Global roaming: How to save when you travel

To avoid returning home to several thousand dollars in excess data charges, you'll want to explore your global roaming options before you travel. That's why we've put together this guide on how global roaming works and what you need to know to stay connected without paying a fortune.

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What are my options?

For many business travellers, remaining in contact while overseas is a must, regardless of the costs involved. And if your company is willing to foot the bill for the luxury then you're one of the lucky few. For the average consumer, however, remaining in contact 24/7 might not be a priority (especially if you're chilling poolside in Fiji). If you're an average mobile user, you have four main options when travelling overseas.

1. Do nothing and use global roaming
2. Purchase a travel pack from your mobile carrier
3. Purchase a new travel SIM for the country you're travelling to
4. Purchase a prepaid SIM from your destination when you touchdown

Option 1: Use global roaming

Whenever someone uses their mobile phone while overseas, they are actually connecting to a foreign mobile carrier's network. If the customer is using their Australian service in a different country, it means their mobile carrier (eg Telstra, Vodafone, Optus) has a roaming agreement with the foreign network's carrier.

Roaming agreements vary drastically from carrier to carrier and country to country, as do the charges involved. For example, in Hong Kong, mobile data roaming could cost you as "little" as $1 per megabyte (MB) if you're an Optus customer. If you're a Telstra customer, however, you could be slugged as much as $3 per MB.

Best plan for international coverage

Our pick:

• Our reasoning

  Optus has the advantage in delivering a cheap roaming service across a wide range of countries. Where Telstra's International Day Pass covers 70 destinations and Vodafone's $5 roaming is only valid in 80 countries, Optus provides unlimited standard calls and texts in over 90 different locations with its $10 Optus Roaming Pass. If your travel plans take you all over the world, signing up for an Optus contract plan and adding on a Roaming Pass is the best way to ensure you're covered.

  Out of all contract plans Optus offers, we've picked its $49 plan since the inclusion of 60GB of data, unlimited standard calls and texts and unlimited international calls to 35 destinations represents solid value for your downtime in Australia between overseas trips.

Best plan for cheap roaming rates

Our pick:

• Our reasoning

  The global roaming add-ons offered by Vodafone, Optus and Telstra can save you a pretty penny when travelling to countries they explicitly cover, but what about destinations outside those regions? For this, Vodafone is the clear winner. When visiting countries not included in its $5 roaming deal, you'll only have to pay a flat $1 per minute to make and receive calls and 75 cents to send an SMS. Data is a little pricier at $1 per MB, but this is still cheaper than the competition.

  Like $5 roaming, these cheap pay-as-you-go roaming rates are applicable to all Vodafone's post-paid and prepaid plans, but we've selected the 30GB prepaid plan as it offers a sizeable amount of data (10GB + 20GB bonus) along with unlimited standard calls and text within Australia. Importantly, its prepaid nature gives you the freedom to change or cancel your plan at any time without paying any exit fees.

Where can I use global roaming?

Again, where you can use international roaming is entirely dependent on what countries your mobile carrier has established agreements with. As such, it's critical that you check with your carrier before leaving the country. For example, Optus customers travelling to Suriname will find themselves in a spot of bother if they've planned to use their mobile during their trip, as Optus does not permit global roaming in Suriname – Telstra, on the other hand, does.

Option 2: Travel packs

Depending on which mobile provider you're with, you might be able to purchase a travel pack for your existing phone service before heading overseas. These packs differ between mobile providers, but they typically come with a set amount of call and data inclusions for use in specific countries. Any usage outside those countries will be charged at standard roaming rates though, so be sure to double-check eligible destinations if your trip involves a lot of border crossings.

For the current travel packs offered by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, check out the tables below.

• Telstra
• Optus
• Vodafone

Option 3: Purchase a travel SIM

Some companies offer prepaid travel SIM cards that boast far lower call and data rates than local telcos typically charge. These SIMs are handy for those who don't want to deal with purchasing a fresh SIM card in a country they've never been to before since you don't need to worry about speaking the local tongue or carrying around local currency – purchasing and recharging your travel SIM is all done online.

Regular travellers or those hopping between multiple countries in one trip can save even more thanks to the value bundles many travel SIM companies offer. These bundles come loaded with data and call minutes to use in specific regions like Europe or America, and typically work out quite a bit cheaper than paying as you go.

Best of all, it's not necessary to have friends and family memorise a new phone number when using a travel SIM: many companies now offer the ability to redirect your existing mobile number to your temporary travel SIM. If you're going to be overseas for a decent chunk of time, you may also consider adding a local landline number from Australia to your travel SIM. This will allow anyone from Australia to call you overseas for the price of a local landline call rather than forking out international call rates.

Check out the latest deals on travel SIMs:

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Name	Product	Number of countries	Data Range	Shipment Time
SimCorner Travel Sim Cards		80+	1GB-Unlimited	1-12 business days	View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Flexiroam X		140+	1GB-7GB	3-7 business days	Go to site View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Option 4: Purchase a local SIM card from your destination

The fourth and often most wallet-friendly option when travelling overseas is to purchase a prepaid SIM card when you arrive at your destination. You won't be using your Australian phone number, but it will work out a lot cheaper since you'll be accessing the local mobile network directly rather than through a pricey roaming agreement. If you already have a destination in mind, check out our comprehensive round-up of the best international SIM cards for hundreds of destinations around the world. Otherwise, here are our top tips for purchasing a SIM card overseas:

• Be sure to check if your phone is unlocked from your carrier's network before you go. Seeing that "SIM not valid" message is dreadful at the best of times, let alone when you're thousands of kilometres from home. Check out our comprehensive guide to network unlocking any phone here.
• Activate global roaming before you leave. Even if you're not going to use it, it's always handy to have your Aussie SIM card ready in case of an emergency – just remember to keep it somewhere safe (eg with your passport).
• Turn off your Australian handset before departing. Better yet, remove your SIM card completely. Sure, many airlines have onboard Wi-Fi these days, so it's always nice to have your device on hand. However, if you forget to switch off your phone before entering the country, you could get hit with some unexpected data charges.
• Purchase your SIM card directly from the airport. Many mobile carriers will have retail stores located in international airports. Not only is it handy to get connected as soon as possible, but airport staff are well-versed in dealing with clueless travellers who don't know what to ask for.
• Remember to ask where the prepaid SIM card will cover you. When travelling in particular regions, you might find yourself hopping between countries on a daily basis. Some SIM cards (especially around the EU) will only cover you for use in certain countries, and you could suddenly end up without coverage if you're not prepared.

Bonus option: Wing it with Wi-Fi

Your last option is to not use roaming or even a SIM card at all. Most modern devices can connect to a Wi-Fi access point, and most hotels and resorts these days offer a (sometimes free) Wi-Fi connection. Not only that but most cafes, restaurants, libraries and airports also offer free Wi-Fi, so you can get connected pretty much anywhere for free.

With the amount of communication services available on the Internet these days, you really don't need your SIM card to stay in contact with loved ones while travelling abroad. There are many alternatives, like Facebook, iMessage, WhatsApp and Skype, for contacting home, all of which can be used over a Wi-Fi connection.

You can still use your smartphone or tablet during the day to take photos, record video and listen to music with airplane mode switched on (which blocks all incoming and outgoing mobile data from your device). Then, if you want to upload the truckload of selfies from the day, you can put it all up on Instagram when you return to the warm embrace of free Wi-Fi.

Finally: Our top tips for global roaming

• Set your own usage alerts on your phone. Android phones allow you to manually set a data limit in settings. If you go over this limit you'll be alerted and your data will be switched off.
• Leave your phone on airplane mode. If you're not planning on using global roaming, you may as well leave airplane mode on for the entirety of your trip. You can still connect to Wi-Fi when in airplane mode.
• Switch off voicemail. Does anybody still use voicemail? If you absolutely must use your mobile while overseas, we recommend switching off voicemail, as the charges are not usually included with your travel pack allowance.
• Switch off background data, automatic updates, location settings etc. Basically, turn off any setting that automatically uses data. The last thing you want is for your phone to begin downloading the latest Fortnite update while you're birdwatching in Panama.