Which travel eSIMs actually charge you in Australian dollars

Why this costs you money

If a purchase settles in a foreign currency, two things happen.

Your card issuer converts at their rate, which is usually close to but not identical to the mid-market rate you see on a search engine.

Many Australian cards then add a foreign transaction fee, typically around two to three per cent. Some travel-oriented cards charge nothing.

On a twenty dollar eSIM that is a difference of forty to sixty cents, which is not much. On a fifty dollar Europe plan bought alongside two others for a family, it starts to matter. And it is money you cannot see at the checkout, which is the part people object to.

There is also a smaller effect worth knowing: a foreign currency transaction sometimes appears on your statement a day or two later at a slightly different figure than you expected, because conversion happens at settlement rather than at purchase. That is normal and it is not the retailer doing anything wrong. It just means the price is not knowable in advance.

Sale prices are worth checking rather than taking at face value. Our five checks for a travel eSIM deal covers what to look at before the percentage.

The two we could not resolve

This page is only useful if we are straight about what we do not know.

Airalo displays Australian dollars, and their terms mention US dollars

Airalo runs an Australian dollar rate card. We confirmed this is a separate price list rather than a live conversion: the Australian dollar figures sit at roughly 1.44 to 1.50 times the US dollar prices, which is in the region of the market rate but is a set of round-ish price points rather than a calculated conversion.

Their terms of use, however, contain this:

“we usually process payments in US Dollars”

We could not determine what actually lands on an Australian card statement. The displayed price is in Australian dollars. Whether settlement happens in Australian dollars, or in US dollars with your bank converting, we were not able to confirm from outside the payment flow.

We are flagging it rather than asserting it, because we do not know and we are not going to guess about a competitor’s payment processing.

How to find out for yourself, in thirty seconds: buy from them, then look at your card statement. If a foreign transaction fee line appears, settlement was in US dollars and the real price is a few per cent above the displayed one. If it does not, the displayed price is the price. That is the only definitive test and it is one you can run and we cannot.

Nomad now renders Australian dollars

Nomad’s Australian storefront rendered AUD automatically when checked from this connection on 25 August 2026. Its homepage, country pages and regional Asia page all used AUD, including a China 10GB/30-day sale price of A$23.73 and an Asia Pacific 10GB/30-day price of A$29.31.

That resolves the display-currency question in the earlier draft. It does not prove how every payment method settles, so check the final checkout total and your statement if a foreign transaction fee would change the decision.

The one that is definitively a no

Saily does not sell in Australian dollars. This is not an inference.

Their supported currency list is US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs. Requesting euros, pounds or Swiss francs works. Requesting Australian dollars silently falls back to US dollars.

That is a confirmed negative rather than a failed capture, and it is worth knowing because Saily’s headline prices are low enough that people assume they are the cheapest option and then wear a conversion plus a card fee on top.

To be fair to Saily on a related point: their terms name CyberQuay Pty Ltd, Sydney as the contracting entity for Australian buyers, with a clause acknowledging local consumer law can override their governing law. So they have an Australian company on the contract while billing in US dollars. Those are two separate things and it is worth keeping them separate.

A rate card is not a conversion, and Ubigi’s is the clearest example

This is the finding most likely to be misread, so here it is carefully.

Ubigi bills Australians in Australian dollars and it settles in Australian dollars at the cart. We confirmed that. On the question this page is about, they pass.

Their Australian dollar prices run at roughly 1.70 to 1.76 times their US dollar prices. For comparison, Airalo’s sit at about 1.44 to 1.50 times, which is nearer the market rate.

That is not a hidden fee and it is not misconduct. Companies set different prices in different markets all the time, for reasons that include local tax, payment costs, support costs and simple commercial judgement. A rate card is a price, not a conversion, and Ubigi is under no obligation to peg it to an exchange rate.

What it means for you is narrower and more useful: if you compare Ubigi’s US dollar prices to an Australian competitor and convert them yourself, you will get a number that is lower than what Ubigi will actually charge you. Compare the Australian dollar prices to the Australian dollar prices. That is the whole lesson, and it applies to any provider running a separate rate card.

Ubigi remains the cheapest option in Europe at A$26.00 for 10GB over 30 days, and they have the best published fair use terms in the category. The rate card point does not change either of those.

The full method, so you can check us

A price table nobody can verify is just an assertion. Here is exactly how each figure was obtained.

We are publishing the method because it is checkable, and because nobody else in this category publishes theirs. If any of this changes, we would rather you found it and told us than discovered it at checkout.

How to protect yourself, whoever you buy from

Check whether your card charges foreign transaction fees. Many Australian everyday cards charge two to three per cent. Several travel-oriented debit and credit cards charge nothing. If you hold one of those, most of this page matters much less to you.

Compare like with like. Australian dollar price against Australian dollar price. Do not convert a US price yourself and treat the result as comparable to an Australian one, because rate cards are not conversions.

If a site lets you switch currency, switch it before you compare, not after. Some providers show one currency in the catalogue and another at checkout.

Check your statement afterwards. A foreign transaction fee line is the only definitive proof of what settled. It appears within a few days.

And do not assume the lowest headline wins. On several destinations the lowest number on the page is a US dollar figure that lands above an Australian dollar one once conversion and a card fee are counted.

Every price we publish, in the currency the provider actually bills, dated and re-checked monthly: travel eSIM prices in Australia.

Questions people actually ask

Which travel eSIMs charge in Australian dollars?

The SIM Shop, SimCorner, Simify, Holafly, Ubigi and aloSIM all offer Australian-dollar pricing. Airalo displays Australian dollars off its own rate card, though its terms also mention processing payments in US dollars. Nomad’s Australian storefront now renders AUD. Saily confirms it supports only US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs.

Does Saily charge in Australian dollars?

No. Their supported currency list is US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs, and requesting Australian dollars falls back to US dollars. That is a confirmed position rather than an assumption.

Will I pay a foreign transaction fee on a travel eSIM?

Only if the purchase settles in a foreign currency and your card charges one. Many Australian everyday cards add two to three per cent; several travel cards add nothing. The only definitive test is to check your statement after buying.

Does Airalo charge Australians in Australian dollars?

They display and price in Australian dollars off their own rate card. Their terms of use also say they “usually process payments in US Dollars”, and we could not confirm from outside the payment flow which currency settles. Check your statement for a foreign transaction fee after buying.

Why is Ubigi’s Australian dollar price higher than a conversion of its US price?

Because a rate card is a price list, not a conversion. Ubigi sets separate prices per market, as many companies do, and their Australian dollar figures sit at roughly 1.70 to 1.76 times their US dollar ones. It is not a hidden fee, but it does mean you should compare Australian dollar prices directly rather than converting their US ones.

Is it cheaper to buy a travel eSIM in US dollars?

Sometimes on the headline, rarely once you count conversion and any card fee. On several destinations the lowest number on the page is a US dollar figure that lands above an Australian dollar competitor after conversion.

Do Australian dollar prices include GST?

The SIM Shop is not registered for GST, so we do not charge GST. The price shown is what you pay at checkout. Providers based overseas handle GST differently, which is another reason to compare the final checkout figure rather than the advertised one.

How do I check what currency a purchase settled in?

Look at your card statement a few days after buying. If a foreign transaction fee line appears against the purchase, it settled in a foreign currency. If it does not, it settled in Australian dollars.

Sources

Currency positions established from each provider’s own site and published material, rechecked 25 August 2026: our own store; the Australian stores of SimCorner and Simify; Holafly’s destination pages; Airalo’s Australian dollar rate card and Terms of Use; Ubigi’s currency selector and cart; Nomad’s Australian storefront and country pages; Saily’s site currency configuration; and aloSIM’s published currency list. Airalo’s settlement question remains flagged rather than asserted.

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