IsanTom Posted October 17, 2017 #1 Share Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) My wife and I will be renting an AIRBNB Apartment for 10 days before our cruise in Italy. Has anyone have any info on where to buy a SIM for this period of time for the best price and what company? Any info would be helpful! We won't be using this for phone calls just Internet connection. Edited October 17, 2017 by IsanTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twickenham Posted October 17, 2017 #2 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Does your Airbnb flat not have free wifi? Most of them do; certainly searching for my latest trip (London, Paris & Costa del Sol) I am having no problems finding places that include free wifi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsanTom Posted October 17, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Does your Airbnb flat not have free wifi? Most of them do; certainly searching for my latest trip (London, Paris & Costa del Sol) I am having no problems finding places that include free wifi. No, we are staying in Santa Marinella and the Apartment/Condo is on the Med, so we chose this particular unit for the best views of the sea. We just have no clue what companies offer the best plans for internet?:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finzleftright Posted October 17, 2017 #4 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I've bought SIM cards for France, China, and Australia, but my last trip to Italy was before I was ready for such. My method is to just google "Italy SIM card AT&T" (or your US service provider, of course.) Your phone type varies based on your provider, so that will make a difference in who you select. Then go to Amazon and search for a deal on the cards. Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? If it's not paid off, service contract over, you may have to do that and get it unlocked. AT&T is particularly bad about making it difficult, but if the phone is paid off, they are required to unlock it IF you ask. They would LOVE to sell you the international service for $10 a day, unlimited calls, texts, and Internet for $100 for your 10 days. But most SIM cards will give you 2 or 3GB of data and some minutes and text for around $30. I'm a big believer in that method. You'll have data for maps while traveling and reviews of all the local restaurants. It's a bit of effort, but well worth it! Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DipBrat Posted October 17, 2017 #5 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I've bought SIM cards for France, China, and Australia, but my last trip to Italy was before I was ready for such. My method is to just google "Italy SIM card AT&T" (or your US service provider, of course.) Your phone type varies based on your provider, so that will make a difference in who you select. Then go to Amazon and search for a deal on the cards. Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? If it's not paid off, service contract over, you may have to do that and get it unlocked. AT&T is particularly bad about making it difficult, but if the phone is paid off, they are required to unlock it IF you ask. They would LOVE to sell you the international service for $10 a day, unlimited calls, texts, and Internet for $100 for your 10 days. But most SIM cards will give you 2 or 3GB of data and some minutes and text for around $30. I'm a big believer in that method. You'll have data for maps while traveling and reviews of all the local restaurants. It's a bit of effort, but well worth it! Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Other benefit of buying a local SIM assuming you are on a Med cruise is it will work everywhere in EU with no roaming fees. By the same token you can buy a sim in another country and use it in Italy. For example it might be easier to buy it at the Frankfurt or Amsterdam airport if you have a layover there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted October 17, 2017 #6 Share Posted October 17, 2017 TIM is the major provider in Italy. So you might check out their website. I just came up with this offer but there might be more. And you can use any European sim card all over Europe (except for Monaco). steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salabc Posted October 17, 2017 #7 Share Posted October 17, 2017 It's not only matter of cost but also coverage TIM and Vodafone are the most important provider in italy and most likely the ones with best coverage/speed as said please also consider that under the new eu rules no roaming fees within the eu countries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slidergirl Posted October 17, 2017 #8 Share Posted October 17, 2017 My iPad Mini was ethernet-only here at home, but was bought with ATT/T-Mobile compatible if I wanted to enable at home. I always bought a SIM for it from TIM. The store employees always were very helpful to me, installing the SIM and setting it up. I did not run into any issues with coverage (now, I was in Rome, through the countrysides of Umbria and Tuscany, and Florence). My phone has always been quad-band RAZR or now an iPhone SE through T-Mobile. Never had an issue with coverage and their international coverage and rates are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted October 17, 2017 #9 Share Posted October 17, 2017 To us the solution is more simple, we just have T-Mobile as our US cell provider. That company is owned by a large German cell provider and gives you international coverage (in over 140 countries) for no additional fees (except 20 cents a min for phone calls). Data and text is free up to whatever you have in your plan...and most of their current plans provide unlimited data. So when we travel around Europe, Asia, Caribbean, Mexico, etc. our phone just works. And folks from home can call us on our regular cell number (you cannot do this when you buy various Sims). Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marazul Posted October 17, 2017 #10 Share Posted October 17, 2017 To us the solution is more simple, we just have T-Mobile as our US cell provider. That company is owned by a large German cell provider and gives you international coverage (in over 140 countries) for no additional fees (except 20 cents a min for phone calls). Data and text is free up to whatever you have in your plan...and most of their current plans provide unlimited data. So when we travel around Europe, Asia, Caribbean, Mexico, etc. our phone just works. And folks from home can call us on our regular cell number (you cannot do this when you buy various Sims). Hank Thanks for your tip. We switched a year ago and we are very pleased with the service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted October 17, 2017 #11 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Thanks for your tip. We switched a year ago and we are very pleased with the service. It truly is one of the secrets among cell phone companies. To be honest, we also had no clue until tipped off by a HAL entertainer ("all the staff has T-Mobile). They have been offering world-wide coverage (140+ Countries) as part of their US packages for several years. We used to think that the other cell providers would jump on that bandwagon to meet the competition, but they have gone the other way. Consider that Verizon still charges $10 per day for coverage in parts of Europe. Another interesting tidbit is that T-Mobile now has a really great deal for Seniors (many cruisers fall into this category) that includes unlimited data for a really reasonable price. The genius of that offer that they have calculated that seniors do not generally use that much data (most of us are not streaming video all day long). After 2 years of being happy with T-Mobile I recently switched DW from ATT to T-Mobile. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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