Review of Overseas Roaming with One NZ: Guide to Staying Connected Internationally

It’s easy to stay in touch with friends and family when travelling overseas. Nearly all mobile service providers in New Zealand offer an international roaming option to subscribers, making it easy to send messages, make calls and use data worldwide. Generally, getting an international plan before you leave for a trip can be one of the most cost-effective options, but that doesn’t mean it comes for free.

OneNZ is a popular mobile service provider in New Zealand that offers international roaming plans. Read on to learn more about getting a OneNZ plan and how it works when travelling abroad.

One NZ International Roaming Plans

One NZ, previously known as Vodafone in New Zealand, offers international roaming plans to current subscribers. The company has partnerships with almost all the major mobile service providers worldwide so those with a One NZ roaming plan can connect easily abroad. In addition to phone and SMS, One NZ offers 3G, VoLTE/4G, and 5G data services when overseas.

Here are the main international roaming plans offered by One NZ:¹

• Pay Monthly Daily Roaming: This international roaming plan is one of the most popular options and provides service in more than 100 countries. It can be paid monthly.
• **Prepay Roaming Bundles: **This global roaming plan offers four options for prepaid customers, depending on what you need, and works in over 70 countries.
• Data Angel Overseas: This data-only plan is available to Pay Monthly plan subscribers and provides access to the internet in over 100 destinations.
• In-flight Roaming: Subscribers can use One NZ in-flight roaming services on specific airlines, but doesn’t offer data and the call rates are often more expensive than regular One NZ roaming plans.
• Maritime Roaming: This plan is available to One NZ subscribers when they travel with specific shipping companies.

Check out the next section for more details on each plan.

One NZ's partners in Australia, the US, Singapore and Taiwan use VoLTE and have shut down their 3G services. If you’re travelling to one of these destinations, make sure your phone can connect to a VoLTE network before signing up for a One NZ roaming data pack.

One NZ Roaming Coverage, costs, and benefits.

Each international roaming plan offered by One NZ provides different coverage and services. Compare each plan and identify which one would be best for how you travel and like to keep in touch. For example, if you prefer chatting on the phone, one of the comprehensive packages will be best; but if messaging through internet apps is what you prefer, the data-only package may be enough.

Pay Monthly Daily Roaming

The Pay Monthly Daily Roaming pack is exclusively for those with an existing One NZ plan. The plan offers coverage for the US, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and costs $8 NZD a day per device.

Depending on the services available in your destination country, you can connect to a 3G, 4G/VoLTE, or 5G network at a data speed of 1.2 Mbps even when roaming. You can use your NZ mobile plan’s data, minutes, and text services overseas.²

Prepay Roaming Bundles

One NZ offers four roaming plans under Prepay Roaming Bundles:³

	Cost	Coverage	Plan details
Daily Prepay Roaming Add-On	$6 NZD per day	Over 100 destinations	Includes 20 minutes of outgoing and incoming calls to standard NZ and local numbers and 20 SMS texts. This plan also includes 200 MB of data.
Weekly Prepay Roaming Add-On	$22 NZD per week	Over 70 countries	Includes 100 minutes of outgoing and incoming calls, 100 SMS texts, and 1GB of data.
Daily Data Only	$3.45 NZD per day	Over 70 countries	50 MB of data.
Weekly Data Only	$17.25 NZD per week	Over 70 countries	1 GB of data.

Note that regular call rates apply after you exhaust the prepay plan quota and different rates may apply depending on your destination. For detailed information, head to the One NZ website.

Data Angel Overseas

This One NZ data-only roaming plan offers three data bundles. The cost depends on how much data you think you’ll need and your destination, or zone as determined by OneNZ.⁴

Australia and Christmas Island	Zone 2	Zone 3
$17 NZD for 100MB	$17 NZD for 40MB	$35 NZD for 5MB
$35 NZD for 250MB	$35 NZD for 100MB	$58 NZD for 10MB
$58 NZD for 500MB	$58 NZD for 200MB	$115 NZD for 25MB

In-flight Roaming

The One NZ In-flight roaming plan allows you to call and text on select domestic and international flights. Data roaming is not available on this plan.⁵

Here is how much it can cost when using in-flight roaming:

On-Air Pricing - all airlines except Emirates	Aeromobile pricing - Emirates
Outgoing Calls - $4.03 NZD per minute	Outgoing Calls - $9.20 NZD per minute
Incoming Calls - $2.30 NZD per minute	Incoming Calls - $9.20 NZD per minute
Sending SMS - $0.92 NZD per text	Sending SMS - $1.15 NZD per text
Receiving SMS - Free	Receiving SMS - Free

Maritime Roaming

This One NZ roaming pack lets travellers call and text on selected ships, cruise liners, and ferries. Data roaming is not available on this plan.⁶

Maritime roaming
Outgoing Calls - $5.75 NZD per minute
Incoming Calls - $1.15 NZD per minute
Sending SMS - $0.92 NZD per text
Receiving SMS - Free

One NZ Customer Care Contact

If you need any help or have questions, you can reach out to One NZ’s customer care by phone or online:

• Mobile - Call 777
• From overseas - 00 64 9 355 2007
• Online help

How to Set Up and Activate One NZ Roaming

Here is how to set up and activate One NZ roaming plans.

For Pay Monthly Daily Roaming plans, first, sign in to One NZ to check that you are currently on an eligible plan and your destination is covered. If your plan and trip qualify, the One NZ roaming will activate automatically when you land. You can download the My One NZ app from Google PlayStore or App Store to monitor your usage, pay bills, top up, and buy more data.⁷

Once you reach your destination, you’ll** **receive a text message confirming you are roaming and with helpful information and links. The local mobile service provider’s name will appear on your phone instead of One NZ.

Prepay Roaming plans are activated once you are overseas. When you arrive abroad, you’ll receive a text message with your Prepay roaming rates. Purchase the plan you want by texting the following messages to 756.

• Daily Prepay Roaming - “BUY DAY”
• Weekly Prepay Roaming: “BUY WEEK”
• Daily Data Only: “BUY 50RDB”
• Weekly Data: “BUY 1RDB”

Once purchased, the pack gets activated immediately.⁸

**Data Angel Overseas **plans are activated by SMS too. Here is how to do it:

Country/Zone	SMS Activation
Australia and Christmas Island	Send a text to 747 “A followed by the size of bundle A100, A250, or A500.”
Zone 2	Send a text to 747 “B followed by the size of bundle B40, B100, or B200.”
Zone 3	Send a text to 747 “C followed by the bundle size, C5, C10, or C25.”

Top Up / Recharge One NZ from abroad

Topping up your balance or recharging One NZ from abroad is easy:⁹

• Use your debit or credit card to top up online. Alternatively, you can use the My One NZ app or set up Auto Top Up.

If you use prepaid services, you can go to your My One NZ app or Internet Banking to pay your mobile bills online.

Alternatives to One NZ International Roaming

One NZ isn’t the only provider offering international roaming plans. If you aren’t an existing One NZ user, or you’re looking for more from a plan, here are some other options to consider:

• Spark NZ, Skinny NZ, and 2degrees NZ are other mobile service providers to consider. Read our complete guides on each to see if they’re a better fit.
• Getting a local SIM is another convenient way to stay connected when travelling overseas. It’ll make local calls and messaging generally cheaper, but you may be required to provide documentation and complete paperwork - in addition to finding a provider with short-term holiday SIMs.
• Open WiFi networks can be found almost everywhere, including most public spaces and at larger merchants. Hop on one of their networks to send emails, WhatsApp messages or to check social media.

Travel Smart with Wise: Save on International Transactions

Going abroad can be exciting, but it can also make a dent in your wallet. To save money, sign up for Wise. Wise lets you make international transfers right from your mobile or computer, from or on the go. If you are planning a trip and need to make reservations, Wise can help you secure your reservations with direct local payments.

Wise uses smart tech to make local payments in bank accounts abroad in over 100 countries. That means you can send money for bookings, reservations or travel costs and your recipient gets the money in their local currency in their bank account. All you’ll pay is one low transfer fee on each transfer.

Wise uses the real mid-market exchange rate on every transfer, so you don’t lose money to extra fees like at a bank or credit card. Instead, you get a transparent exchange rate that can save you money. So before you head abroad, see how Wise can make international payments simple.

And if you want an easier way to spend money overseas, check out the Wise multi-currency account. It is one account where you can send, spend, and hold over 40 currencies and pay locally with a linked debit card. Learn more about using your Wise card abroad.

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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.

Sources used for this article:

1. One NZ international roaming
2. One NZ Pay Monthly Roaming
3. One NZ Prepaid Roaming
4. One NZ Data Angel Overseas
5. One NZ In-flight Roaming
6. One NZ Maritime Roaming
7. Activating Pay Monthly Daily Roaming
8. Activating Prepay Roaming
9. Top Up online from abroad

Sources verified on 30 August 2024.