Having your data or mobile credit run out while you’re on the go isn’t a great experience. Without mobile data, you can’t scroll through social media, browse the internet, or do anything beyond calling and texting – provided unlimited calls and texts are included. And without call or text credit, you’re limited to using internet services on local WiFi until your balance is topped up.
Thankfully, there are solutions to your data and recharge woes, and today we’ll be talking about Optus. If you’re concerned about your data, want to recharge your credit on a prepaid plan or add extra data, there are plenty of solutions that Optus offers. Let’s jump into it.
How do I check my Optus balance?
Checking your balance is incredibly important if you’re on a prepaid plan, and Optus has some great tools to help you do this.
My Optus App
The My Optus App is the best way to pay your bills and recharge your data. You can download the My Optus App on your iPhone or Android device, which allows you to recharge on the go, pay bills, check your usage, purchase add-ons and lots more. It’s like a control centre for your phone plan. You’ll also be able to add payment information through the app very easily.
My Account
My Account is the desktop version of the My Optus App, and allows you to check your usage from any browser or computer, update your billing information, recharge your prepaid data or buy any add-ons.
SMS 9999
When you have an Optus plan and SMS 9999, you can check your usage figures. If you text the number one (1) to 9999, you can check your balance, and if you text the number two (2) you can check your usage. This service does not use your data.
Call 1509 to check or 555 to recharge
You can check your prepaid or postpaid balance by calling 1509. You can also call 555 to recharge your prepaid plan, and make the recharge process faster by having a card stored with your account. Alternatively, you can enter your bank details here. These services do not detract from your data.
Optus customers can also set up automatic recharges, which you can do through the Optus website or the My Optus app.
Optus prepaid plans
If you’re concerned about running through your Optus data, looking to switch providers or maybe start a new plan, there’s a wide range of Optus plans to choose from. Optus’ Epic Data Prepaid SIMs start at just $30 for 35GB, and go up to $50 for 55GB data over a 28-day period. Epic Data plans include initial bonus data due to a deal Optus runs on new sign-ups, in which each prepaid plan gets an additional 25GB of data on the first three recharges.
Optus also offers Epic Value plans which last 42 days, ranging between $30 for 2GB data and $50 for 15GB data, with an additional 15GB bonus data. You can also pick up a long expiry Epic Data plan for $180 for 60GB over a 365 day period. You can also pick up a start SIM through the Optus website.
Optus also offers long expiry prepaid plans (186 days) which include pay as you go periods. Each long expiry plan is pay as you go with 7 cents to a MB of data, 25 cents per minute of standard calls, and 25 cents per standard SMS and MMS. Plans range between $30 for $30 worth of MyCredit and $50 for $50 worth of MyCredit.
If you don’t want to worry about your data on the daily, then Optus also offers a $10, 30-day plan with $10 MyCredit, and a $30 186-day plan with $30 MyCredit, both offering 500MB a day and unlimited talk and text.
The following table shows selected published Optus prepaid plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of cost, from the lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to a referral partner.
Optus postpaid plans
Optus has some great postpaid plans on offer. These range between $49 a month for a 30GB plan, and $89 for a 360GB plan, without any lock-in contracts. You can share data with other Optus plans on the same account or donate unused gigabytes to other Optus customers, and all postpaid plans have access to Optus Sport (data charges apply).
The following table shows selected published Optus postpaid plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of cost, from the lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers.
What is the My Optus App?
The My Optus App is a self-service app that allows you to check your balance and usage, recharge your postpaid plan, pay any bills you might have, and buy any additional add-ons, essentially being a one-stop shop for everything involving your phone plan. Unlike the other Optus services discussed in this article, you can also get 24/7 support from within the app, although the responsiveness of this service varies.
It doesn’t use up any data to use the My Optus App, although downloading the app from the Apple Store or the Google Play store will. Optus says the app is the best way to recharge your prepaid plan and pay your phone bill, and considering how easy it is to use it definitely makes sense to use.
Should I be worried about my Optus data or credit?
Optus has data recharges available at all levels of affordability and data conditions. Recharges for Optus’ different types of prepaid plans are as follows:
Epic data (28 day expiry)
- $10 for 5GB
- $20 for 12GB
- $30 for 35GB
- $40 for 45GB
- $50 for 55GB
Epic value
- $10 for 500MB (21 day expiry)
- $15 for 500MB (28 day expiry)
- $30 for 2GB (42 day expiry)
- $40 for 10GB (42 day expiry)
- $50 for 15GB (42 day expiry)
- $180 for 60GB data (365 day expiry)
Daily Plus
- $10 for 500MB a day + $10 MyCredit (30 day expiry)
- $20 for 500MB a day + $20 MyCredit (30 day expiry)
- $30 for 500MB a day + $30 MyCredit (186 day expiry)
- $60 for 500MB a day + $60 MyCredit (186 day expiry)
Long expiry
All long expiry plans offer 25 cents per minute of standard calls, 25 cents per standard national SMS and MMS, and 7 cents per MB for data.
- $10 for $10 MyCredit (45 day expiry)
- $20 for $20 MyCredit (90 day expiry)
- $30 for $30 MyCredit (186 day expiry)
- $40 for $40 MyCredit (186 day expiry)
- $50 for $50 MyCredit (186 day expiry)
- $60 for $60 MyCredit (365 day expiry)
Getting on board with a prepaid plan is without much risk as there’s no contracts involved. You simply pay for what you’re going to use before you use it. This means if you don’t like the service you’re getting, you can simply get rid of your SIM and go to another provider.
Postpaid inclusions
If you’re after a postpaid plan, Optus has plenty to offer. Postpaid plans start from the $49 price point for 30GB of data a month, and go up to $89 for 360GB a month, without any plan cancellation fees. All plans include unlimited talk and text. Optus customers can share data between themselves and send data to anyone who might use it, and customers on the $59, $69 and $89 plans also get access to Optus Sport streaming at a discounted price (data charges apply).
It never hurts to be data-savvy and know how many gigabytes you’re using on your plan. It might surprise you how much data social media uses!
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