Aus Mobile Phone Provider

[StevieAus]

We are visiting Sydney for two weeks in September and will need two SIM cards  and provider mainly for calls not data, are their any recommendations as it’s a few years since last trip.

Thanks

[seajae]

when I was travelling to Australia over a few years I got a sim card from Amaysim, just had them delivered to an Australian address after putting money into my account, used it for a few years till covid hit, havent been back since but just look around on the internet for deals, their rates were pretty good as I was calling Thailand every night.

 

[StevieAus]

4 minutes ago, seajae said:

when I was travelling to Australia over a few years I got a sim card from Amaysim, just had them delivered to an Australian address after putting money into my account, used it for a few years till covid hit, havent been back since but just look around on the internet for deals, their rates were pretty good as I was calling Thailand every night.

 

Thanks for your response

[isaanistical]

On arrival at airport, just go to WH Smith after clearing Customs and buy prepaid SIMs, with some top-up, say 40 dollars each. I prefer Optus, partly because Telstra has had some horrendous crashes recently.

[barryw52]

20 hours ago, StevieAus said:

We are visiting Sydney for two weeks in September and will need two SIM cards  and provider mainly for calls not data, are their any recommendations as it’s a few years since last trip.

Thanks

Vodafone have lower cost prepaid plans but their coverage is not as good as Telstra or Optus. You find their store in all the major shopping centres. If your only going to be in Sydney they should be ok.

 

https://www.vodafone.com.au/prepaid/plans

[kuzie57]

Strange as this may sound but Aldi the supermarket has GREAT deals on pre paid sims. I used them on my last trip home from a friends recomendation.

Edited June 17 by kuzie57
more info

[AsiaTraveler1234]

Optus or Telstra. Telstra has the best coverage if going outside the major capital cities. I personally like Optus and always use them in Australia. Their app is great and makes account management super easy.

[ernji]

Mentioned above but amaysim has unlimited talk plans starting from $22/28 days and includes 10GB data with that. The nice thing is when you leave Australia you can switch it to the 365 day plan which only requires a top up of $10 a year to keep the sim active. You can receive SMS messages in most countries (including Thailand) for free to that number allowing you to satisfy Oz banks or govt agencies. Up2you 

[RayWright]

Looked into this end of last year, as previously used Optus, but their roaming costs are through the roof. Found AldiMobile (the German discount supermarket lot) to be the best. They piggy-back on the Telstra network, so good coverage.

I think it was $5 to buy the SIM and currently they have a basic tariff of $19 for 30 days with unlimited calls / SMS to Australian numbers, plus 10GB of data.

I bought their PAYG plan, $5 for the SIM and $25 top-up, reason being the number remains valid for upto a year if you keep your account in credit, which is useful for receiving SMS messages from my Aussi bank, even in Thailand.

 

Edited June 17 by RayWright
.

[still kicking]

I live in OZ I use Vodaphone prepaid which cost 12.50 per month Sim card you get at any Vodaphone shop 

[RemyDog]

3 hours ago, RayWright said:

Looked into this end of last year, as previously used Optus, but their roaming costs are through the roof. Found AldiMobile (the German discount supermarket lot) to be the best. They piggy-back on the Telstra network, so good coverage.

I think it was $5 to buy the SIM and currently they have a basic tariff of $19 for 30 days with unlimited calls / SMS to Australian numbers, plus 10GB of data.

I bought their PAYG plan, $5 for the SIM and $25 top-up, reason being the number remains valid for upto a year if you keep your account in credit, which is useful for receiving SMS messages from my Aussi bank, even in Thailand.

 

I fully agree. On their $30-$35 prepaid 30-day plan, there is a good data allowance (I have forgotten the GB) plus calls to many countries (including Thailand) are part of the unlimited calls component. Excellent coverage as they use the Telstra network.

[GreasyFingers]

I have an Aldi payg sim in my phone here. $15 to keep it active for a year and can turn on/off international  roaming when ever you need to receive OTP when needed.

[heybuz]

5 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

I have an Aldi payg sim in my phone here. $15 to keep it active for a year and can turn on/off international  roaming when ever you need to receive OTP when needed.

Now 17 dollars I think it uses Telstra mobile network 

 

[GreasyFingers]

Just now, heybuz said:

Now 17 dollars I think it uses Telstra mobile network 

 

Price could have gone up since my last top up, and yes they use Telstra network.

[scorecard]

On 6/17/2024 at 10:10 AM, StevieAus said:

Thanks for your response

Perhaps LINE: calls, SMS, video chat etc, would cover much of your needs, and free across countries, all you need is an internet connection, any provider.

 

For calls back to Thailand from OZ using LINE, all free and a very large % of Thai people, even Thai business houses, banks and more are using line, all free Calls. 

[scorecard]

Just now, scorecard said:

Perhaps LINE: calls, SMS, video chat etc, would cover much of your needs, and free across countries, all you need is an internet connection, any provider.

 

For calls back to Thailand from OZ using LINE, all free and a very large % of Thai people, even Thai business houses, banks and more are using line, all free Calls. 

I did it for 2 years, worked every time, good connections. 

[steevjee]

On 6/16/2024 at 4:34 PM, StevieAus said:

We are visiting Sydney for two weeks in September and will need two SIM cards  and provider mainly for calls not data, are their any recommendations as it’s a few years since last trip.

Thanks

check out Amaysim, Aldi Mobile, Aldi's PAYG gives you 12 months to use it up and you just turn your data off on the mobiles

[StevieAus]

1 hour ago, steevjee said:

check out Amaysim, Aldi Mobile, Aldi's PAYG gives you 12 months to use it up and you just turn your data off on the mobiles

Thanks

[StevieAus]

18 hours ago, RayWright said:

Looked into this end of last year, as previously used Optus, but their roaming costs are through the roof. Found AldiMobile (the German discount supermarket lot) to be the best. They piggy-back on the Telstra network, so good coverage.

I think it was $5 to buy the SIM and currently they have a basic tariff of $19 for 30 days with unlimited calls / SMS to Australian numbers, plus 10GB of data.

I bought their PAYG plan, $5 for the SIM and $25 top-up, reason being the number remains valid for upto a year if you keep your account in credit, which is useful for receiving SMS messages from my Aussi bank, even in Thailand.

 

Thanks

[StevieAus]

5 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

Thanks

Do they sell the sim card as well

[RayWright]

3 hours ago, StevieAus said:

Do they sell the sim card as well

Yes, need to visit an Aldi, SIM cards at the checkout. 

[Grandpa Cool]

ALDI sells Sim cards for $5.00 and they have a wide range of options.

They use the Telstra network under licence.

Google ALDI mobile and check it out.

[gearbox]

On 6/17/2024 at 8:49 PM, RayWright said:

Looked into this end of last year, as previously used Optus, but their roaming costs are through the roof. Found AldiMobile (the German discount supermarket lot) to be the best. They piggy-back on the Telstra network, so good coverage.

I think it was $5 to buy the SIM and currently they have a basic tariff of $19 for 30 days with unlimited calls / SMS to Australian numbers, plus 10GB of data.

I bought their PAYG plan, $5 for the SIM and $25 top-up, reason being the number remains valid for upto a year if you keep your account in credit, which is useful for receiving SMS messages from my Aussi bank, even in Thailand.

 

It could be hard to find the $5 sim in Aldi, usually they are out of stock. $25 is usually available.

 

1 week before you go check the Woollies and Coles specials online, almost every week there are prepaid sim specials.

[RayWright]

The $5 SIM was a starter pack when I was over in March. 

Something like this:-

 

You can order online and get the $5 SIM delivered to your Hotel / AirBnB before you arrive. Would need to check first. If staying with rellies even easier.

[StevieAus]

On 6/18/2024 at 6:36 PM, RayWright said:

Yes, need to visit an Aldi, SIM cards at the checkout. 

 

On 6/19/2024 at 5:35 PM, RayWright said:

The $5 SIM was a starter pack when I was over in March. 

Something like this:-

 

You can order online and get the $5 SIM delivered to your Hotel / AirBnB before you arrive. Would need to check first. If staying with rellies even easier.

Thanks that’s great can have delivered to friend

[StevieAus]

On 6/18/2024 at 6:36 PM, RayWright said:

Yes, need to visit an Aldi, SIM cards at the checkout. 

 

On 6/19/2024 at 5:35 PM, RayWright said:

The $5 SIM was a starter pack when I was over in March. 

Something like this:-

 

You can order online and get the $5 SIM delivered to your Hotel / AirBnB before you arrive. Would need to check first. If staying with rellies even easier.

Thanks that’s gtreat

[StevieAus]

On 6/18/2024 at 6:36 PM, RayWright said:

Yes, need to visit an Aldi, SIM cards at the checkout. 

 

[StevieAus]

Just now, StevieAus said:

 

Thanks

[scorecard]

On 6/17/2024 at 10:29 AM, isaanistical said:

On arrival at airport, just go to WH Smith after clearing Customs and buy prepaid SIMs, with some top-up, say 40 dollars each. I prefer Optus, partly because Telstra has had some horrendous crashes recently.

 

And from experience Telstra is a nightmare to deal with. I went back and in error started a mobile account and an internet service at a big Telstra shop.

 

First problem, tried to pay the initial account 'cannot pay anything at a Telstra shop. I looked perplexed and said again "I want to pay ...."

Secon staff member intervened quickly saying "do you speak and understand English. he said you cannot pay here."

 

I finally permanently departed Australia and discovered that cancelling both services was a total nightmare. Telstra call centre lady said 'why can't you just let the account continue?"

 

After 20 minutes of explanation and she wouldn't budge I gave up because I had to board my departing flight.to be told 'not possible, you have to be in Australia to cancel an account'.

After many e.mails I finally got someone who understood and made a special to recognise that I was outside of Aust. The officer responded 'I can cancel your account but you have to pay all outstanding charges first. I agreed to this and got a final bill which I promptly paid by bank transfer from an Aussie bank.

 

Then another e.mail, 'the arrangement for you to cancel from another country has a special AUD40- fee'.

 

I paid that by Aussie bank transfer then an e.mail why did you pay AUD40-?

 

Another long e.mail 'now all understood'.

[KhunHeineken]

On 6/19/2024 at 10:35 AM, RayWright said:

The $5 SIM was a starter pack when I was over in March. 

Something like this:-

 

You can order online and get the $5 SIM delivered to your Hotel / AirBnB before you arrive. Would need to check first. If staying with rellies even easier.

+ 1 for Aldi sim. 

 

Also, for $15 for 365 days validity, it's a great sim just to keep in Thailand to always have an Aussie mobile number on hand.

Edited June 21 by KhunHeineken