Fairer & Simpler Enhanced QFF Optus Plans effective 12 April 2024

[QPProletarian]

From 12 April 2024 Qantas Frequent Flyer members can no longer sign up to aQantas SIM Only Plan by Optus.​

Existing Qantas SIM Only Plan customers will continue to earn Qantas Points for a period of 12 months after 11 April 2024.​

As a current subscriber, don't believe I've had comms on this yet. The 5GB allowance was a little limited, but what I liked best was the stress free voice roaming without daily $5 malarky.

 

[AIRwin]

Looks like Optus is no longer even on the list of QFF partners:

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/partners.html?categories=phone-utilities-services

 

[SYD]

I’ll be ditching Optus soon, after they canned the $50 plan that included roaming. I negotiated a replacement plan with $20 pm discount (pay $29) but the $5 roaming is too unreliable (fine if you use it everyday, but trying to use ‘as required’ can cause false activations).

 

[justinbrett]

Hopefully QF will strike a deal with Telstra. Seems a good fit since they already have their own reward currency.

 

[SYD]

Hopefully QF will strike a deal with Telstra. Seems a good fit since they already have their own reward currency.

Vodafone might be more practical for FFs because their $5 daily roaming is more reliable than Optus and a heluva lot cheaper than Telstra (both plans and roaming).

 

[TheDefenestrator]

Vodafone might be more practical for FFs because their $5 daily roaming is more reliable than Optus and a heluva lot cheaper than Telstra (both plans and roaming).

Vodafone would be interesting seeing as QF had a partnership with them back in 2016. Does anyone remember when that ended?

 

[justinbrett]

Vodafone might be more practical for FFs because their $5 daily roaming is more reliable than Optus and a heluva lot cheaper than Telstra (both plans and roaming).

QF isn’t really the airline for the price sensitive.

 

[Peso]

I've considered porting to Optus to take up this plan, but I make a lot of intl calls, and the non-inclusion of them (despite having included roaming) is very odd and a non-starter for me.

 

[bussyboy]

Sounds like an opportunity for a new partnership and sign up bonus offer!!

 

[QPProletarian]

I've considered porting to Optus to take up this plan, but I make a lot of intl calls, and the non-inclusion of them (despite having included roaming) is very odd and a non-starter for me.

There was a $10 month add on for this, but they could’ve marketed it better

 

[dylarr]

There was a $10 month add on for this, but they could’ve marketed it better

I believe the current on-market Optus plans include this by default which was one of the only difference between those and the Qantas SIM only plans. It would have been nice if they had of included it to bring the plans into parity, but it's a moot point now.

 

[SYD]

I believe the current on-market Optus plans include this by default which was one of the only difference between those and the Qantas SIM only plans. It would have been nice if they had of included it to bring the plans into parity, but it's a moot point now.

You can actually turn On/Off via app the $10 pm calls to overseas from Oz.

Roaming (including calls back to Oz) is either the $10 or min $5 daily charge (depending on plan type).

 

[RSVKanga]

Hopefully QF will strike a deal with Telstra. Seems a good fit since they already have their own reward currency.

Yes. The national carrier struck a deal with the national broadcaster recently, and it would be nice for them to strike a deal with the national telco as well.

I have high hopes of an imminent Qantas-Telstra partnership announcement. Will be very well received by the Australian public.

 

[LondonAussie]

I didn't care about the Qantas points, but this was the only plan on the market that included unlimited roaming calls/texts and 5GB of monthly roaming data upfront. A very useful plan for someone who spends most of the year overseas but needs to make and receive calls from Australian numbers.

So Optus have now completely ditched plans with included roaming, in favour of everyone paying $5 per day to access roaming?

 

[SYD]

So Optus have now completely ditched plans with included roaming, in favour of everyone paying $5 per day to access roaming?

and unfortunately trying to use that $5 (it’s actually $5 per 5GB - so can be more than $5 per day) can be quite flaky and not a good idea for anyone OS for extended durations.

There are much better options - including Optus’s LCC! (Amaysim).

Discussed here…

Aussie carriers that work well in the UK?

Hi everyone, I might be looking to move to the UK soon, potentially. If so, I will likely be away for a year or two (unsure of the exact timeframe yet). I am hoping to maintain my current Aussie phone number for 2FA / banking purposes and thus have to receive the occasional call or SMS to my...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Spacetravel]

I didn't care about the Qantas points, but this was the only plan on the market that included unlimited roaming calls/texts and 5GB of monthly roaming data upfront. A very useful plan for someone who spends most of the year overseas but needs to make and receive calls from Australian numbers.

So Optus have now completely ditched plans with included roaming, in favour of everyone paying $5 per day to access roaming?

Same, the best part about this was the roaming as I make frequent international trips (at least a few days a month) being able to have some data and use my phone without the extra cost was great.

Once I get kicked off the plan looks like I will have to seek an alternative.

 

[SYD]

Once I get kicked off the plan looks like I will have to seek an alternative.

Scroll through the thread above.

I’m switching to Amaysim later this month (SYD+1 switched last month). For $20 on top of the monthly plan, you can get 12 mths roaming calls and text (limited obviously) and just use an eSIM of your choice for roaming data. $70 provides more calls, text and 9GB (12 mths). The roaming calls, text and data rollover if you renew or take another plan before the current expires. Unused local data also rolls over. I’m lucky to use 10GB of my current 100GB monthly with Optus!

 

[dylarr]

Got an e-mail from Optus today advising that the partnership has ended and that I'd only receive points until Apr 2025 and that the next 12 months worth of points would be credited in advance, in quarterly instalments.

and unfortunately trying to use that $5 (it’s actually $5 per 5GB - so can be more than $5 per day) can be quite flaky and not a good idea for anyone OS for extended durations.

I agree with this. The way roaming works with Optus is a real pain. By default, calls and data are disabled until they're able to debit the $5 from your account every 24 hours and sometimes there is a delay before this happens. So you land at the airport and want to order a Grab or Uber to get to the hotel only to find you have no data because Optus' billing system hasn't caught up and charged you yet. Rinse and repeat each 24 hours. With the QFF partnership over, I'll be dumping Optus as soon as the points stop flowing.

 

[SYD]

I agree with this. The way roaming works with Optus is a real pain. By default, calls and data are disabled until they're able to debit the $5 from your account every 24 hours and sometimes there is a delay before this happens.

My beef with Optus is the reverse, you leave “roaming” off, don’t make a call or send a text (you can still receive texts) with the intention of using $5 daily on demand but it will randomly ping you anyway - a known issue in their system. Although, my last trip in SAmerica I didn’t happen but did several times in Nth Am. Including being charged twice in one day - which is technically possible but I’d not used any data let alone 5GB to warrant the 2nd charge…

I never had a QF points earn plan, so that’s mute for me. I’d otherwise keep Optus (currently only paying $29 pm after discounts) but that roaming bug is a PITA trying to get refunds/credits.

 

[equus]

So Optus have now completely ditched plans with included roaming, in favour of everyone paying $5 per day to access roaming?

Not quite. There are some legacy plans (no longer available to choose, but still active for those one them).

Optus customer service have tried to convince me to change, but when they looked at the old plan, conceded that they can see why I wouldn't.

The larger versions of the Optus Choice plans had unlimited roaming calls in Zone 1 countries (covers all I care about), unlimited calls / text to selected overseas number (again all I cared about) and either 2 or 4Gb per month roaming data per month (so as long as the account rolls during a trip, can be double that). Not huge amounts of data, but perfectly adequate for what I need.

Multiple devices pool data allowance in Oz, so have more data than we can possible use - only have to watch when OS, but never had any dramas.