JBD

Just read that a new T4 willl be part of the expansion:
http://www.adr.it/it/web/aeroporti-d.../the-terminals

Perche

True, that was the plan, but I think they've been saying that for over 20 years, and they have yet to put a shovel to it.

Cris L

i definitely only wanted a prepaid SIM. My friend could have been looking at a billable account! He was moving to Italy with his wife who is Italian, and they lived there for nearly 9 months before giving up and returning to the UK!

Ross0

Thanks, you were correct, but just made some changes to travel plans and will now be arriving on BA from LHR. Does that put me into T3?

Perche

At T3 there is a TIM store landslide, unless the major remodel changed things. I have to say, with JBD's post about the remodel and the new food market at Termini, I'm anxious to get back to Rome in the next month or two!

I can't say anything with certainty because the last time I flew in and out of Rome was in July, before the December remodel. I tried to call TIM at the airport today, and they never answered. That could mean the location changed, or they just won't answer the phone. I've stood at many counters in Italy where the phones are ringing, and no one thinks about answering them.

There are a couple of things to think about. When you buy a new SIM card it doesn't always get activated right away. It can take up to a week. Be careful when you buy, and make sure that it's activated before you walk out of the store. If you do not, and they tell you it will be active in 15 minutes and you get on a train to somewhere to wait for that, you could be out of luck. I've spent plenty of time on the phone with their customer service line about activation delays, and their response is always that it can take between 4-7 days. You definitely don't want to be in that situation. You'll have to make a phone call to TIM, and you will never get to a person unless you can navigate through multiple layers of blurred foreign language recordings. Make sure it is working before you leave the store. That leads to the next thing, the lines.

In Italy, lines don't move at the speed you are probably used to. You can be the next person in the line, but the person at the counter might spend 20 minutes at the counter, talking about whatever. If you see a line of six people ahead of you at a phone store, figure on waiting on that line for about 45 minutes to an hour.

I switch out my SIM card for my Italian one before landing, but I still have to activate it. I can't do it online because only an italian bank credit card would allow that, and my cards are all based in the USA. That means that I buy service a month at a time, and that can only be done at a store. The lines at the airports are usually deal-breakers for me. I just keep the phone off until I get to where I'm staying, where there is Wi-Fi, and i catch up at that time. Then, I find the nearest store in the city and go there just before they close, when the workers want to get out and so they start to speed things up, or I go early in the morning.

My point is, consider being flexible. Unless there is something I don't understand, you don't have to get your SIM card at the airport. Watch the line for a few minutes, and see how it moves. If it doesn't move, calculate how long you might be in that line. I've waited on those lines to the point of almost missing trains and planes. A line with five people in SF or NYC is probably a wait of ten to fifteen minutes. That same line at a cell phone store at an Italian airport can mean an hour.

Most of the people behind the counter speak Italian, and very basic english. They do not speak Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, and all of the other languages of the people in front of you on the line. At the airport, that is what is happening at the TIM store, people struggling to communicate, sometimes a party of five speaking a difficult language for an Italian, asking multiple questions, all wanting their cell phones activated. I've stayed on a line where I was #1, and after half an hour, there was no movement because the 5 people at the counter were still trying to get their phones to work, but the Italian workers didn't speak the language, and communication was so difficult.

Whenever I get back to Italy I have to activate my SIM, and i've learned to walk by the store at the airport, and assess the line. Sometimes, the line looks favorable, and I'll do it right then. That is rare. Most of the time, I look at the line and see that there are 5-6 people in front of me, and that calculates out to about an hour, so I just go to the city, and do it there.

I'll try to find out some more information, and will update. With the T3 remodel I wouldn't go by any older information at this point, except to say that I'm about 95% sure that you will find a TIM store landslide, at T3. If a bunch of planes just landed and there are a bunch of people in front of you, Italian cell phone store lines don't move as you would expect, and you should think about a plan B.

Perche

The TIM store in Terminal 3 still doesn't answer the phone. Why should they, they are only a phone store?

Unless it has been moved, my recollection is that the one in T3 arrivals is just before you take the elevator downstairs to the luggage carousels. In all airports there is a door with a sign and a security guard and it will say something like, "once you pass this door, you cannot go back in." If my memory serves, it is a little bit before passing through that door, but check when you arrive. Just ask anyone, "Dove il negozio TIM, per i telefonini." Even "TIM, telefonini," with a body language shrug of the shoulders will get someone to point you in the right direction.

In any case, I still suggest making sure that it works before you leave, because customer service after the fact by phone is non-existent. You just get a series of recorded instructions in Italian. Even if you get a person on the line they are not going to help you very much, and they won't speak a word of english, so make sure you have what you want at the point of sale.

Also, since you are probably staying at a hotel with WiFi, think about whether or not you want to stand on line for 30-60 minutes at the airport, or get to the city and to your hotel. Maybe you do. Some people are heavily dependent on using GPS, in which case that would make sense.

If not, your time might be better spent getting to the hotel. If you are taking a train into the city, there is also a TIM store at Termini but it will probably also be crowded, with a group of people standing at the counter trying to communicate in German, Chinese, Russian, or Japanese, etc., to the usually exasperated Italian salesperson behind the counter. There are TIM stores in many places in Rome, but depending on timing, the ones at the airport and Termini are probably the ones with the longest lines.

Getting through the SIM card process when I arrive in Italy has never been pleasant. I like to stay near the Pantheon, and there is a TIM store on Via del Corso nearby, but even if there are only 2 people ahead of me in the line (rare), I still plan on being in that store for at least half an hour before leaving with a functioning phone.

For that reason, I generally might not get my SIM activated until the day after arriving, and I make my best effort to avoid the lines, because lines in Italy and lines in the USA are two different things.

behuman

Do you mean you need to top up as your SIM card has been activated previously ?

It should remain active with a minimum of yearly activity https://www.forexinfo.it/Scadenza-SI...cose-da-sapere . You may also choose one of their cheap packages at EUR 10 per month (with calling credit and 4G allowance) to keep it going.

Topping up can be a pain without an Italian credit card. Their system recognizes non Italian cards and refuses them. I found finally an alternative: PayPal! I opened a new PayPal account with an Italian address on the Italian PayPal website to which I associated a credit card. PayPal Italy will accept any credit card also from the US. Problem solved and no queuing.

TIM is also very good for roaming in Europe and has also cheap roaming packages for people not born in Italy.

Perche

It is topping it up. My TIM-SIM remains active in that I don't lose my Italian phone number, which is de-activation. I do need to top up every time I go, and they don't take credit cards from USA banks to enable me to do it before I take off. However, the PayPal idea is one I hadn't heard of. I'll try it, thanks.

behuman

It will work, but please put your address in Venezia and use an email account you never used with PayPal. But be warned: The TIM self service website tends to be down, I would also use a proxy server making them think you are in Italy.

PWMTrav

Buy a few 5 euro ricaricards, sold at nearly all tabacchi. Bring those home, and prior to expiration, apply it on the tim website. That's the most reliable way to maintain activity.

PWMTrav

It's still not great, but their Twitter team provides decent support. Better than calling or emailing for sure.

Perche

Have you actually done this? In my experience, it doesn't work. I spent four months in Italy this year. I'm heading back next week. I've been doing this for years, and I've never found cell phone service to be that easy.

For example, while in Rome this past July I received an alert that my data package was about to be exhausted. I headed to the nearest Tabacchi to reload it. By the time I got there the data was exhausted. I asked the obviously bored person behind the counter if she can re-up my data. She opened the drawer and handed me a 5 euro card. I asked her how I can use it, since I couldn't connect to the internet right now, and asked if she could do it. The predictable response was, "Non lo so," or "I don't know." I took the card back to the hotel where there was WiFi, and still could not use it.

During my next trip to Rome I went to a tabacchi at Largo Torre Argentina, one of the main plazas, to get a ticket to the tram which was coming in a few minutes. There were about 6 people in line ahead of me. Every time the line was about to move forward someone would walk into the store and cut into the line, so there would be no progress. As it was getting closer to missing the tram I very politely told the next guy who cut in to get behind me, as I was ahead of him. When it was my turn to be served the tabacchi guy wouldn't sell me a ticket because I told his friend to get in the back of the line. He told me that they ran out of tickets, even though there were two adjacent lines, and they were still selling tram tickets to the people in the other line.

The only other place to buy a ticket for a tram in Rome is at a news stand. They don't sell tickets on the buses or the trams. The news stand was closed, so I had to get on the tram without a ticket, risking a 50 euro fine if inspectors came on board.

I know that inspectors never come on board, but one of the things that new Roman mayor Raggi promised was to start a program where inspectors periodically board public transportation to see if anybody on board actually has a ticket, because Rome is losing millions of euros per year because nobody buys a ticket.

In fact, when I got on the line for that tram there were a couple of women on the line in front of me. I told them that the tabacchi wouldn't sell me a ticket because I stopped his friend from cutting the line, the newsstand was closed, and I asked if there was another place to buy a ticket before the tram came. One of them said, "I take this tram everyday, and I've never seen anybody get asked for a ticket, just get on."

In Venice, Naples, and other places, things are just as difficult. In Naples, after walking for about an hour to get to the TIM store they told me that the SIM card could only be re-upped at the store where I bought it, on Via del Corso, in Rome. After heated discussion, they found a way to do it.

This past September in Venice I went to the TIM store just over the Rialto Bridge, to re-activate. After waiting for about 20 minutes for them to take care of the 2 people in line in front of me the guy told me that the only plans they had to sell required a one-year sign up. I was only going to be there for a month. I told him that the walls were plastered with signs offering one month deals of 2GB of data for 8 euros. The response was, "non lo so." He told me to call TIM customer service.

While standing in the TIM store I called customer service. If you can imagine getting on the customer service line for ATT in the USA and getting tied up in endless recordings, this is far worse. When I was finally able to get to a person she said, "the only way to add more data is to go to a TIM store." I told her, "Right now, I am standing in the middle of a TIM store, and they told me to call you." I then cut the line and handed the phone to the guy behind the desk and asked him speak to customer service. The two argued, and finally, after five minutes I left with updated cell phone service and data for 8 euros.

Anytime that someone tells me that something in Italy that deals with the government, the post office, utilities, or cells phones is as simple as A-B-C, I get very doubtful. I head back to Italy this week, and it's back to the same grind dealing with utilities. Have you actually done this?

KLouis

I assume you have an Italian bank account. If you don't, please disregard but if you do, use the internet (from anywhere, even the US - I do it from Greece) to get into the bank's site. All banks give you the possibility to re-charge your telefonino (all providers) from their on-line banking facility. You don't have to connect with the provider, but you can add money into your phone account from there. Although they immediately thank you for doing it, it actually takes a few hours (1? 2? 5?, I forgot) until you TIM (in my case) reconnects.

As I said, no bank account and this doesn't help

PWMTrav

Yes, I have actually done this. In fact, I reload my balance exclusively using ricaricards because I find them to be the most reliable method. Here's how I do it -

Use the MyTIM Mobile app (I use iOS, can't speak to Android). Launch the app, tap Ricarica, and then scroll to the bottom and tap Ricarica con Ricaricard. On the next screen, fill in the codice from the back of the Ricaricard, tap Procedi and you're about done. This is my preferred method from outside of Italy.

If you don't have data service or you're in Italy and on the TIM network, it's easy enough to do via SMS. Send a text to 40916 with the message RIC followed by the codice on the ricaricard. Pretty sure this method is written on the back of the cards themselves. This method has worked 100% of the time for me, and has the advantage of letting me add value before I turn on data service. That's my usual predicament as soon as I land, since I've turned off data at the end of the last trip to avoid recurring bills against my balance.

Only caveat is that ricaricards expire, usually about 18-24 months into the future, depending on the stock of the person you bought it from. So this method works if you will be outside of Italy for more than a year but less than 2.5-3 years. IMHO, if you're going that infrequently, it's not worth it to jump through hoops to retain a phone #. This doesn't apply to Perche, but to anyone else reading this looking for a way to maintain a SIM, I'm putting it out there.

One last thing - if you're doing this, log into the MyTIM Mobile app or the website every now and again to make sure some recurring billed feature hasn't been turned on. I've had that happen and had my balance drained. Occasionally TIM thinks they're doing you a favor by adding this crap, and it drives me insane.

Besides, why would I suggest something I haven't tried/done with a vendor as frustrating as TIM?

Perche

KLouis - No bank account anymore. I used to, when I would be over there for a predetermined time. The past two years have been too unpredictable. I have a one way ticket back to Italy later this week, which I will take, providing a trip to the dentist on Wednesday to restore a crown doesn't leave me with a toothache. You can't eat doughy pizza with a toothache. I might have to come back to the USA in two weeks, or in two months. It's unknown. The problem I discovered with keeping a bank account in Italy is that when you file your taxes in the USA, they ask if you have any money in a foreign account. If you say yes, it opens a can of worms.

PWMTrav - This sounds good. I'm going to try it. I always swap my ATT SIM for my TIM one on the plane going over. When I land, I'm not going to have any data this tie, so I don't think I can buy a Ricaricard at a tabacchi in the airport, and do this right away, but I'm going to try it once I get service. You can tell from what I posted upstream that I'm not very fond of tabacchi's. I'm also not fond of TIM stores, especially at airports, because there are too many language barriers with the people in the line and the people behind the counter, and the lines can be terribly slow moving. But once I get service, I'm going to give the tabacchi another shot.