Tip for Smartphone users - awesome deal

[Nathalie]

I already said this in my arrival thread, but I thought I'd post it here too as I've seen some questions about it.

 

This definately applies to smartphones (iPhones/Android), not sure how this applies to "normal" phones.

 

My OH and I are both iPhone users and when we arrived it was crucial for us to get an Australian sim card so we'd have everything handy from our phone (internet access in particular - sorry we're those type of people whose lives depend on it!).

 

We went into the Telstra shop (I can't recommend Telstra enough - avoid Vodafone at all costs, not sure about the others), and as we have unlocked phones we only needed a sim card, pay as you go preferably as this will avoid you racking up unexpected costs.

 

So here's the deal: You can buy a sim card for $2 and then you top up for a certain amount (on the pre-paid cap+ tariff). Check the Telstra site for exact numbers. We chose to go for the $60 top up at least the first time as this would give us 3GB of data for the month and we'd be travelling around a bit and wanted to make use of Googlemaps and other data services extensively (we'll probably top up a little less for the next month). This would ofcourse also give you $60 of voice/txts for you to use.

 

However, Telstra also gives you bonus minutes and for the $60 top up, you get $940!! on bonus for calls (if you top up less this amount goes down). The BEST thing of this is, you can use these bonus minutes for international calls, landline aswell as MOBILES. Basically you can call from your phone to home for free for quite a significant time. I've been calling my family on their mobiles for no cost at all and I don't think I'll even manage to use up all those bonus minutes

 

For us this is a very good deal as we are heavy smartphone users and the price would be similar if you were to get a phone and pay monthly for it with a limited amount of minutes and you are stuck on a contract for xx months/years.

 

Please note though, if you bring your phone from the UK it needs to be unlocked or your Aussie sim won't work with it (if you haven't bought your phone unlocked you mostlikely can call your carrier, explain the situation and they can unlock it for you - though if you break your contract with them, you may incur charges).

 

Hope this helps for some of you

[Guest ver]

Agreed

 

With the above pre paid cap we top up $30 a month and from that you get the bonus to use as texts and phone calls from mobile to mobile (not sure on international calls on the $30) and some bonus data for your mobile internet usage. You can use the $30 of credit to top up your existing bundels i.e. texts, calls abroad, data.

 

We find that we dont use all of the bonus credit so use the original $30 credit to add more data. The downsides of this are:

 

Any voicemail is taken out of your $30 credit and not your bonus credit

The credit (bonus or otherwise) don't roll over - You can at the end of the month use up your initial $30 credit to buy bundles that are valid for a month.

 

It's ok but Telstra do have great reception and speeds

[Nathalie]

Your "own" credit (ie the amount you pay to top up) rolls over. Only the bonus one doesn't (logically)

[Guest Louey]

Your "own" credit (ie the amount you pay to top up) rolls over. Only the bonus one doesn't (logically)

 

Hi Virgin does roll over credit on their Big Cap $29 which costs $19 for the first 10 months if you take your own mobile. I bought a phone outright with them cost $199 its an android LG optimus one and I get $450 credit a month. Not sure if offer is still on so check out a local Virgin store!!! There is no lock in contract either on this so I was told.

 

Make sure you read the small print because it still sounds to good to be true to me :wink: