Cell phone info

Nicole, Before providing suggestions, it would help to have some idea on which Cellular network you're currently with, and what type of phones you're using? I wouldn't suggest renting phones, as that tends to be very expensive. You might check some of the other Threads in the "General Europe" section, as there have been LOTS of discussions on the topic of Cell phones lately! Cheers!

Anyone know where to purchase a cheap Italian cell phone in the Venice airport on a sunday afternoon/evening?

We rented two phones through Rebelfone. Although it was really great to have two phones, I'm not sure I would recommend Rebelfone just yet. Their customer support left a lot to be desired. (For one thing, if you want to reach them by phone, they're only available from 9-6 EST M-F. Not so great when you're actually abroad.) I'm now waiting to get the final invoice from them based on the volume of calls we made. I'll post more details after it's all resolved.

Hi Nicole! I am currently studying abroad in Italy, and me along with most of my peers all bought cheap Italian cell phones at the post office. They were 20 euros plus 15 euros for the actual service. (1.50 euro a week is deducted; calling/texting is free within the network; costs 0.70 euros to text the US and more to call, which uses up the 15 euro credit.) I would definitely recommend this option if your cell phones will not work overseas (mine doesn't and neither does my boyfriend's--I'm on Sprint and he is on Verizon). Ciao!

Verizon has a Global International cell phone that will work overseas. If you have a regular cell phone it does not work

The answer we might give depends on lots of factors. Are you interested in reliability, cost, or convenience first? For reliability and convenience, just use your current cell plan if you are with a GSM carrier that allows roaming (e.g., T-Mobile, AT&T). Or, if you are with Verizon, get one of their loaner phones that works in other countries. You keep your current number and don't have to do anything special. You need to be sure your phone has the necessary frequencies to work where you are going, may need to activate international roaming, and may want to use techniques to keep your costs down (forwarding incoming calls to voicemail or turning off all data). If cost is your primary concern, buy a prepaid SIM (and phone, if necessary) wherever you are going. This is the cheapest option, but it requires dealing with the phone setup of a foreign land. You won't know your phone number until you arrive, though. If convenience is most important but you want to save a little in cost over using AT&T or T-Mobile ($1.29 a minute for calls in Europe on T-Mobile, for example), you might want to consider a travel SIM company (Telestial, Mobal, Call In Europe, Roam Simple, One SIM Card, Euro Buzz, Bright Roam, Range Roamer, Cello Mobile, Go SIM, or Fone Rent, just to name a few). Buying from these guys will let you know your phone number before your trip. But don't buy their phone if you can help it. It is cheaper to buy a phone off ebay and just get a SIM from these guys. But if you don't want to gamble on ebay or if you're not sure you understand the details well enough to get a phone that will work, then, yes, buy a phone from them, too. It can get complicated, as you can imagine. So what are you looking for?

We bought a quad band GSM phone on ebay for $17. It's a motorola V190. Works great. Bought a tim card at a phone store in Milan for 10 euros, came with 5 euros of talk time. Take your passport when you go buy it. You will then have an italian phone number. If you get the international plan with your cell phone, you will pay $1.20 per min. Plus, your friends won't know it's not FREE and they will be calling you. ....so you'll be chatting with your friends for $1.20 per minute. My sister uses 1100 minutes a month. That's $1,320 in thirty days. Make sure you do the math before you get a plan for you US cell phone. Oh, and data plans are a whole different story. If you're looking for a data plan, then you'll get into more costs. That means no blackberry, droid, iphone etc. So, for us....$17 phone on ebay and buy a tim card. Molto Bene.