Buying an inexpensive mobile phone in Italy

If you just want a simple flip phone, TIM stores have a nice one for around 30 euro. Selection can vary from store to store.

Two flip phones at €30 each would be way more than we have paid for using our own phones on the ATT plan.

What is your goal here? If you want anyone from home to be able to reach you, with new phones you will have to contact everyone and give them the new number. And they will have to pay foreign connection fees tomcall you.

If you just want to be able to communicate with each other when separated, , there are probably better ways

barry,

It would help to know what type of phones (if any) you use at home?

Renting phones is rarely a good (inexpensive) option. If you do want to buy two "travel" phones, you won't have any trouble finding mobile phone shops. I believe that both Vodaphone and TIM have inexpensive plans for tourists. I believe you'll need to obtain a Codice Fiscale number to buy the phones, but according to posts I've seen here it's not difficult. Roberto or one of the others can provide that information.

A smart phone may not cost much more than a flip phone and is infinitely more useful when traveling - e.g. maps and navigation, better messaging, VOIP calling (e.g. Google Hangouts, Skype), etc. But it depends what your primary purpose is in buying the phones: to keep in touch with each other if separated? Calling locally? Calling home?

Buying Android phones at home before getting to Italy may make some sense; you'll have time to turn the phone on and setup contacts while on WiFi, etc. You won't have to spend as much time in Italy figuring out how to use them. I'm not sure what to recommend right now for cheap Android phones. I just bought an unlocked Moto E4 for $105 on sale, but it's going to be my primary US phone (will work with any US carrier) - and should work great in Europe with a SIM. You can probably find cheaper phones than that. Often they go on sale but you must make sure the phone has the right frequencies to work in Europe. You can buy used unlocked phones on eBay (and Amazon) if you know what to look for. You can probably buy flip phones that will work too. My ancient 10 year old flip phone should still work in Europe though it's long since stopped being useful to me.

If you own smart phones already, they may work in Europe if unlocked. If they aren't unlocked, unlocking them may be relatively easy. (Verizon smart phones aren't locked.)

We both have Tracphones, which cannot be used in Europe. Simple flip phones with numbers we can use to call each other in case we get separated or to call for help in case of an auto problem are all we really need. I would hope to give our kids those numbers in case of an emergency.

I would guess that I could find TIM or Vodaphone kisoks in the Venice airport. Is that likely?

You can buy phones on Amazon for less. To make sure they work in Europe search for UNLOCKED QUAD BAND GSM PHONES

I have a TIM phone that I paid 25 euros for 3 years ago. I have used it for 3 trips to Italy and also for Spain and Portugal when I swapped in a SIM card for the countries. I like having a phone to make and receive local calls in Europe. I use enjoyprepayed.com a part of Noble company for years to talk to my husband in the US. The device gives access to local numbers in each country, so my cost is very low. Last time I was in Italy I used less than $20.00 dollars to talk to my husband every day for as long as I liked, sometimes just to touch base, sometimes 45 minutes. I use my U.S. Cell phone for WI-FI so I do not need a data package.

Thanks to each of you who replied to my original message. We wwill probably buy simple TIM flip phones for use on this trip and keep them for future European trips.

Happy New Year to all