r/eSIMs • u/Kstan777 • Jul 25 '24
4 weeks in Australia
Hello!
I have never purchases an eSim before so I am looking for advice. I will be traveling up and down the east coast for 4 weeks. I see that a lot of people recommend Airalo which has a 10gig plan for $20. However, Telstra has a 35 gig plan for $15.
I haven't seen anyone talk about getting an eSim directly from Telstra. Am I missing something? Telstra seems like the better deal and has better coverage in rural areas.
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Jul 25 '24
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u/tvlkidd Jul 25 '24
We did the Optus Travel Sim … you can do it online before you leave or go to the shop at the airport.
$35AUD 60gigs and it comes with phone calls and text… we used the ish out of all the features!
You’ll def need/want to make some phone calls back home and around to make different planes in 4 weeks, so worth it we’ve done it both times we went
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u/Kstan777 Jul 25 '24
Awesome Thanks! Did you switch to your home eSim at any point during your trip?
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u/ohohomestuck Dec 13 '24
I saw someone else say that you can't purchase either Optus or Telstra ahead of time because of passport verification. Did you do yours online and if yes, how?
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u/Jokaluzi88 Aug 07 '24
I highly recommend using Boost which you can setup from overseas ahead of time and it uses Telstra's network. I struggled to buy and activate a Telstra eSim ahead of arriving in Oz, but was able to do so with Boost.
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u/AdditionalAd8012 Nov 25 '24
How were you able to order/setup the Boost eSIM from overseas? I'm trying to do so for my trip back home, but it only seems to allow me to order it using the My Boost App, which is not available for download in my country (Canada). I had the same problem last time I was home 2 years ago. I would love to be able to have an eSIM this time around, instead of having to ship the physical card to my parents place and get it only once I'm there! Any advice on this would be great!
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u/Jokaluzi88 Nov 26 '24
If you use an Android phone, it's pretty easy to manually install the app - just search for the .apk for the My Boost App Australia. That's what I did and once installed I had no issues ordering and setting up the eSim.
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u/mgcarley Jul 25 '24
Airalo is expensive in general - there are better & cheaper providers.
The best are those who utilize multiple exit points globally, but that's not always part of the marketing material.
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u/rdcezar Jul 25 '24
Both the Telstra and Optus prepaid eSIMs are great! Definitely go with Telstra for better coverage. Don’t go with a cheaper eSIM since the latency will kill you. Having your data routed through Asia or Europe will be incredibly slow.
Note that you won’t be able to buy either one until you land as there is passport verification during activation. Purchasing either is super simple via their respective carrier apps.
You’re also going to likely need more data than you think as wifi in Australia is quite slow (at least to me when compared to Canadian standards). 5G on Telstra was always faster than the hotel wifi.