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We all know how important our smartphones are when on holiday. It's possible to order a pizza or taxi at the touch of a button or find our way around unfamiliar places with a local's ease. Things have definitely moved on from scouring tattered old guidebooks for out-of-date information.
If you plan ahead before you hop across to New Zealand, you can avoid paying through the nose when using mobile data. Here's what you need to know.
Can I use an Australian SIM card in New Zealand?
The short answer is yes, you can. It'll work in most major towns and cities across Aotearoa, but reception may get a little ropey when out in rural areas (or the 'wop wops', as those crazy Kiwis call them). However, using an Aussie SIM card in New Zealand could see you get stung with massive roaming charges, your free data evaporated with a single click onto Instagram.
Instead of trying to use your phone as if you’re still in Australia, we suggest setting up an international roaming plan. Here are some of the options Australian providers give you.
Telstra
Telstra has International Roaming that lets you use your mobile service while you're travelling abroad. It’s automatically enabled on all mobile plans. Rates vary depending on the destination, but their International Day Pass is just AU$5 a day for New Zealand.
Optus
With Optus Daily Roaming, Choice Plus plan users can stay connected in more than 110 destinations. AU$5 gives you 5GB to use in 24 hours. If you aren’t eligible for Daily Roaming, there’s also a $10 Optus Roaming Pass or Pre-paid Roaming Add-ons.
Vodafone
Vodafone users with eligible plans can use their phone in over 100 countries for an extra $5 a day. Called (unsurprisingly) $5 Roaming, this feature should activate automatically – just switch your phone on when you arrive in New Zealand.
Which prepaid SIM cards are available in NZ?
Spark
Spark offers a variety of Travel Packs that range from 15 to 90 days and offer data-only or all-inclusive options (data, calls, and texts). These are only available for purchase online.
2degrees
This carrier gives you even more options in terms of pre-paid data plans. 2degrees packages range from NZ$8 of 150MB data to NZ$60 of 10GB data.
One New Zealand
One New Zealand (formerly Vodafone) offers a variety of flexible, customizable prepaid plans that can fit perfectly into your travel itinerary. You can toggle through various amounts of data, talk time, and texts. For example, you can do 1.75GB of data, with 100 minutes of talking and unlimited texts all for NZ$22.
Where can I buy a SIM card?
Your best bet is to pick one up once you've landed at the airport. This way, you won't be left nervously waiting for it to arrive before you fly out if you bought it online – though this is still an option if you give yourself enough time. But it’s not a great idea to buy a SIM card for New Zealand travel when in Australia, as it’s hard to know whether it will work properly once you get there – or that the lower rates will apply.
All the major carriers have shops in the big cities – Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch – and you can often find them in other popular destinations such as Rotorua, Queenstown, and Nelson. Just pop inside and tell them what you're after - they'll sort you out.
What's the network coverage like in New Zealand?
It will work perfectly fine in and around the major towns and cities. It's only when you head out to the back of beyond that apps might take a little longer to load, or you have trouble viewing last night's footy results.
The North Island tends to have better coverage across all networks than its southern neighbour, largely because more people live there and it's more urbanised. In the South Island's major centres such as Christchurch and Queenstown, coverage will be good – just be prepared for a bit of downtime if you head into the Southern Alps for a hike.
Travel insurance
We all know that the good times can take a slight detour when travelling. When the going gets tough, Travel Insurance Direct policies aim to do the heavy lifting and may assist with cover for overseas travel, to help keep your trip moving in the right direction, so you can refocus on the fun.