This article was originally published in 2018 and the information in it may no longer be relevant.
Optus has given its prepaid plans a bit of a shakeup with the introduction of 42-day expiry recharges.
While 42 might bring to mind the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, it also happens to be exactly six weeks. That’s two weeks longer than Optus' standard prepaid recharge, and a week longer than Vodafone's 35-day recharges. This means you'll end up recharging 9 times a year, as opposed to 13, as you typically would with 28-day expiry prepaid.
While Optus' 42-day prepaid plans last longer than the telco's 28-day plans, they have significantly less data. For example, $40 on a 42-day recharge gets you 5GB, while $40 on a 28-day recharge gets you 10GB. Over a year-long period, you've paid $360 for a total of 45GB with 42-day prepaid, while you've paid $520 for 130GB on 28-day prepaid.
The saving could be worth it if you're not a heavy data user and want to cut down your bill, but Optus' longer recharges aren't quite as value packed as their 28-day equivalents. The new 42-day options are as follows:
If you're interested in 42-day expiry plans, we'd suggest not opting for any recharge above the $50 point. The value of these plans shrinks dramatically with each step up. The $100 16GB recharge is particular egregious.
In addition to launching new plans, Optus has refreshed its standard 28-day recharges. These all include 10GB of "streaming data" that can be used to watch Netflix, Stan, and ABC iview without cutting into your data allowance. The plans are as follows:
All Optus 28-day and 42-day prepaid plans include and unlimited talk and text, and data rollover. Data rollover lets you bank up to 50GB when you recharge before your plan expires.
Alex Choros
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