Best international and travel SIM cards

Looking for a cheaper roaming option the next time you take your phone overseas? It might be worth considering an international or 'travel' SIM. These cards can offer a considerable saving in comparison to roaming with your telco.

In this guide, we've compared the most popular options and covered a few other ways to keep your roaming bill down.

Travel SIM vs other low-cost options

While a travel SIM can be a hell of a lot cheaper than global roaming, it's not exactly cheap. There are other options and they can often be more cost effective.

Buy a local SIM

Buying a local SIM card is often the cheapest way to use your phone overseas. You can get big data inclusions and usually unlimited local talk and text on a no contract or prepaid plan for a comparatively affordable price.

See our country-specific travel guides for information on buying a local SIM in popular destinations:

Use free public Wi-Fi

If you want a zero-dollars approach to using your phone overseas, you can hop on free public Wi-Fi networks you'll find in hotels, cafes, city centres, and more.

Mooching off Wi-Fi doesn't mean giving up on talk and text either. Apps like Messenger, Viber, Telegram, Skype, and WhatsApp will let you send and receive text messages and phone calls via the internet. These apps allow free talk and text between contacts who both have the app installed. And if you want to make calls to those who don't, you can buy a little Skype or Viber credit.

You'll want your friends and family to install your app of choice so you can contact them and they can contact you for free. You'll also want to make sure your phone is in airplane mode to stop any accidental calls, texts or data usage that could trigger exorbitant roaming charges.

You can check out maps of available Wi-Fi through apps like as Wiman or Instabridge to help you connect on the go.

So, why get a travel SIM?

With other alternatives that could well be cheaper, you might be asking yourself, why get a travel SIM?

Freeloading off public Wi-Fi can be a hassle, particularly if you want to stay connected all the time or if there's not a lot of Wi-Fi where you're going. You can buy a local SIM, but if you're travelling across multiple countries you could end up changing your SIM and your phone number every time you cross a border.

If you're looking for even more ways to save when travelling, you can check out our guide to pay-as-you-go-roaming, our round-up of the best roaming inclusions from telcos, the full story on travel packs and passes, and how to roam on prepaid.

Travel SIMs compared

Your guide to international and travel SIMs

Despite other options, a travel SIM can offer a saving on global roaming when you're outside Australia. And a big convenience as well. Below, we've compiled a list of the most popular travel SIM options for both data-only and voice/text/data products.

Flexiroam

While most travel SIM providers will require you to swap your regular domestic SIM card for a global version in order to roam internationally, Flexiroam allows you to keep using your regular SIM outside Australia.

The Flexiroam X is a thin microchip that can save you a bundle on data roaming in more than 150 countries. Just attach the chip to your regular domestic SIM, activate it though Flexiroam's mobile app, then switch to the available Flexiroam network when travelling.

You'll be able to access 4G data in about 70 countries and 3G in around 80. Although Flexiroam doesn't have a texting allowance, you can make calls through the Flexiroam app and use an app like WhatsApp or Viber to text your friends using data.

Flexiroam X is compatible with any unlocked iOS device and nearly all unlocked Android devices, and can be switched on or off at any time.

At the time of writing, Flexiroam starter packs are priced as follows:

1GB for USD$29.99 for 90 days
3GB for USD$59.99 for 150 days
5GB for USD$129.99 for 180 days

TravelSIM

TravelSIM offers call, text and data options in more than 190 countries. You're given one Australian number to use globally, and can send free texts between TravelSIM numbers.

Monitor or recharge your credit via TravelSIM's app, website, or 24/7 Australian phone support, or text 'Recharge' for an automatic $25 top-up. All credit lasts for six months, and remaining credit rolls over if you recharge with $5 or more before expiry. There's also no extra charge to call mobiles, and no flagfall or connection fees.

A standard TravelSIM Starter pack with $5.00 of voice, data and SMS credit is available for $25. You can then add anywhere between $25 and $200 of credit.

TravelSIM is also available through Australia Post with most of the same conditions and pricing.

TravelSIM roaming rates

	Indonesia	New Zealand	United Kingdom	United States	Thailand
Cost to call Australia per minute	$0.50	$0.25	$0.25	$0.25	$1.00
Cost to receive calls per minute	$0.50	$0.25	$0.25	$0.25	$1.00
Cost to send text message to Australia	$0.50	$0.25	$0.25	$0.25	$1.00
Cost of data	$0.50 per MB	$0.25 per MB	$0.25 per MB	$0.25 per MB	$1.00 per MB

It's also worth noting that TravelSIM offers data packs for most European countries. Rates are as follows:

1GB for $25
3GB for $65
5GB for $100

These data packs are valid for 30-days.

Woolworths Global Roaming

Supermarket giant Woolworths now offers global roaming with SIM cards that work across a myriad of countries.

Woolworths sells travel SIMs for $12. With the SIM you get 200MB of global data to get you started. You can then buy a data pack or a "combo", which comes with data, talk and text. Pricing will vary depend on your destination.

For example, 30-day data packs for travelling in Europe cost:

500MB for $15
1GB for $25
3GB for $50

Or you can pay $40 for a "combo" with 200MB, 200 SMS and 200 minutes of talk. The combo also comes with a 30-day expiry.

Meanwhile, 30-day data packs for the UK cost:

500MB for $12
1GB for $21

Or you can pay $34 for 100MB, 300 SMS and 200 minutes of talk. These inclusions are come with a 30-day expiry.

Note that Woolworths Global Roaming is a separate entity to Woolworths Mobile.

GigSky

If you have an iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR, there's a super simple global roaming option available to you: GigSky. GigSky makes use of the 2018 iPhones' eSIM capabilities, and lets you add a travel plan to your device directly through an app. You don't have to go into any stores, and you don't need to put in a physical SIM card.

Rates will vary per country, but data for many popular destinations is billed as follows:

800MB for USD$10 with a 1-day expiry
1GB for USD$20 with a 15-day expiry
2GB for USD$30 with a 15-day expiry
5GB for US$50 with a 30-day expiry

You can download GigSky for iOS here.

GigSky is also compatible with any eSIM-enabled Windows 10 PC.

Taking your phone overseas

If you're planning to take your phone on your travels, there are a few things you need to check.

Is your phone unlocked?

Firstly, to use a travel SIM in your device, you'll need to make sure that your handset isn't network locked. When you buy a device through a telco, it will occasionally be 'locked' to that network – meaning you can't simply take your phone and use it on a rival provider's plan.

This is most likely to be the case if you bought your phone on a prepaid plan, or if it's very old. Use our guide to unlocked phones to find out more.

Is your device GSM or CDMA capable?

You'll also need to ensure that your device will work on your destination's networks. Australia uses the GSM standard for mobile, as do most of the countries you're likely to visit. However, there are exceptions: the US, Japan and South Korea all use a combination of GSM and CDMA technologies.

Australian-bought devices should work on GSM networks, provided your phone is compatible with your destination's available frequencies. Many newer flagship phones, such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy range, should support just about any frequency you encounter, but older devices may run into problems.

For a more detailed breakdown of network technologies and phone compatibility, head to our guide here.