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Telstra is Australia's largest mobile provider, so naturally it has a decent range of prepaid plans on offer for customers. Whether you're looking for tons of data that will take ages to expire or you just want something for the next little while, there's a prepaid plan to suit.
Compare prepaid plans from Telstra below
Why choose Telstra prepaid?
If you're buying any plan with Telstra, you're getting all the benefits that go along with Australia's biggest provider: great coverage wherever you go, a big, reliable brand name, and a boatload of extras and features, including data-free streaming of sports and music and Telstra Plus rewards. However, all of this doesn't come cheap, and Telstra remains Australia's most expensive mobile provider.
That said, if you're comfortable paying extra, Telstra's Pre Paid Max plans are a solid choice in terms of data, and they even come with features that their postpaid plans lack, like data rollover and international calls. Its Long Life Plus long expiry plans aren't anything too special as far as long-lived credit goes, though these, too, have a few uncommon bonus features.
Either way, Telstra's prepaid plans are all month-to-month, so if you decide it's not working out for you, you can switch away whenever you want.
Telstra prepaid features
Data bank. As long as you recharge your plan before the expiry date, you'll be able to roll over any unused data on a Pre Paid Max plan up to a total of 200GB.
International inclusions. With all but Telstra's smallest plan, you'll receive free international calls to landlines in 18 different countries. For a full list, see the table under "Telstra prepaid international inclusions" further down.
Sports streaming. You can stream a bunch of sports, from AFL to netball and more, without using up any data.
Music streaming. If you have an Apple Music subscription, you can listen to as much music as you want with your Telstra plan without eating into your data allowance.
Telstra Air. As with any Telstra service, you gain access to the Telstra Air national Wi-Fi network for free.
Telstra Plus. This is Telstra's loyalty rewards program. If you join, you can rack up points for spending money on your mobile bill and other things. You can then spend those points on phones and speakers, plus you can get access to other benefits like cheap movie tickets.
As with any phone plan, Telstra's prepaid offerings are variable and there are quite a few to choose from. Here's the good and the bad of Telstra's prepaid plans:
Pros
No bill shock. With a prepaid plan, you can never go over. Your services stop when you hit your limit.
Loads of extras. Telstra has loads of features of offer, from data-free music streaming to international calls. These are great if you'll use them, but irrelevant if you don't.
Brand benefit. Telstra has a reputation as one of Australia's most reliable providers.
Flexible. Telstra has a wide range of options to choose from and because its prepaid plans are all month-to-month, you can switch easily if your current plan isn't working out.
Cons
Premium pricing. While Telstra's plans have plenty of features and they're known to be reliable, the company charges dearly for its services.
28 day expiry. Telstra's main plan has only a 28-day expiry period, which is not quite a month. This means that you may have to pay for an extra recharge over the course of a year.
Lower monetary value. Prepaid plans tend to have lower value overall in data-per-dollar terms. A postpaid plan might offer you more bang for buck.
What are the different types of Telstra prepaid mobile plans?
Telstra has two types of prepaid plans on offer:
Pre Paid Max. Suitable for most regular phone users, this plan includes unlimited domestic calls and texts, as well as unlimited calls to 18 countries. The more you spend, the longer the expiry period and the higher the included data. The plans range from $10 for 2GB over 7 days, all the way up to $300 for 150GB over 12 months.
Long Life Plus. Great for infrequent phone users or those who barely use phone data, this plan lets you purchase a set amount of credit that can be used over a certain period of time. Money will be deducted for calls, texts and data usage. Within Australia, you'll be charged 30c for each minute of a voice call or text that you send, and data is charged at a high rate of 10c/MB. The more you recharge, the longer your credit lasts.
Telstra prepaid international inclusions
With a Long Life Plus plan, you don't get any international inclusions. However, with a Pre Paid Max plan, you'll get unlimited calls to 18 countries and reduced rates to others, which is outlined in the table below.
Countries
International call rate
Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam
Unlimited
Ireland, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Japan, Philippines and Sri Lanka
15c/minute
Andorra, Austria, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Finland, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Nepal, New Caledonia, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Vatican City and Virgin Islands (US)
30c/minute
Telstra prepaid phones
Telstra's prepaid handsets come at a pretty reasonable price with one of their prepaid plans, but they are locked to the Telstra network. To use them with another carrier's SIM, you'll have to wait two years, or pay $80 if it's been active for less than six months or $25 if it's been active for between six months and two years.
Here are the prepaid handsets currently on offer from Telstra:
We've compared Telstra's Pre-paid Max $30 deal to other similar plans on the market.
As you can see, Telstra's only real bonus over competitors for the extra price is the additional features it offers such as streaming inclusions and Telstra Plus points. Otherwise, you can get a comparable amount of data from providers like Optus or Boost for less.
Frequently asked questions
How do I switch to Telstra prepaid?
Don't cancel your existing plan if you want to retain your phone number.
Purchase a new prepaid plan with a SIM online or in store.
When signing up, ask to transfer your existing number over.
Activate your new SIM when it arrives. You should be good to go within a few hours.
If you're not already with Telstra, you simply need to purchase an appropriate prepaid plan either online or at a Telstra store. New plans will come with a SIM card that you'll need to install in your phone and activate, after which you'll be able to access your credit and recharge like normal.
If you're on a postpaid Telstra plan and want to switch to prepaid, you can usually keep your SIM and number by either contacting Telstra or going to one of their stores to get it sorted. If you have a prepaid plan and want a different one, it's possible to change your offer via account management on Tesltra's online portal or 24/7 app.
How do I recharge Telstra prepaid?
Telstra offers plenty of options for recharging your prepaid plan. Always check the specific details of your plan, since some offer rewards for recharging ahead of the expiry date.
Online at m.telstra.com. You can visit Telstra's web portal on your browser, create a Telstra ID and recharge using most payment methods. If you use your prepaid phone to visit the website, it will automatically detect your mobile and won't charge you for data.
Via Telstra's 24/7 app. This app will detect your sim automatically from your prepaid phone. The Telstra 24/7 app is available free of charge for iPhone (you can download it here) and Android (download here).
Via credit card/PayPal. Telstra supports payments via Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, American Express or PayPal to recharge mobile services, but you will have to go through Telstra's prepaid payment gateway to access the service. You can recharge your own mobile service or the service of any other Telstra prepaid mobiles this way.
With a voucher. You can opt to purchase recharge vouchers at most supermarkets and other mass-market retailers, which you can then apply to your mobile service through the Telstra 24/7 app or mobile web portal.
By phone. If you'd rather use your phone to recharge, you can access recharge services by dialling 125 888 from your handset.
Via automatic recharge. You can set up an automatic recharge with most payment methods using the app or online portal. Be aware that if you set this up, you'll be paying regularly even if you aren't using the service until you explicitly cancel it.
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Sam Baran is a writer for Finder, covering topics across the tech, telco and utilities sectors. They enjoy decrypting technical jargon and helping people compare complex products easily. When they aren't writing, you'll find Sam's head buried in a book or working on their latest short story. Sam has a Bachelor of Advanced Science from the University of Sydney.
Thanks for reaching out! To $20 recharge will last depending on your usage. For additional information, standard national calls is 3 cents/minute, no free text messages, and no data included. Keep a close watch on your consumption to make sure it will last you at least 14 days.
How long is one’s mobile service connected to the Telstra network if one has omitted to recharge timeously on the Telstra 4G Prepaid Long Life Plus $30?
Generally, Telstra SIM cards will expire if it is not recharged. Six (6) months after your credit has expired, if you have not recharged in this period the SIM will expire and be cancelled. This timeframe goes the same with a Telstra 4G Prepaid Long Life Plus $30.
If your SIM gets expired, you need to purchase a new SIM and get a new service/number. The page above will show you available plans that you can take advantage.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to contact us back should you require further assistance.
Yes, if it’s Telstra Long-Life $30 offer you’re referring to. A recharge of either $30, $40 or $50 has an expiry of 6 months. Please be guided of the call and text rates for this pre-paid plan as listed above.
I have a prepaid service on the Telstra Pre-Paid Plus offer.
I used to be able to recharge my telstra service, and use my credit on the Google Play Store by selecting bill my telstra service.
Obviously, this was a useful feature of the telstra prepaid plan, but now, after I recharge, the credit still applies to my data/voice/messages, but it seems it is no longer possible to use the credit as I did before.
What happened? was it removed? Is there a recourse available for telstra removing a major benefit of the offer?
Thank you for contacting finder.com.au is a financial comparison website and general information service designed to help consumers make better decisions. Please note that we do not represent TELSTRA or any company we feature on our pages.
In regards to your comment on our page about Telstra Pre-Paid Plus payment via Google Play Store, the Prepaid offer where you can Purchase from Google play was the Freedom plus offer, and since you have the Prepaid plus offer on your mobile before, Pre-Paid Plus $30+ recharges do not come with recharge credit but include Plus Credit ($5, $10 and $15 with $30, $40 and $50 recharges respectively). Plus Credit can be used on international calls and text, roaming and Premium SMS. Plus Credit excludes calls, text and MMS to Australian numbers, diversions, MessageBank retrieval, internet browsing within Australia and Google Play Content purchases.
Now, since the Plus credits excludes Google play Purchases for you to be able to Purchase on Google Play store, You need to use your credit card when processing your payment.
Thank you for your reply, although you pretty much said exactly what is on the telstra webpage.
The thing is, I was able to use my credit to purchase items on the Google store, but for the last two recharges, I cannot. I have been on prepaid plus for 3 months.
I suppose another way to ask my question is when did freedom plus become unavailable, and when did prepaid plus become the default?
My wife is a pensioner and wishes to have a mobile phone in case of emergency when in the car. Average use over past months is two local calls a month. What would you recommend?
Although I cannot recommend a specific mobile phone plan because your circumstances, budget and needs may vary quite markedly, but you may check out this link for some options and tips on which mobile plans would possibly fit your or your wife’s needs. The selections on that link is categorized based on usage, budget and other things that would matter when selecting a mobile plan.
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finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We compare from a wide set of banks, insurers and product issuers. We value our editorial independence and follow editorial guidelines.
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I get the $30 recharge it lasts about 28 days or so. I just want 2 get a $20 recharge will it last about 14 days.
Hi borger11981@gmail.com,
Thanks for reaching out! To $20 recharge will last depending on your usage. For additional information, standard national calls is 3 cents/minute, no free text messages, and no data included. Keep a close watch on your consumption to make sure it will last you at least 14 days.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Nikki
How long is one’s mobile service connected to the Telstra network if one has omitted to recharge timeously on the Telstra 4G Prepaid Long Life Plus $30?
Thanking You Kindly
Walleon
Hi Walleon,
Thank you for reaching out to finder.
Generally, Telstra SIM cards will expire if it is not recharged. Six (6) months after your credit has expired, if you have not recharged in this period the SIM will expire and be cancelled. This timeframe goes the same with a Telstra 4G Prepaid Long Life Plus $30.
If your SIM gets expired, you need to purchase a new SIM and get a new service/number. The page above will show you available plans that you can take advantage.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to contact us back should you require further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Mai
I have a Telstra mobile and if I buy a $30 recharge, is it still Good for 6 months and not lose my credit?
Hi Ken,
Yes, if it’s Telstra Long-Life $30 offer you’re referring to. A recharge of either $30, $40 or $50 has an expiry of 6 months. Please be guided of the call and text rates for this pre-paid plan as listed above.
Cheers,
Liezl
does all standard calls include mobile and home phones and is it to telstra only
Hello Gaile,
Thank you for your inquiry.
Yes, it includes mobiles and home phone calls in all providers.
You may refer to the Critical Information Summary of the Telstra Pre-Paid Mobile Offers for further details.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jonathan
I have a prepaid service on the Telstra Pre-Paid Plus offer.
I used to be able to recharge my telstra service, and use my credit on the Google Play Store by selecting bill my telstra service.
Obviously, this was a useful feature of the telstra prepaid plan, but now, after I recharge, the credit still applies to my data/voice/messages, but it seems it is no longer possible to use the credit as I did before.
What happened? was it removed? Is there a recourse available for telstra removing a major benefit of the offer?
Hello Jon!
Thank you for contacting finder.com.au is a financial comparison website and general information service designed to help consumers make better decisions. Please note that we do not represent TELSTRA or any company we feature on our pages.
In regards to your comment on our page about Telstra Pre-Paid Plus payment via Google Play Store, the Prepaid offer where you can Purchase from Google play was the Freedom plus offer, and since you have the Prepaid plus offer on your mobile before, Pre-Paid Plus $30+ recharges do not come with recharge credit but include Plus Credit ($5, $10 and $15 with $30, $40 and $50 recharges respectively). Plus Credit can be used on international calls and text, roaming and Premium SMS. Plus Credit excludes calls, text and MMS to Australian numbers, diversions, MessageBank retrieval, internet browsing within Australia and Google Play Content purchases.
Now, since the Plus credits excludes Google play Purchases for you to be able to Purchase on Google Play store, You need to use your credit card when processing your payment.
I hope I was able to address your concern today.
Regards,
Chester
Hi Chester,
Thank you for your reply, although you pretty much said exactly what is on the telstra webpage.
The thing is, I was able to use my credit to purchase items on the Google store, but for the last two recharges, I cannot. I have been on prepaid plus for 3 months.
I suppose another way to ask my question is when did freedom plus become unavailable, and when did prepaid plus become the default?
Kind regards,
Jon
Hello Jon!
Thanks for your response.
The Freedom Plus offer was disconnected on August 22, and that is also the date the Prepaid Plus was launched to the market.
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Chester
My wife is a pensioner and wishes to have a mobile phone in case of emergency when in the car. Average use over past months is two local calls a month. What would you recommend?
Hi John,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Although I cannot recommend a specific mobile phone plan because your circumstances, budget and needs may vary quite markedly, but you may check out this link for some options and tips on which mobile plans would possibly fit your or your wife’s needs. The selections on that link is categorized based on usage, budget and other things that would matter when selecting a mobile plan.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Jason