Guide to Visa-Free Travel for Australian Passport Holders: Countries, Requirements, Policies (2024 Guide)
Discover the destinations where Australians can travel without a visa in our guide to visa-free countries, visa on arrival options, and ETA.
Figuring out your phone plan and how you’ll stay connected is one of the key tasks to cross out when planning a trip abroad. Telco providers like ALDImobile are popular among those who wish to keep their own number while travelling abroad by opting for international roaming.
In this article, we’ll guide you through ALDImobile’s international roaming services for Australians, including how it works, international rates, usage tracking, and other must-know details.
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Recently, Australian travellers were caught off-guard by international roaming plans that excluded popular destinations, leading to high bills.¹⁴ It’s important to consider the nitty-gritty of international roaming plans to ensure you get the best deal. On the other hand, there’s also the option of buying a local SIM card when you get to your destination.
ALDImobile offers international roaming services using only Pay As You Go (PAYG) credit in some overseas countries. None of ALDImobile’s fixed-term plans include international roaming services.¹
ALDImobile’s base plan is a PAYG plan. Prepaid fixed-term mobile plans, family plans and data plans are available as optional add-ons.²
With a PAYG plan, you recharge your account with a certain amount of credit based on your usage. For international roaming, ALDImobile requires you to recharge your PAYG account with enough credit to last you the whole duration of your overseas travel.¹
Since ALDImobile international roaming is available on a PAYG basis, you will be able to access internet data in eligible countries if you recharge your account with enough credit to cover the roaming data rates.
Most fixed-term mobile plans and all family plans include unlimited standard calls and SMS to 20 countries and limited standard calls and SMS to other select countries from Australia.³
If you want to enable ALDImobile’s international roaming, it’s important to be aware of the charges you’ll incur so that the PAYG credit can be recharged appropriately.
Regardless of whether you’re on a PAYG plan or with a fixed-term prepaid plan add-on, the international roaming rates for calls, SMS and data remain the same. The international roaming rates differ from country to country.⁴ The rates and offerings of other ALDImobile’s services differ between its many prepaid plans.
The following provides a summary of the range of the costs:
PAYG Plan | 30-day Mobile Plans⁷ | 30-day Family Plans⁸ | 365-day Data Plans⁹ | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Send and receive AU texts and calls¹⁰ | 15c per minute 15c per 160-character SMS | Unlimited | Unlimited | n/a |
Send international texts and calls from Australia to 20 countries | n/a | Unlimited | Unlimited | n/a |
Send international texts and calls from Australia to other international countries¹¹ | AUD $0.62 TO $1.69 per minute 25c per 160-character SMS | 100-400 minutes 50 SMS | 200-600 minutes 100-300 SMS | n/a |
International roaming calls | AUD $1 to $2 per minute | AUD $1 to $2 per minute | AUD $1 to $2 per minute | AUD $1 to $2 per minute |
International roaming SMS | AUD $0.50 to $1 per SMS | AUD $0.50 to $1 per SMS | AUD $0.50 to $1 per SMS | AUD $0.50 to $1 per SMS |
International internet data | AUD $0.50 to $1 per megabyte (MB) | AUD $0.50 to $1 per megabyte (MB) | AUD $0.50 to $1 per megabyte (MB) | AUD $0.50 to $1 per megabyte (MB) |
As seen on 19 October 2023
To get international roaming, you’ll need an ALDImobile SIM card. Once the SIM is activated, you can recharge the PAYG credit on ALDImobile’s website or mobile app. When overseas, PAYG credit recharge can only be done on the website as the app will become inaccessible.
You’ll need to manually enable roaming to use ALDImobile overseas. ALDImobile recommends that this should be done at least a week before you travel to ensure that the number is ready to use overseas.
Follow these steps to enable international roaming:¹
ALDImobile offers international roaming in 59 different countries across the globe. It’s important to know if your destination is supported. You can find out by referring to the following table⁴:
Asia | Europe | Oceania | North & South America | Middle East | Africa |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cambodia | Austria | Fiji | Brazil | Israel | Nigeria |
China | Belgium | New Zealand | Canada | Qatar | Egypt |
East Timor | Croatia | Papua New Guinea | Mexico | Turkey | South Africa |
Hong Kong | Czech Republic | Samoa | USA | United Arab Emirates | |
India* | Denmark | Tonga | |||
Indonesia | Estonia | Vanuatu | |||
Japan | Finland | ||||
Malaysia | France | ||||
Philippines | Germany | ||||
Russia | Greece | ||||
South Korea | Hungary | ||||
Singapore | Ireland | ||||
Sri Lanka | Italy | ||||
Taiwan | Latvia | ||||
Thailand | Lithuania | ||||
Luxembourg | |||||
Macedonia | |||||
Malta | |||||
Netherlands | |||||
Norway | |||||
Poland | |||||
Portugal | |||||
Slovak Republic | |||||
Spain | |||||
Sweden | |||||
Switzerland | |||||
United Kingdom |
It’s great to keep a track of your usage while travelling overseas to assess if there’s enough PAYG credit in your account. Here’s how you can do it⁵:
ALDImobile’s usage records are updated daily and so they might not always be accurate. In such a case, you’ll need to check back for your latest usage.
Since ALDImobile requires enabling “international roaming” manually, it’s recommended that you do so at least a week before you travel by logging into your account online or via the mobile app to ensure that the services are ready to use overseas.
ALDImobile app does not work overseas and any PAYG recharges or changes to the account will have to be done on the website.
You can get in touch with the ALDImobile team in a few different ways. Call the following numbers between 8 am to 9 pm (AEST) seven days a week⁶:
Additionally, existing ALDImobile customers can:
VoLTE or Voice over LTE is a feature that allows you to make calls over the 4G network. While ALDImobile offers VoLTE in Australia, it’s not available for international roaming.¹²
You can make free calls to emergency services while abroad even with minimum credit.¹³
You can send and receive calls, SMS and MMS, and use internet data while abroad with ALDImobile’s international roaming.
ALDImobile’s Pay As You Go (PAYG) plan needs you to recharge the PAYG credits with the amount of money you’ll need to use the services you need. So, you need to recharge the PAYG credit for international roaming too, keeping in mind that international roaming rates are higher than the usual rates. You’ll need to keep the credits updated at all times to continue using the services abroad.
You will receive SMS notifications informing you that ALDImobile’s international roaming is active once you arrive at your destination and have connected to the foreign carrier network.¹⁵
If you have not received notifications about ALDImobile’s international roaming being active after arriving at your destination, switch your device off and on and then try making a test call or send a test SMS. Make sure that your device is set to “Auto Select” or “Auto Connect” to the foreign carrier network in your network settings. Additionally, check if the foreign network carrier covers the area you’re in. If issues still persist, you can log in to your ALDImobile account and create an eSupport ticket.¹⁵
Now that you have a better understanding of ALDImobile international roaming options, you may be wondering how to minimise international card charges. The Wise Account is an international payment and account that facilitates international spending at the mid-market rate.
With a Wise Account you can hold money in over 40 currencies and spend it in over 150 countries. Whenever you exchange currencies it’s done using the mid-market rate with a conversion fee shown upfront.
To make everyday spending easier you can order a Wise Debit card for your Wise Account and generate virtual cards as needed. If you have the local currency in your Wise Account the Wise card will use it for local payments. If you don’t have local currency, it uses smart technology to auto-convert your money at the mid-market rate, for a conversion fee.
Join over 16 million customers currently using Wise. It’ll only take a few minutes to register and see what’s inside.
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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information. |
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Sources:
Sources checked on 20 October 2023
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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