Best Roaming Plans in New Zealand: Providers, Coverage, and Price

Having mobile roaming when you’re abroad allows you to continue to use your phone as usual, for data, calls and texts. It can also mean you avoid the huge bill shock which can come with casual overseas data use.

If you’re planning a trip overseas you’ll want to compare the best roaming plans in NZ to check which you’re eligible for, and get signed up. This guide covers all you need to know. You can also learn more about the Wise card, an easy way to stretch your dollars when paying in foreign currencies.

What is Data Roaming?

Data roaming allows you to continue using your phone or smart device abroad, to access apps, social media, maps, translation and anything else you may need. Most telecom companies allow you to continue to use your phone abroad - but the costs of data roaming can be extremely high if you don’t plan ahead.

You’ll often find that casual use data rates can mean that simply having your phone update apps in the background when overseas can come with a hefty fee - and messaging, streaming or uploading videos can lead to a huge bill shock on your return.

The smart alternative to using your telco’s casual data roaming is to sign up for a specific roaming plan in advance of your trip. This gives you extra data to use overseas, or may allow you to continue using your local NZ plan abroad with a fixed fee.

Key factors when choosing a roaming plan for overseas travel

In this guide we’ve looked at the roaming options from 5 New Zealand phone services to help you decide if they suit your needs. However, it’s important to know that most providers only let you buy roaming if you already have a post or prepaid plan with them. Check which plans you’re eligible for before you start your research.

Once you’ve narrowed down the range of providers that work for you, you’ll also need to check that your destination or destinations are covered by the roaming plans available. The providers we cover here support anything from 50+ to 150+ countries which include most major destinations for tourists, but you might have to sign up for a specific plan based on your destination.

Finally, the last thing to check is how the plan’s data, talk and texts allowances work. Some plans simply let you access your local New Zealand data overseas, which means that the caps and limits that apply are based on your underlying plan with the provider. Other plans may have their own data, talk and text limits solely for overseas use.

Best Mobile Roaming Plans in New Zealand

The right roaming provider for you may simply come down to which telco you use on a day to day basis, as you’ll often find you need to be a customer already to sign up for roaming. However, providers do often have multiple roaming options to allow you to pick the one which best suits your trip.

Here’s a summary of the overseas roaming options for 5 popular providers so you can choose the best and cheapest roaming plan in NZ for your trip.

*Details correct at time of research - 17th December 2025

Spark Roaming

Best for: Generous 14 day plans covering major tourist destinations

Spark Roaming plans are offered for 14 days at time, on a basis of either data only or data plus talk/text. If you’re a Spark monthly paid customer you can also access daily pricing for specific countries which may be more economical for a short trip.

• Get 2 GB of data plus talk time and texts to use over 14 days
• Roaming pack covers 71 countries
• Individual country options with daily pricing for monthly plan customers

One NZ Roaming

Best for: Continue using your NZ data in 165 countries for 10 NZD/day

One NZ Roaming offers monthly customers the option of daily roaming which lets you keep on using your plan overseas, or prepay add ons on a daily or weekly basis.

• Daily roaming covers 165 destinations, add ons available for 70 countries
• Daily roaming at a flat fee of 10 NZD per day
• Add ons can be for data only or data plus talk and text

2degrees Roaming

Best for: Daily roaming for just 8 NZD in 100+ destinations

With 2degrees roaming you can choose from daily roaming if you’re in one of the 100+ served destinations, or add on plans. Add-on plans are significantly more expensive, at 57 NZD, while daily roaming costs just 8 NZD and uses your NZ plan data and minutes.

• Daily roaming in 100+ destinations, add ons for more exotic countries
• Daily roaming costs only 8 NZD
• Add ons cost 57 NZD for 500 MB data, with extra costs for talk and text

Skinny Roaming

Best for: Roaming for prepaid Skinny customers as well as monthly plans

You can buy your Skinny roaming plan in advance of travel, on either a 3 day or 7 day basis. The 3 days plan covers data, talk and texts, while the 7 day plan is offered either as an all in option, or with data only.

• Roaming is available for around 50 countries
• 7 day pack has 1 GB data, while the 3 day pack offers 500 MB
• Plans from just 11 NZD for 3 days

Kogan Roaming

Best for: Low cost data for short and weekend trips to 56 destinations

Kogan customers can add in 3 day roaming packages with a flat fee. You can choose a data only plan or one with some talk and texts depending on your needs and preferences. To use this service you must already have an active Kogan prepay plan for local use.

• Roaming covers 56 countries and costs flat fees of 11.90 NZD for 3 days
• 3 day packs, either data/talk/text or data only
• Choose from 500 MB data with some talk and texts of a data only plan with 700 MB data

Bring the Wise card along with you when travelling to save on foreign currency fees

If you're heading abroad, here's a smart way to spend overseas to keep costs down. The Wise card is a simple way to save up to 8x when you're spending internationally. You can spend in 150+ countries at mid-market rate — basically the rate you see on Google. With no foreign transaction fees and low, transparent pricing, Wise usually gives you the best value for your money.

Simply create a Wise account for free, order a card and top-up NZD to get started. Having a physical Wise card allows you to make chip and pin payments, as well as make some free ATM withdrawals each month for when you're abroad. You can get digital cards and add to your Google or Apple Pay wallet for instant use. Spend directly with the Wise account in NZD and let auto-conversion do the trick or convert in advance to your desired currency. You can hold and exchange 40+ currencies in your Wise account and spend the currencies you hold for free.

Wherever your travel takes you, the Wise card makes spending money abroad cheaper and easier.

🚀 Get your Wise card