drwilliams

you can hit edit in the corner of your post.

And I find leaving an out of office message with my email address works fine. I get the sim card for data mostly.

ShopAround

Exactly, I use Skype or Facetime to communicate with people back home. Anyone I really care about knows I'm away and how to reach me.

My number back home is voip and is set on do not disturb while I'm traveling, so any messages get emailed to me - if it's anything important, I can return the call with the Skype or Vonage app.

It's much easier for me to use local SIMs and be able to use my phone whenever I want for email, data and tethering my iPad than to deal with international roaming charges. YMMV.

Perche

It really is YMMV. If you can be out of phone contact for several weeks while in Italy a foreign SIM would work. If you are certain that only a few people will need to contact you, and you can schedule the time when they will be available on FaceTime/Skype, a new SIM would work. If you need to be available to people who might have to call you even while you are on vacation, you will be unreachable. Getting a new SIM card is not the answer for everyone.

PWMTrav

Dude, keep in mind the OP asked specifically about buying a foreign/Italian SIM. This thread isn't about whether we think it makes sense to do it or not.

emkay

this TIM company that everyone gets from, do they have activation charges when i go in the store? or just for the first month?

Gargoyle

I have a vodafone prepaid sim with data for my phone, but I've been using a tre.it stick for my laptop. Both of those companies, as well as Tim, have booths at FCO.

I'm really happy with tre.it- I'm finding better coverage than vodafone, better signal strength and speed. I used to have a vodafone usb stick for the laptop; tre.it connects faster and seems more trouble free; also it's cheaper.

factory81

They have TIM shops everywhere, they are like the Verizon of America. You can't even stumble out of the airport without seeing a TIM shop.

In regards to the cost, think of this as all pre-paid wireless. TIM is the best pre-paid wireless carrier in Italy for service and speed. I paid roughly 20 euro every 3 days? I was tethering my phone with my friend, using it for GPS/Skype, and internet research.

You are charged per-minute for phone calls to the USA. So you might buy a like 20 euro 500mb prepaid plan. Where you get like 20 euro of pre-paid phone call time, and 500mb of data.

It is very reasonable all things considered really. The phone carriers are trying the least to rip you off.

Flying Machine

Older Thread New Question. With the new EU Regulations about roaming (July 2017) I have a question. I plan to be in Italy next week (for a week) I'm not seeing any inexpensive "data" only plans for what I was able to research. I will be traveling to Spain in November for 10 days and thought I could get 1 SIM for both trips (not sure if this is economical to do) Any thoughts on inexpensive Italy SIM providers (seems that the "tourist" only plans are about 20-30 Euros for short validation periods. I would only need 3GB while in Italy and if I expanded to Include Spain 10GB would be more than enough.. Thanks and Safe Travels

JMN57

If you are with TMO in US, you'll get slow (128kbps or 256 if you have their, I think, One Plus plan) data.

If you want to buy an Italian SIM, I'd go with this plan with TIM if all you want is data:


https://www.tim.it/offerte/mobile/es...rnational-30gb

I will give you 30GB over a month and it roams to all Europe. It is for foreigners as well. It's 10E per month but you'll need to activate and buy a SIM.

Flying Machine

Thanks, I'm going to see if they have a 60 day plan and with the free EU roaming could cover me in Spain as well in November

PWMTrav

A 60 day plan probably isn't a thing, but two months of the service that JMN57 is

The way most TIM plans work is prepaid, and they renew until you don't have enough credit on the account or you deactivate. When you go to the store, just tell them you need a second month of service and to load that amount on the account so that it renews. Or if you're not 100% on dates yet, just go to the store and load a credit to the account as needed.

Just make sure you're not signing a contract. Those plans are less common in Italy anyway and they're not going to try and sell one to a foreigner. But you want servizio ricaricabile - reloadable (or less often, prepagato - prepaid, but they indicate the same. You don't want un abbonamento (a contract).

JMN57

Buy the plan and put enough on it that it can't renew. Buy a ricarica code for 10E either before you go or when you come back. Apply it when you land and you'll get November for another 10E.

If you want to be lazy, put enough on the account that it can renew while you are away and would still be active when you return.

ADDED: If you're going to Spain and not Italy in November, the safest route is to put enough on the account so that it renews in October for another 30 days. If that doesn't cover you completely for November, add another 10E and you'll be covered for all of November and into December.

Forrest Bump

Try Wind.
Generally is the cheapest.

snic

I used Flexiroam. Although it would be more expensive than the TIM plan mentioned above for the amount of data you estimate you'll use, you can't beat the convenience of installing it at home (rather than waste some of your trip in a TIM store). Also, it works all over most of Europe and the rest of the world. (It worked nearly flawlessly in Italy, with fast connections almost everywhere. I didn't go to Spain, though.)

Flying Machine

Thanks to all whom have replied with some really good information, I am now prepared to get myself a SIM upon arrival that would work in Spain as well for my November trip. Safe Travels to all..