Every trip overseas leaks money in places most Australians never look — the data plan, the foreign transaction fee, the points you bought at the wrong time. I travel about 150 days a year, and over the years I’ve worked out where the leaks are and how to plug them. This is where I keep all of it.
The biggest one is data. Telstra and Optus will happily charge you $10 a day to roam, which adds up fast on a three-week trip. I load an Airalo eSIM before I leave home instead, and the only hard part is guessing how much data to buy — so I built a calculator that does the guessing for you. There’s also the SMS problem nobody warns you about: switch to an eSIM and your bank’s verification codes can stop arriving at the worst possible moment.
Then there’s the money itself. Most Australian cards quietly skim 3% off every overseas transaction — I’ve been stung by it, which is why I built the FX Rip-off Calculator to show exactly what that fee costs you. Pairing the right travel debit and credit cards is half the battle won before you’ve even packed.
The other half is points. Whether it’s buying Qantas points when a bonus lands, buying hotel points for a stay, or moving points around the family with Qantas Family Transfer and Velocity Family Pooling, the maths matters — and it’s easy to get wrong. I show my working every time.
Everything below is the running list: the eSIM tricks, the card hacks, the points plays, and the lounge access that makes the hours between flights bearable. All of it tested on actual trips, not in theory.
Wise has started selling eSIMs. If you already use Wise for travel money, you can now buy your mobile data in the same app, in a few taps, without downloading anything new. That’s handy. But handy usually costs something, so…
Sponsored by Airalo. Airalo made a small contribution to this story. The trip, the phone, the cost of the trip and the opinions are all mine. (Small referral our way if you use our link — doesn’t change your price.)…
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