Roaming in SE Asia and Australia

Osgoodisgood

My daughter is planning to travel in SE Asia and Australia for a few months this year. Is there an Irish mobile provider who looks after travelers better than others?

AMKC

Ot much cheaper and much better to just buy a sim and a cheap phone if her phone is not a sim free phone in whatever country she first goes too and especially in Australia. It will work out much cheaper. That's the way I done it when I was in Australia 13 years ago. Roaming costs for any mobile provider over there from here would be astronomical. Maybe it has changed now but that's the way it was then.

rhinosaurious

Vodafone are the best for roaming, it’s like €3 a day for unlimited everything outside the eu. It’s called red roaming

Ah-Watch

Alot of countries are €4.99 a day outside US and Canada for Red Roaming such as Australia, India, China etc. It doesn't make sense to use an Irish sim for that length of time. If she has a newer phone either dual sim or eSim supported she could just keep the irish number in the phone and use a local sim for data etc in the country she's visiting. It's the cheapest way.

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058285800/roaming-in-se-asia-and-australia

www.gomoworld.com - This is a world travel eSIM from Gomo. They typically have 7-day and 30-day data tariffs for each country. For example Australia is €3.99 for 2GB over 7 days, or €19.99 for 20GB over 30 days. The rates can vary between countries, but are very competitive in comparison to normal roaming rates. However, your daughter will need to have a phone that supports eSIM. Since these eSIMs are data only, she could use a regular GoMo SIM for voice calls & texts. Since GoMo supports WiFi calling when roaming, the voice calls and texts (both incoming and outgoing) will be the same cost as if she remained in Ireland (ie no roaming charges). Eir & GoMo are the only providers who support WiFi Calling when roaming.

Ah-Watch

From the Gomo site it says

"Calls made to the roaming country within which you are staying in or to any number outside of Ireland will be charged at standard international rates from Ireland. If you prefer to pay standard roaming rates for these calls, you have to disable GoMo WiFi Calling"

which would suggest that GoMo wifi calling is different to Eirs??

In any case, eSim is handy if the phone supports it or just pick up a local sim as they're usually the cheapest route

HBC08

If she's with Vodafone it'll be Red Roaming.I think it's €5 per day.

Be warned though I opted into it when I went to Oz in 2018,I also went to Oz again in 2021 and got badly burnt as they had opted me out.

Even as it is €5 a day adds up quickly,I was there for 6 weeks in late 2021.

Don't know for sure but I imagine It's cheaper to buy an Aus pay as you go phone or a burner phone.Id presume its the same in SE Asia but if she's going to be travelling through a lot of countries she might be wise to take the hit and use her Irish phone for this part of the trip

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120326574#Comment_120326574

WiFi calling allows you to remain connected to your home network when you are abroad (although Eir/GoMo are the only providers that don't block it when roaming). The advantage is that all incoming calls are free from roaming charges, and outgoing calls to Ireland are included in most plans. The disadvantage is that some outgoing calls might actually cost more when in Ireland than when roaming (eg calls to EU countries that are free when roaming). If that is the case, you can easily toggle WiFi calling off for such calls.

Charles Babbage

The very best solution is a dual sim phone. Leave an Irish sim for text messages, and use a local sim in the other slot for everything else.

Some providers will have reasonable rates in neighbouring countries to avoid buying a load of sims, e.g. get a suitable SIM in SIngapore