Optus launches flat-rate $5 inflight roaming

Optus now lets its $5/day global roaming customers stay connected above the clouds when flying on a score of airlines including Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

The telco has switched on the same inflight roaming capability as rival Vodafone, whereby passengers can connect to an airplane’s AeroMobile network.

The satellite service runs at roughly 3G speeds, but that’s sufficient for basic tasks such as messaging, email and light-duty Web browsing.

It’s available through Optus Choice Plus plans, which include an Optus Daily Roaming allowance of 5GB per day for $5.

As a bonus, the same $5/day roaming charge covers not just the flight but when you land in one of Optus’ 110 ‘Zone 1’ countries within 24 hours.

For example, you could fly from Australia to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong with Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines or Cathay Pacific, respectively – jump online during the flight to activate $5 roaming – and then continue roaming once you land, without any additional charge.

The complete list of AeroMobile mobile partner airlines which are available through Optus’ $5 inflight roaming are:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Belgium
• Asiana Airlines
• Biman Bangladesh Airlines
• Cathay Pacific (including on its upgraded 777 Aria business class suites)
• EgyptAir
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• EVA Air
• ITA Airways (which is set to join Star Alliance)
• Kuwait Airways
• Lufthansa
• Malaysia Airlines (including its new A330neo fleet)
• SAS Scandinavian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines (care to surf while sipping Cristal Champagne?)
• Swiss
• TAP Air Portugal
• Turkish Airlines (now flying from both Sydney and Melbourne to Istanbul)
• Uzbekistan Airways

However, it’s worth noting that several of these airlines offer faster inflight WiFi entirely free of charge, so check that before you enable inflight roaming.

Also read: Flight mode off – our review of mobile roaming on a plane