Cell phone rental or purchase in Italy

I have had a few horror stories from students of mine in the past who have rented phones traveling in Europe. Basically when you rent, they have their hand in your pocket and it is hard to get justification of charges. One student ended up with bills of $1000 which she claimed to me were not made by her and in some cases after she had turned in the phone. When you get a cheap pay as you go phone, you limit your possible financial loss and it is easy to do. Ideally you would have an unlocked US phone you could just buy a chip for in Italy -- we had phones with Tmobile that let us do this and my husband has an unlocked Iphone we can use now. But if your phone is not suitable or your vendor will not unlock the phone then picking up a cheap phone or two and just buying minutes is the best bet. (you need a passport when doing phone business so be sure you have it with you that day)

Thanks so much for the quick reply. Do you happen to know of any places we could pick up cheap pay-as-you-go phones in the Rome area?

You might check with a T-Mobile store about purchasing a pre-paid phone. We were told with our existing T-mobile plan we'll have great coverage in Italy (The map shown on their website definitely looks promising). If you sign up for a single month of pre-paid service with unlimited internet/texts etc all you'll be billed for (above the monthly fee) is phone calls. (And you can use skype's mobile app to make calls instead of a phone call and you'll avoid that cost).

I bought an inexpensive TIM phone at the Milano Centrale station, there are TIM stores everywhere, probably at the airport, too. There are other companies as well. I paid about 30 euro for a phone with a few minutes' time on it. I traveled with a friend last year who rented a phone in the US and it never worked, except for texting, and customer support was non-existent.

Does your current phone have a SIM card? If you are Verizon customers, unless you have a newer smart phone it probably does not. Also, is your current phone quad band? Unless both are true you can not use your current phone in Europe. A few years ago we bought a used quad band phone that used a SIM card for phone service. We then bought a T-Mobile SIM card for the US to ensure the phone actually worked. When we arrived in Europe we bought a pay as you go SIM card with a local company. We have used the phone in a few different countries. The card has cost us from 9 Euros to about 15 Euros with about 30 minutes talking time within that country, less time if calling out of the country. Another option, as was previously mentioned, is to buy an inexpensive phone there. If you do that, try to get one that uses a SIM card so that you can use it in other European countries.

Zoe's option is a good one. You can then get aTIM Welcome pack that gives you a good amount of data and calls for 30 days.

Thank you all so much. A lot of good options here!

kt,

Your situation is very easy to resolve, but I would like to clarify one point.....

"We are Verizon customers, and we have heard that service is awful/non-existent in Italy"

I'm not sure why service would be "awful" since you'll be using European cell networks and not Verizon service. In my experience over many years, I have never had issues with service in Italy, especially when using a system that selects the strongest carrier in each area.

Are you planning to use Smartphones during your travels, or just basic voice + text phones?

If you don't want to use Verizon international roaming (assuming your phones have the necessary frequencies), then you have a couple of options.....

1. Buy PAYG phones when you land in Italy - mobile phone shops are ubiquitous and you won't have any trouble finding one. If you don't see one right away, ask the staff at your hotel where the nearest one is. TIM is the largest network, but WIND or Vodaphone are also options. You'll probably have to present your Passports for purchase, and you'll need help setting it up as the menus will be in Italian. Be sure that you're clear on the method for topping-up when your minutes are depleted.
2. Buy travel Phones prior to leaving home - there are a number of firms that provide inexpensive phones (or just the SIM card for those with unlocked phones). Have a look at the websites for Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Mobal, Telestial, EuroBuzz or Lebara. The advantage of this approach is that you'd have working phones as soon as you step off the plane, and wouldn't have to spend any time setting that up in Italy. Many of these use post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card), so no issues with topping up. Phone numbers are often based in the U.K., but the travel phones operate everywhere in Europe with fairly consistent rates. I've found that basic voice + text service with these services is very cheap (depending on use), but if you add data the price goes up considerably.

Thank you all!

We are taking the Leonardo express to the Roma termini train station and heading to Venice. Does anyone know of a TIM store somewhere along that route?

kt,

If you have time, there's a TIM store at Roma Termini station. Have a look at THEIR website.

Some important points to mention - as you'll be using the Leonardo Express, you MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding the train or risk hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot! Also note that there are two trains running to FCO, the L.E. and the FM1. Be sure you board the correct train!

I just bought a $17 phone from Amazon that is quadband GSM unlocked.....its really cute and I am just gonna pick up a Vodafone SIM when I get in country (I think they might be the cheapest, from the "cell phones in Italy" trip advisor rundown, but we shall see)....I wanted to keep my costs down and have a sort of plan before I got there.....

You can add minutes at any tabacco shop (they will probably request cash). The salesperson can set up the phone for you, including setting the language to English. Texts from the phone company will probably show up in Italian.

We have had Verizon for our last 3 trips to Italy, from Aosta to Sorrento with virtually no problems. In Sorrento we were in the hills and coverage was spotty. Coverage in the town of Sorrento was fine. The easiest thing to do is add Verizon's International Plan to your account and use your phone. The last time we used it was in 2014 and it was $25.00/ month and then you cancel it when you get back. It may be a little more expensive, but it a lot easier to use your existing phone .

Interesting ideas. I will look into all of these recommendations and I really appreciate them!