Traveling to Australia and looking for the best way to stay connected? If you are flying to Sydney then here is your complete guide for buying a prepaid sim card for Australia at Sydney International Airport. Get to know where to buy a sim card, up to date prices as per March 2023, my recommendation, a vlog about my experiences and more info about international sim cards and e-sim cards for Australia.
A local prepaid sim card is the cheapest way to stay connected when traveling, it is the first thing I do when I get to a new country. Forget about high roaming costs and slow overseas data packages, buying a prepaid sim card in Australia is cheap and gives you big data bundles.
On Traveltomtom you can already find more than 200 prepaid sim card guides on Traveltomtom from all over the world. This is because I try to visit every country in the world and I write a sim card guide everywhere I go: Asia, Europe, Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Malaysia, South Africa, USA, Miami, New York, Istanbul, Qatar, Dubai, London and many more.
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends buying an Optus prepaid sim card at Sydney Airport from the official retail store near Arrivals A.
May you travel to multiple countries on your trip to the Pacific then have a look at my article with the best international travel sim cards with data in 2023. These world sim cards let you connect to the data network in multiple countries.
However, the easiest way to stay connected when traveling to Australia in 2023 is an e-sim card.
E-sim cards for Australia
Within just a couple minutes you can arrange everything online. In just a couple clicks you order an e-sim card online, then you receive a unique QR-code in your mail, you follow the instructions and you are all set in no time. Check out the following e-sim card deals for Australia:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $4.5 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $9 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $12.5 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $20 USD
Click here to directly order one of the above e-sim cards for Australia.
The above e-sim cards are data-only and phone calls are not supported. The e-sim card supplier is Yes! Go! and they operate on the network of Optus in Australia.
Are you looking for e-sim cards that also support calling and texting then check out these Australia e-sim card deals:
On another website I found two more data-only e-sim card deals for Australia. They offer bigger data packages:
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $24.90 USD
- 20 GB data for 30 days = $34.90 USD
Click here to order this e-sim card for Australia.
Arrival at Sydney Airport
There are 2 international arrivals at Sydney International Airport: A and B. They are located on the ground floor. Sydney Airport is not as busy as the major airports in Asia, Europe or the USA and easy to navigate. After passport control you will get to the Luggage Claim. When you pick up your bags you will have to pass through customs bag check and then finally you walk into the Arrival Hall.
Arrivals A and B are just a short 1-minute walk away from each other. It doesn’t matter where you are arrive there are plenty of options for buying a prepaid sim card.
Where to buy a sim card at Sydney Airport
Honestly I have never been to an airport where it is so easy to buy a prepaid sim card. Regardless where you arrive A or B there are more than a handful shops that sell prepaid sim cards. In total there are more than 10 shops across Arrival A and B that sell sim cards.
Buying a sim card at Sydney Airport is therefore very easy, but finding the best sim card deal is a little overwhelming.
There are several Sim Planet stores, a Lebara store in the WH Smith shop, official Vodafone and Optus retail stores and some random sim card shops that sell a wide variety of Australian sim cards for tourists.
Most of the sim card stores are open from 06.00 am until 10.00 pm and accept payments by international credit cards.
Prices Australia sim cards at Melbourne Airport
Sim card prices and data packages constantly change. Traveltomtom tries to keep this article as up to date as possible. New input in the comments below is always appreciated. Thank you!
At the time of research in March 2023: $1 AUD = 0.69 USD and $1 USD is $1.45 AUD
Sim Planet
Sim Planet is a reseller and therefore they offer sim cards from Vodafone, Optus, Crown Mobile, etc.
Their main products are a Vodafone or Optus prepaid sim card for $25 AUD with $60 AUD and unlimited calling and texting in Australia included.
When I asked the friendly girl what she would recommend she said they are both the same. Well let me tell you that is not completely true!
Vodafone prepaid sim cards say that where available you can use 5G. However, with this Optus prepaid sim card deal you can only use 4G. That said, Optus has a much larger 4G/5G network in Australia compared to Vodafone.
Circles Life
This is not the official name of the shop that has a red/white striped counter. It is right in front of you when walking out of Arrivals B, but it has no name. Here you can buy Lycamobile prepaid sim cards as well as a wide range of postpaid plans for those interested.
Lycamobile prepaid sim card deals:
- 70 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 28 days = $30 AUD
- 100 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 28 days = $40 AUD
- 160 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 28 days = $50 AUD
Lycamobile is also an MVNO and they operate on the 3G and 4G network of Telstra in Australia.
They also have a lot of postpaid plans, but they also have postpaid plans for Australia at the Vodafone and Optus store.
Lebara
In the WH Smith shop near Arrivals B there is a Lebara store and they sell a wide range of prepaid sim cards for Australia.
Lebara is also an MVNO and they operate on the network of Vodafone in Australia. They offer the following data plans at Sydney Airport:
- 8 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $14.90 AUD
- 25 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $24.90 AUD
- 60 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $29.90 AUD
- 80 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $39.90 AUD
- 100 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $49.90 AUD
- 120 GB data + unlimited calls/text = $69.90 AUD
There are also some international calls included but they differ per package. See the photo above for more information.
Official Vodafone retail store
At the Vodafone store they offer a wide range of prepaid sim cards for Australia:
- 4 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 7 days = $10 AUD
- 8 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 14 days = $20 AUD
- 60 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 28 days = $30 AUD
- 150 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 365 days = $150 AUD
Vodafone is the most flexible when it comes to picking the right data package for your trip to Australia. Some have international minutes included as well, see the photo above.
Official Optus retail store
At Optus they only offer 2 prepaid sim cards for tourists at Melbourne Airport. They offer a 4G and a 5G sim card deal:
- 60 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 30 days = $25 AUD - 4G only
- 60 GB data + unlimited calls/text for 30 days = $60 AUD - 5G where available
International minutes are also included to 35 different countries and unlimited international minutes to another 15 countries, see the photo above.
Best prepaid sim card Sydney Airport
There is a lot to say when comparing all these Australian prepaid sim cards but many plans and data packages look alike.
Personally I always buy a sim card from an official retail store rather than from a reseller and I also prefer to use a mobile internet operator rather than an MVNO like Lycamobile, Lebara, etc. These MVNO’s use the network of one of the official mobile internet providers.
As many prepaid sim card deals look similar let’s also have a quick look at the mobile network coverage. If we compare the 4G/5G network coverage in Australia of the mobile internet providers it shows that Optus and Telstra have a better 4G/5G network than Vodafone.
Taking all the above into account Traveltomtom comes to the conclusion that Optus is the best prepaid sim card at Sydney Airport. They have the best prepaid sim card deal: 60 GB data for $25 AUD and they have a great 4G/5G network coverage.
Buying a sim card for Australia online
If the above sounds like too much hassle or you simply want to order a sim card for Australia right now from the comfort of your couch then have a look at the following international sim card deals for Australia:
- 12 GB data for 30 days = $29.90 USD
- 12 GB data for 1 year = $59.90 USD
- 24 GB data for 2 years = $79.90 USD
All the above travel sim cards have data coverage in Australia. These pre-activated sim cards will be shipped to your home address before your trip and on arrival it is plug and play.
Click here to directly order one of the above sim card deals for Australia or find more offers and info in the link.
All the above international sim cards work perfectly fine in Australia on data roaming. These pre-activated sim cards will be shipped to your home address before your trip and on arrival it is plug and play.
Last reminder that you can also order an e-sim card for Australia directly online though this link.
I hope all the above tips for buying a sim card for Australia were helpful for your upcoming trip to Melbourne. May you have any more questions than don’t hesitate to leave me a comment below and I will try to help you out.
Curious what it looks like trying to visit every country in the world? Go check out my Instagram account @traveltomtom and follow along. As of March 2023 I have visited more than 150 countries, so still a long way to go.
Enjoy your trip to Australia!
Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means I earn a small percentage in case you decide to purchase something after clicking on the link. For you there is no difference, but I have the duty to inform you.
