buying a pre-paid sim card in sydney ?

mikedublin

Hi. Can you get pre-paid sim cards in Australia ? and if so would anyone know anywhere in central sydney where you can get a prepaid sim card - on whatever network gives the cheapest calls. I'll be in Australia for just 1 month and want to have a local number to give people to call and to be able to phone round. cheers, mike

Flairpinnedme

it'll cost you about $10 to get a sim card. you can get them anywhere, safeway, 7eleven, coles etc

then you get a certain cap, ie if you pay $29 then you get $150 credit to use up within a month. pay $50 you get $300. most of the networks have similar caps, i'd suggest vodafone, its quite cheap and reliable

ballooba

There's not much difference between them but I find Three better than Vodafone.

The_B_Man

doesnt really make a difference if ur stayin in the city. they're pretty similarly priced.

the only issue is when u go out to more rural areas, then the coverage begins to drop. Telstra are muck but they have the best coverage.

if ur stayin on the coast then go with voda or 3 as stated above, and get the $29/$49 caps!

ps u can buy them all over the place. think i even saw vending machines with sim cards in them! any supermarket will sell them, as will a lot of corner shops in the city.

hussey

if you buy from woolworths you get a 10% discount too

But as the B-man said, if your ghoing to country Telstra/Optus are the best coverage, vodafone pretty much have the populated areas

when I went to tassie for 6 days, I had zero coverage expect for Hobert and Laucheston

But yeah caps are the way to go - esp if texting over seas etc

38141

What about receiving calls from eire? Do you have to pay to receive calls in oz?

hussey

Nope no charge

RedNiamhy

I got a vodafone sim for $2 in Coles.
Top up from Woolworths, Big W, or various other places for 10% off.
$49 cap then costs $44 and you get $350 credit.
Costs nothing to receive texts or calls from anywhere, and $2 a min to phone Irish landlines.
The credit expires after a month.
They have a $79 cap too which gives $600 credit I think, but again, expires after a month.

A tip though - I have an old pone with my Irish sim in it too and that way people from home can text me for the same amount it costs them when I'm at home, rather than paying for text an Australian number. And again, it costs nothing to receive texts to your Irish number while here.

myhorse

Just make sure your phone is unlocked before travelling

mikedublin

thanks for all that useful info. coming in 2 weeks ! cheers, Mike

Sniipe

I'm going to jump on this thread, hope you don't mind mikedublin.
My G/F fiancé is gone to Oz for a month. Whats the cheapest way for us to contact each other? She has her phone with her and she also has a sim from a friend which appears to be a vodafone one.

Miss No Name

A tip though - I have an old pone with my Irish sim in it too and that way people from home can text me for the same amount it costs them when I'm at home, rather than paying for text an Australian number. And again, it costs nothing to receive texts to your Irish number while here.

But if you are using your Irish sim in Australia then you are roaming. It will cost them extra to text you - its not the same price as if your in Ireland.

I am with o2 and I can text all foreign numbers for free with web texting. Its great.

Sniipe

Miss No Name wrote: »

I am with o2 and I can text all foreign numbers for free with web texting. Its great.

interesting, does this work with the cabbage program do you know?

podgeandrodge

Flairpinnedme wrote: »

it'll cost you about $10 to get a sim card. you can get them anywhere, safeway, 7eleven, coles etc

then you get a certain cap, ie if you pay $29 then you get $150 credit to use up within a month. pay $50 you get $300. most of the networks have similar caps, i'd suggest vodafone, its quite cheap and reliable

Do you need to provide identification (passport etc) when arriving in Australia to purchase one of these or are they literally off the shelf? (I heard something about having to "activate" them?) Thanks

hussey

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Do you need to provide identification (passport etc) when arriving in Australia to purchase one of these or are they literally off the shelf? (I heard something about having to "activate" them?) Thanks

Off the shelf, but need ID to activate them - a passport number will do.

here is what e.g. vodafone ask for
https://selfserve.myvodafone.com.au/registerme/activateRedSim/IdReq.jsp

podgeandrodge

Thanks for that Hussey - hopefully I will get one in Melbourne Airport when i arrive next week!

lg123

lebara is also another option if you are looking for cheap international calls, i havnt seen a lebara shop anywhere, i got my sim in a convenience store, many have the sims for sale. calling an irish landline is 7c/min and an irish mobile is 33c/m. they are cheap but there is usually a very annoying delay in the connection though. personally i have 2 sims, vodafone for local calls and i throw the lebara into the phone when i am calling home.