If you’re on Telstra prepaid, the Day Pass isn’t available to you. Here’s what is

What the packs actually are

From Telstra’s prepaid international roaming page:

Two details in the fine print. The minutes are two way, so an incoming call eats your allowance the same as an outgoing one: “Note: Voice allowance includes both incoming and outgoing calls.” And the messages are a shared pool, described as “SMS or MMS” rather than a separate allowance for each.

The 38 destinations

This is the constraint that matters most, and it is not the same list as the postpaid Day Pass.

Telstra’s prepaid packs cover exactly 38 destinations: Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Samoa (Western), Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vanuatu.

Notable absences: Italy, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Vietnam, the UAE and most of Latin America. A European trip that takes in Italy or Spain is not covered. Nor is Vietnam, which is Australia’s fifth highest search-volume destination.

If your destination is not on that list, Telstra’s own advice is blunt:

“If your destination isn’t eligible for Pre-Paid International Roaming, you’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi or purchase a local carrier SIM card in order to use your phone overseas.”

Followed immediately by the reassuring half:

“You won’t be charged any pay-as-you-go rates to use your phone overseas.”

Do not buy before you leave

Telstra says this themselves, and it is easy to get wrong:

“Don’t purchase your Pre-Paid International Roaming Pack yet; it will activate upon purchase, so it’s best to wait until you’re overseas. The My Telstra app is the easiest way to do it, just ensure you have the latest version installed before travelling, as you won’t be able to download it outside of Australia.”

So a 3 day pack bought the night before you fly loses a chunk of its life to the flight. Telstra will text you when you land:

“When you arrive in an eligible destination, we’ll send you an SMS with instructions on how to make your purchase.”

There is a catch in the purchase path worth planning around. The recharge website will not work over wifi when you are overseas:

“For your security, the Recharge website will not work overseas when you are connected to Wi-Fi or using a device that is not your mobile phone.”

Which means you need either the My Telstra app installed before you go, or enough working mobile data to buy the pack that gives you mobile data. Install the app before you fly.

Other mechanics worth knowing

No rollover, no auto recharge. “No. Your allowances will expire on the pack’s expiry date, and auto recharge is not available.”

You can stack packs. “You can also use multiple packs simultaneously. All packs will be activated immediately and inclusions from the pack with the earliest expiry will be used up first.”

It works immediately. “Once you buy your Telstra Pre-Paid International Roaming Pack it will work immediately without you needing to do anything else.”

When the Telstra prepaid packs are the better buy

Short trips to a covered destination. A week in Japan on the 7 Day Pack is $15 for 2GB plus 25 minutes and 25 texts, on your own number. That is a reasonable deal and it needs no setup at all.

When you want your number to keep working. A travel eSIM is data only. It does not take calls on your Australian number. The Telstra pack does, and includes minutes.

When you value not being able to overspend. This is the real one. No pack means no charges. For a parent handing a phone to a teenager going overseas, or for anyone who has been burned before, a service that structurally cannot generate a bill is worth something.

Very light use. If you genuinely only need maps and a few messages for three days, $10 for 400MB does the job.

When a travel eSIM makes more sense

Your destination is not on the 38. Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Ireland, Switzerland, the UAE and most of South America are all outside the packs. We cover 200 plus destinations.

You need more than 4GB. The largest pack is 4GB over 14 days. That is not much for a fortnight.

Longer trips. Two 14 day packs for a month is $50 for 8GB. Our Japan 10GB plan is $19.95 and lasts 30 days.

You want the price fixed before you fly. The prepaid packs must be bought after you land, which means arriving with no data and sorting it out at the airport.

Here is the arithmetic on the destinations the packs actually cover, using our prices from 17 August 2026:

Read that honestly. On a short trip with light use, the Telstra pack is competitive and throws in calls and texts. On anything past about a week, or anything data heavy, the gap opens up fast.

Running both

You can keep your Telstra prepaid number alive for incoming texts while a travel eSIM carries the data, and it costs nothing extra, because prepaid has no pay as you go roaming to trigger.

Buy the eSIM before you fly and check your phone is compatible and unlocked. After you land, install it over airport wifi, set it as your mobile data line and turn data roaming on for that line. Leave the Telstra line on to receive texts, and simply do not buy a Travel Pack. Without a pack there is nothing to charge you for.

That gets bank codes and two factor messages onto your Australian number while the data comes from somewhere with more headroom. Keeping your Australian number covers the settings.

The verdict

Buy the Telstra Travel Pack if your destination is one of the 38, your trip is a week or less, your data needs are modest, and you want calls and texts on your own number with no way to overspend.

Buy a travel eSIM if you are going somewhere outside the 38, you need more than 4GB, your trip runs longer than a fortnight, or you would rather land with data already working.

If you are on Telstra postpaid rather than prepaid, the maths is completely different and we have written it up separately in Telstra International Day Pass vs a travel eSIM.

Questions people actually ask

Can I use the Telstra Day Pass on prepaid?

No. The Day Pass is postpaid only. Prepaid customers get Travel Packs, which cover 38 destinations rather than 91.

Will I get a surprise bill on Telstra prepaid overseas?

No. There is no pay as you go roaming on Telstra prepaid. Without an active Travel Pack your phone simply will not use mobile data overseas.

Should I buy the pack before I fly?

No. Telstra says to wait until you have arrived, because the pack activates the moment you buy it. Do install the My Telstra app before you go, since you cannot download it overseas.

What if my destination is not on the list?

Telstra’s own advice is to use wifi or buy a local SIM. A travel eSIM is the third option.

Do unused inclusions roll over?

No. Allowances expire on the pack’s expiry date and auto recharge is not available.

Can I have more than one pack at once?

Yes. Packs stack, and the one with the earliest expiry is used first.

How much data is 400MB really?

Maps and messaging for a couple of days if you are careful. Not enough for social video, photo backups or hotspotting.

Sources

Telstra prepaid figures, destination list and quotes retrieved 17 August 2026 from Telstra Pre-Paid International Roaming and Telstra International Roaming. 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.