How Optus daily roaming switches itself on, and what actually stops it

What it actually costs and includes

From Optus’s own explainer:

“This means, when travelling in an eligible destination with roaming active, you’ll have Optus Daily Roaming which includes 5GB of data and unlimited standard talk and text (Mobile Phone plans only, Fair Go policy applies) to use every 24 hours. Optus Daily Roaming costs $5 per 24 hours / 5GB of data.”

For context, because it matters: Telstra charges $10 a day for 2GB in most of the world. Optus charges $5 a day for 5GB. That is half the price for two and a half times the data, and the talk and text is unlimited on both.

It covers more than 150 Zone 1 destinations. We counted the list Optus publishes and it runs to 153 destinations plus in-flight coverage on selected airlines. Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the USA, the UK and most of Europe are all in it.

If you are on a Mobile Broadband plan rather than a phone plan, you get the 5GB and no talk or text.

The 24 hours is a rolling 24 hours

This is a real difference from Telstra and it works in your favour.

“We’ll send you an SMS once the $5 charge is triggered. This is when the 24 hours starts, and you’ll receive unlimited standard talk and text and 5GB to use, or until you reach 5GB, whichever comes first.”

There is no timezone in that sentence because there does not need to be. Your day starts when you first use the phone and runs a genuine 24 hours from there. Telstra’s non-Upfront plans end their day at 11.59pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, which in London is the middle of the afternoon. Optus does not do that, and it is the better design.

What actually triggers the charge

Optus publishes the list. This is it, verbatim:

“Using data / MMS Making and receiving a standard call Sending a standard SMS Calls and texts to premium numbers Voicemail retrievals and voicemail diversions set to busy, no reply or unreachable may trigger the service”

And separately, the things that do not:

“Calls to Optus Customer Care on +612 8082 5678 Calls to emergency services Receiving SMS Accessing My Optus app”

Three things in there are worth pulling out.

Receiving a call charges you. Receiving a text does not. That asymmetry is the single most useful thing on the page. Someone ringing you from Australia costs you $5 even if you decline it. Someone texting you costs nothing.

A voicemail diversion can charge you. If your phone is set to divert to voicemail when busy, unanswered or unreachable, Optus says that “may trigger the service”. You do not have to touch the phone. Somebody else has to ring it.

Data means all data. Background sync, an app updating itself, a mail client checking. There is no minimum.

The part people do not expect

Two mechanics, both published, both worth knowing before you go.

It activates by itself.

“Optus Daily Roaming is an international roaming service. It’s auto-activated, so if you don’t turn it off it’ll automatically trigger when you start using your Mobile service in an eligible Zone 1 destination.”

“International roaming is automatically turned on for all services on a plan eligible for Optus Daily Roaming.”

It re-charges by itself, and there is no published ceiling.

“If you use your data earlier than 24 hours, we’ll automatically add a further $5 charge and you’ll have another 5GB to use.”

“After your Optus Daily Roaming ends, or if you use all your data in under 24 hours, if you continue using your service, we’ll automatically add another Optus Daily Roaming $5 charge.”

And the money moves straight away:

“Payment will be attempted once the $5 charge is triggered. The payment will be attempted from the account holder’s automatic payment method.”

We looked for a cap. There is not one, and we want to be precise about that rather than dramatic. Optus publishes no maximum number of $5 charges per day, no maximum per trip, and no maximum spend, across its Daily Roaming support article, its international roaming page, its Critical Information Summaries or its Fair Go Policy. The only stopping mechanism Optus describes anywhere is a declined card:

“If your payment fails you will need to check your payment details are correct, and all roaming usage will be restricted.”

In practice 5GB in a day is a lot and most people will not run through it twice. It is worth knowing the ceiling is your card rather than a number Optus has set.

One more, and it is a gap rather than a fee. Optus sends usage alerts at 50%, 85% and 100% of each 5GB block, so the warnings you get are about data, not dollars. Its general “every $50 of excluded usage” alert explicitly does not apply here:

“Note. Doesn’t apply to Optus Daily Roaming as usage types not included can’t be used while roaming.”

How to actually turn it off

Optus’s Daily Roaming article gives one answer:

“To turn off Optus Daily Roaming you’ll need to turn on Aeroplane / Flight mode in your device settings. … Once Aeroplane / Flight mode is turned on, you won’t be able to send / receive text messages or phone calls and use data services.”

That is the only method that works once you are already overseas with no wifi, which is presumably why the article puts it that way. But Optus documents two other routes elsewhere on its own site, and you should know about both because they are better options if you plan ahead.

In the My Optus app, before you fly. Service, then Settings, then International Roaming, then pick your roaming option. Optus’s Critical Information Summary describes activation as conditional on this: “If roaming is active within your device settings and My Optus app“. You can also do it by phone on 1509.

On a dual SIM handset, disable the Optus line. Optus says so directly: “If you have dual SIMs, you can turn off your Optus SIM temporarily in the Settings on your phone.”

So the honest version is that aeroplane mode is the emergency brake, and the app toggle is the thing to use before you leave.

The Zone 2 problem

This is the finding that surprised us most, and it is the strongest practical reason an Optus customer might want a travel eSIM.

If your destination is not on the Zone 1 list, an Optus Choice Plus customer does not get expensive roaming. They get no roaming at all.

“What if the country I am visiting is not listed in the eligible Zone 1 destinations list? Unfortunately, if you’re traveling to a Zone 2 destination, you won’t be able to use roaming on your service. Using WiFi is recommended whilst in other destinations.”

“No roaming options are available on these plans outside Zone 1 destinations.”

The Zone 1 list covers 153 destinations and includes essentially everywhere Australians commonly go, so this will not affect most trips. If you are going somewhere less travelled, check the list before you assume your phone will work at all. “Using WiFi is recommended” is Optus’s actual advice, and it is not much of a plan for a two week trip.

Check you are on an eligible plan

Daily Roaming is not available to every Optus customer. It is postpaid only, and only on certain plans. Optus names them:

“Optus Daily Roaming is available to Consumer and Small Business customers on an eligible Optus Choice Plus, Optus Plus Family, Optus Plus Promo, Optus Plus Data, Business Choice Plus, Business Choice Data Plus, Business Teams Plus and Qantas plans (Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband).”

Optus’s own eligible plans PDF lists the same set slightly differently, adding Optus Plus Kids and naming the data plan Optus Choice Plus Data. That PDF is dated May 2023, so treat the plan prices in it with some caution even though Optus still links to it as current.

If you are on an older Optus postpaid plan, you are looking at the $10 Optus Roaming Pass or standard roaming rates instead, and those are different products with different maths. We have put the eligibility rules for all three carriers in one place in which Australian phone plans actually include roaming.

When Optus Daily Roaming beats a travel eSIM

We would rather say this clearly than bury it, because on a lot of trips it is the right answer.

Short and medium trips. At $5 a day for 5GB, Optus is competitive for longer than either of its rivals. Our Japan 10GB plan is $19.95, so four days of Optus costs about the same and includes calls and texts as well. Under four days, Optus wins outright.

Any trip where someone needs to ring you. A travel eSIM is data only. Optus keeps your actual number answering calls and sending texts. If you are travelling for work or meeting people who will phone rather than message, that is worth more than the price difference.

Heavy data use. 5GB a day is a lot. If you genuinely use that much, Optus at $5 a day is very hard to beat on a per gigabyte basis, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

If you would rather not think about it. It is already on. It activates itself. There is nothing to buy or install.

When a travel eSIM makes more sense

Longer trips. Fourteen days in Bali is $70 on Optus. Our Indonesia 20GB plan is $24.95 and lasts 30 days. The gap widens the longer you stay.

If you are not on an eligible plan. Roughly the whole point of the eligibility section above.

If you are on Optus prepaid. Different product, covered below.

If you are going to a Zone 2 destination. Where Optus gives you nothing.

If you want the number fixed before you go. Prepaid data has one price and you pay it once. Nothing accumulates while you are away and nothing arrives afterwards.

Running both, which is what we would actually do

Because receiving a text does not trigger a charge, there is a configuration where your Optus number keeps taking bank codes and two factor messages while a travel eSIM carries the data, and Optus charges you nothing.

Before you fly, buy the eSIM and check your phone is compatible and unlocked. After you land, on airport wifi, install and activate it, set it as your line for mobile data, and turn data roaming on for that line only.

On the Optus line: turn data roaming off, do not make or answer calls, and do not send texts. Receiving texts is free and does not start a charge.

Two cautions, and we want to be careful about how we put these because Optus does not address the situation directly.

Optus publishes nothing about whether an idle Optus line alongside a third party travel eSIM will trigger a charge. What Optus does publish is that receiving a call triggers one, and that a voicemail diversion set to busy, no reply or unreachable “may trigger the service”. Putting those together, a line that is simply switched on can be charged $5 by somebody else ringing it. That is our reading of Optus’s own trigger list rather than something Optus states, and if it matters to you, turn voicemail diversion off before you go.

Dual SIM handsets can also switch their data line without being asked. Check a day or two in that your data is still coming from the travel eSIM. Our dual SIM setup guide covers where those settings live.

If you are on Optus prepaid

Daily Roaming is postpaid only. Prepaid gets a separate set of add-ons, and they are decent:

All Zone 1 only. One thing to note if you are comparing destination counts: the prepaid page carries a “150+ destinations” headline, but the list published underneath it runs to 125 destinations plus in-flight. Use the list rather than the headline.

Unlike the postpaid product, the prepaid $5 add-on is a calendar day rather than a rolling 24 hours. Optus’s terms say it “expires at 11.59pm on day following purchase”.

We have written that comparison out properly in Optus prepaid roaming vs a travel eSIM.

The verdict

Optus Daily Roaming is the best roaming product sold in Australia right now. Half Telstra’s price for two and a half times the data, a rolling 24 hour day instead of a clock that flips at Australian midnight, and 153 destinations. If you are on an eligible plan and your trip is short, buy it and enjoy it.

What we would want you to know before you go is that it turns itself on, it charges your card in $5 increments with no published ceiling, an incoming call you never answer can start a day, and if your destination is Zone 2 you get nothing at all.

If you have worked out that a travel eSIM suits your trip better, our destination pages have the plans and every price is in Australian dollars.

Questions people actually ask

Will Optus charge me if I do not use my phone?

Possibly. Using data, sending a text, making a call or receiving a call all start a $5 charge, and Optus says a voicemail diversion set to busy, no reply or unreachable may also trigger it. Receiving a text does not.

How do I turn Optus Daily Roaming off?

Optus’s Daily Roaming article says to use aeroplane or flight mode. Optus separately documents turning international roaming off in the My Optus app, by calling 1509, or on a dual SIM handset by disabling the Optus SIM. The app is the one to use before you fly.

How many times can Optus charge me $5 in one trip?

Optus does not publish a limit. Each time you finish the 5GB, another $5 and another 5GB are added automatically. There is no stated maximum number of charges and no stated maximum spend.

What happens if my destination is not Zone 1?

On a Choice Plus plan you cannot roam at all. Optus’s own answer is that “using WiFi is recommended whilst in other destinations”.

Does Optus Daily Roaming work on prepaid?

No. Prepaid customers buy separate roaming add-ons starting at $5 for 1GB over one day, all in Zone 1 only.

Is 5GB a day enough?

For most people, comfortably. Maps, messaging, social and browsing rarely reach it. Streaming video and hotspotting a laptop will.

Will I still get bank SMS codes if I use a travel eSIM instead?

Yes, provided you leave the Optus line switched on with data roaming turned off for that line. Receiving a text is free and does not start a charge. Making or answering a call does.

Is Optus Daily Roaming better than Telstra’s Day Pass?

On price and data, yes. Optus is $5 for 5GB where Telstra is $10 for 2GB in most destinations. Telstra covers 91 Day Pass destinations against Optus’s 153. Eligibility differs, so check your own plan first.

Sources

All Optus figures, quotes, zone lists and eligibility rules retrieved 17 August 2026 from Optus Daily Roaming explained, Optus International Roaming, Optus International Roaming explained, Optus Prepaid International Roaming, the Optus Choice Plus Critical Information Summary, the plans eligible for Optus Daily Roaming PDF and the Optus Fair Go Policy. Telstra comparison figures from Telstra International Roaming, same date. Our prices from our own product pages, same date.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.