switch off Wi-Fi so the phone joins a local network and buy through the recharge site. Telstra also lists a phone option using a voucher bought in advance.

Post-paid Telstra customers have a different system, the International Day Pass, which our Telstra international roaming guide covers.

When is a travel eSIM cheaper than a Telstra Pre-Paid roaming pack?

For anything over light use, often. The 14 Day pack gives 4GB for $25. Our verified prices, read on each seller's site in August 2026:

That is two and a half times the data for a similar or lower price. The Telstra pack is better when you want calls on your Australian number, or on a three-day trip where 400MB for $10 is enough. Fiji is a case where Telstra holds up: Airalo's 5GB over 7 days was US$28 there, against $15 for 2GB on Telstra's 7 Day pack. See our Fiji guide and the cheapest eSIM table.

If you combine the two, keep the Telstra line for calls and texts and turn its data roaming off. Our data roaming guide shows how.