Which eSIMReal eSIM prices for Australian travellers

Travel eSIM vs Telstra, Optus and Vodafone roaming

Every price read by hand from the provider's own pagePrices checked 4 October 2026Telstra, Optus and VodafoneHow we check prices

The short answer

Telstra charges $10 a day to roam in Japan, Europe and Bali. Optus and Vodafone charge $5 a day for the same destinations. A week is A$70 on Telstra and A$35 on the other two. The lowest listed 5 GB week we hold for Japan is A$14.50. So the pass costs more from day 2 on Telstra and from day 3 on Optus or Vodafone, and it carries calls, texts and more data.

Those are the rates for the three destinations this site covers. The rest of this page is the detail that changes the answer: which zone you are in, how long you are going for, and whether you need your own number to ring.

Zone 1 does not mean the same thing twice

This is the trap, and it is worth thirty seconds. The carriers all use the word zone and none of them means the same thing by it, so a zone number read across two carriers will send you to the wrong rate.

Telstra's Zone 1 is small and cheap: New Zealand and six Oceania destinations at $5 a day. Everywhere else people actually fly is Zone 2 at $10 a day, which is where Japan, Indonesia and every European country on the list sit.

Optus runs the other way round. Its Zone 1 is the whole roaming area, 150 or more destinations at $5 a day, Japan and Indonesia and Europe included. A destination Optus files under Zone 2 has no pass at all: its page says you "won't be able to use roaming on your service" there.

Vodafone publishes no zones. One flat $5 a day across the destinations on its list, and its pass spends your own plan data rather than an allowance of its own.

What each carrier charges, and what the same trip costs on an eSIM

The four pass rates the three carriers publish, multiplied out over a one week and a three week trip, with the lowest listed 5 GB eSIM plan that lasts the same trip underneath.

Roaming passes and eSIM plans over the same trip
What you buyA dayData includedOne weekThree weeks
Telstra Day Pass, Zone 1New Zealand and six Oceania destinations: Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa (Western), Tonga and Vanuatu$52GB a dayA$35.00A$105.00
Telstra Day Pass, Zone 280+ destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Japan, Indonesia and every European country on the list sit here$102GB a dayA$70.00A$210.00
Optus Daily Roaming, Zone 1150+ destinations, which Optus lists as its Zone 1. Japan, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy are all on it$55GB a dayA$35.00A$105.00
Vodafone $5 Roamingover 100 destinations on one flat rate with no zones. The list names Japan, Indonesia (includes Bali) and the European countries$5your own plan's included dataA$35.00A$105.00
Lowest listed 5 GB plan, JapanEvery Japan planBought once5 GBA$14.505 GB over 7 days, from AiraloNone listedno seller lists a 5 GB plan that runs three weeks here
Lowest listed 5 GB plan, EuropeEvery Europe planBought once5 GBA$27.005 GB over 7 days, from AiraloA$28.505 GB over 30 days, from Airalo
Lowest listed 5 GB plan, BaliEvery Bali planBought once5 GBA$17.505 GB over 7 days, from AiraloNone listedno seller lists a 5 GB plan that runs three weeks here

The daily rates and the data allowances are each carrier's own published figures. The week and three week columns are those rates multiplied out, which is ours. Telstra's Zone 1 rate is in the table for contrast: none of the three destinations on this site is in it. All three carrier pages loaded for us on the date in the sources below, so no carrier is missing from this table. The eSIM rows hold the data size fixed at 5 GB and take the lowest listed price, across every seller, for one that lasts the whole trip. That is the same rule every chart on this site uses, and fixing the size is what stops a destination being given a flattering plan.

Break even, destination by destination

The first whole day on which the running pass bill has passed a plan bought once. The plan is the lowest listed 5 GB plan in Australian dollars, across every seller, whose own validity covers the trip. It is the same plan each destination's own guide measures against, so these are the same days you will read there.

Where a daily pass passes a plan bought once
DestinationTripThe 5 GB plan it is measured againstOptus or Vodafone, $5 a dayTelstra Zone 2, $10 a day
JapanOne weekA$14.505 GB over 7 days, from AiraloDay 3Day 2
EuropeThree weeksA$28.505 GB over 30 days, from AiraloDay 6Day 3
BaliOne weekA$17.505 GB over 7 days, from AiraloDay 4Day 2

When the pass is the better choice

Four cases, and none of them is an edge case. This site exists to compare eSIM prices, and on each of these the published figures favour the pass.

  1. The trip is a day or two. On Optus or Vodafone, two days of roaming at $5 a day is A$10.00. On Telstra's Zone 2, one day of roaming at $10 a day is A$10.00. Both sit under A$14.50, the lowest listed price we hold for a 5 GB plan that lasts a week in Japan. On a trip that short the pass costs less and there is nothing to install.
  2. You are going to New Zealand or the Pacific. Telstra's Zone 1 rate is $5 a day with the same 2GB a day, covering New Zealand, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa (Western), Tonga and Vanuatu. We hold no eSIM prices for any of those destinations, so this page makes no comparison there and a blank stays a blank. What the arithmetic does say is that halving the rate roughly doubles the number of days a plan needs before it gets ahead.
  3. You need calls and texts on your own number. Every eSIM on this site is data only. All three passes keep your Australian number working: Telstra lists unlimited standard calls and unlimited SMS in every zone, Optus lists unlimited standard talk and text, and Vodafone lets you spend your plan's own call and text inclusions. Leave an Australian line switched on beside an eSIM with no pass on it and those calls fall to the carrier's standard roaming rates instead. If your bank sends one time codes by SMS, that is worth more than the daily rate.
  4. You want a big stated data allowance. Telstra's pass includes 2GB a day, which is 14GB over a week. Optus includes 5GB a day, which is 35GB, for A$35.00. The largest seven day plan with a number on it anywhere in our three guides is 10 GB. Two sellers also list an unlimited week, and those carry daily limits of their own, but if you want a stated allowance the pass holds more of it.

How to turn each pass on

Telstra: turn it on before you fly

  • Telstra's page says the Day Pass "can take up to 2 hours to activate, so do it before you fly".
  • In the My Telstra app, select your service, then Extras and International Roaming, and turn Day Pass on.
  • The pass then starts the moment the service is used overseas in an eligible destination. Unused data expires at the end of each day.
  • Running low is a Data Top-Up: "Buy 2GB for $10", valid 31 days, in Zones 1 and 2.

Optus: nothing to turn on

  • Optus's page says the "Roaming add-on is automatically activated in eligible destinations", so on an eligible plan there is no switch to find.
  • Optus names the eligible plans as Optus Choice Plus, Optus Plus Family and Optus Plus Promo. On anything else the pass is not available.
  • Go over the 5GB and Optus "will auto charge $5 for another 5GB data to use within 24 hours".
  • To stop it, Optus's page says to turn aeroplane mode on in your device settings.
  • Optus also still lists an older $10 Roaming Pass on selected postpaid plans, which carries 1GB rather than 5GB for the same 24 hours.

Vodafone: check it is already on

  • Vodafone's page says that if you signed up to a phone plan after 23 April 2014, "$5 Roaming will be activated by default. Otherwise, you'll need to opt in".
  • Check it in My Vodafone, which Vodafone calls the best way to activate and manage international roaming.
  • The pass spends your plan's own included Australian data rather than a separate allowance. Use it all and Vodafone will "add 1GB data for $5".
  • It is capped at 90 days a calendar year. Past that, Vodafone's Pay As You Go roaming rates apply.

Questions people ask

Does a travel eSIM always cost less than a roaming pass?

No. On a trip of a day or two the pass costs less than any eSIM plan we hold, because you are buying one or two days instead of a whole plan. On Telstra's Zone 1 rate the arithmetic turns much later than it does in Zone 2. And the pass carries calls, texts and a daily data allowance, which no eSIM on this site does.

Why does Telstra charge $10 a day for Japan when Optus charges $5?

They draw the map differently. Telstra puts Japan in Zone 2, which is its $10 a day rate. Optus puts Japan in the single roaming area it calls Zone 1, at $5 a day. Vodafone has no zones at all and charges $5 a day across the destinations on its list. Same country, three different rates, all three read from the carriers' own pages.

Are Telstra's and Optus's zone numbers the same thing?

No, and this is the easiest mistake to make on this subject. Telstra's Zone 1 is seven Oceania destinations at $5 a day and its Zone 2 is 80 or more destinations at $10. Optus's Zone 1 is its entire 150 destination roaming area at $5 a day, and a destination Optus puts in Zone 2 is one where it offers no roaming pass. Read the rate, not the number.

Can I run a roaming pass and a travel eSIM at the same time?

Yes, on separate lines, and the usual setup is the Australian line on for calls and texts with its data roaming off while the eSIM carries data. Be careful what triggers a pass, though. Telstra charges a Day Pass on any day the service is used overseas for calls, SMS or data, background data included, though it says receiving an SMS does not trigger one. Vodafone charges its $5 on days you make or receive a call, send an SMS or MMS, or use data. So taking one call on your Australian line can start a pass even with data roaming switched off.

What happens when the data on the pass runs out?

Each carrier sells more, on its own terms. Telstra's page offers a Data Top-Up, 2GB for $10, valid 31 days in Zones 1 and 2. Optus adds another 5GB for another $5 automatically and restarts the 24 hour clock. Vodafone adds 1GB for $5. Those are the carriers' own published figures.

Which carriers does this page not cover?

Only these three publish a daily roaming pass on their own consumer pages, so only these three are here. Resellers running on the same networks set their own roaming terms and we have not read them, so nothing on this page should be taken to describe one.

Sources

Prices checked 4 October 2026. They move, so check before you buy.

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