Cell Phone (US-Italy)

Hello- I looked into this also though my cell carrier is Verizon. None of our current phones will work in Italy, though the blackberry storm apparently can. I called verizon & I'd have to 'rent' a phone for the month and then set up the global service - If we want to use a blackberry browser the usage charge is $64.99 /pr mo. texts are .50 and calls .99 pr. minute. reg phone we would pay just for the postage to mail the rental phone to us $9.99 I may upgrade to a storm but not sure what to do yet, I'd love to have browser service. all Emails are apparently (?) free, so could you correspond that way? I suggest you call sprint. AT&T phones are 'global ready' apparently. good luck!

I have a Motorola Z6C world wide phone which I am taking with me. Since Verizon is my carrier they sent me a sim card free and I bought the $4.99 per month global service which I will cancel when I return. The calls are .99 per minute. I believe the caller from the USA calls free and the receiver in Italy pays the .99 cents. I posted questions here and on Frommer's and this method seemed best and easiest for me. My neighbor just rented the same phone from Verizon for his trip to Germany and was more than pleased with the results.

I looked into buying an unlocked quad band gsm phone from ebay and then find a sim card. The cost for both would have been around $68.00. Since I had the phone and verizon gave me the card, it was a no brainer for me. I figure that I will need to talk a lot before I break even with the ebay cost.

Buon viaggio,

RB

in order of complication, here are some options.

1) call sprint and get a loaner phone that will work in Europe. If your dad can call your cell phone now, he can call you in Europe because the number is exactly the same. However incoming calls in Italy are not free; more like $1/minute.

2) go to a service you can find online by searching for "global SIM" and buy a global SIM. Incoming calls are free, but it will be a new phone number. However you'll know it in advance and you can write down the number and how to call it in advance, even test it out with him a few times to make sure he can do it. If he has a cellphone or nice cordless home phone, you could even program it all in so he can call with just a single button press for speed dial.

2) wait until your trip, then get a SIM chip in Italy. This will give you the best rates for calling the US, and incoming calls are free. But you have to find a cell store in Italy to buy the SIM, and you won't know the number until you're in Italy.

As for your phone, you need an unlocked phone. Ask your friends if they have any old cell phones on the ATT or T-Mobile network lying in a drawer. You could buy one on eBay. Or you could check the Blackberry phones; put in a SIM from both ATT and T-Mobile; if both work, its unlocked.

You have my sympathy. Having traveled for years with two elderly mothers, now ages 85 & 90 (his and mine)who naturally are left behind I know just how difficult this can be. I don't know about your Dad but our mothers are mentally incapable of handling a new phone number let alone much else (and not for lack of trying). We hit on the solution of hiring a care giver while we travel to check on them twice a day. Course they didn't like "some stranger" knocking on their door either so we presented it as a "could you do me this favor? I'll worry about you otherwise and it'll ruin our trip." I have Cingular and it does make/accept international calls but really there's not much you can do long distance. The care giver has my international number, knows the time difference and we have a set 2 hour window each day when she might call. This way we're not in some noisy cafe or hushed museum. She also txt msgs me each day with a "all ok"

Thank you so much for the information. I am going to test the old phones we have and probably purchase a SIM card in Italy since it's so much cheaper and all incoming calls are free. You know how it is with our parents, it they think it's too expensive, they won't want to call. I want him to feel like he can call as many times as he'd like. THANKS!!

Joseline,

The "old phones" you have there MUST BE unlocked quad-band GSM models or they WON'T work in Italy! It's unlikely that any Sprint phones would be able to connect to GSM networks.

One other option you might consider would be a "travel phone" from a firm such as Call In Europe, Roam Simple or Cellular Abroad. When using these networks, anyone calling you from the U.S. would have to dial a European number, so long distance charges would apply. However, if you were using an Italian SIM card and phone plan, the same situation would exist. Would your parents have any difficulty dialing the numbers for international calls?

The easiest and simplest method would be to use roaming with AT&T or T-Mobile, however that's not necessarily the cheapest method. The one advantage is that your parents would only have to dial your normal phone number (therefore no long distance or complicated dialing sequences for them to deal with), and the network will find you wherever you are.

I believe AT&T has an "international roaming plan" that reduces roaming charges somewhat. This can be activated just prior to departure and then de-activated when you get back.

If your phone contract is due for renewal, perhaps switching to one of the GSM networks would be an advantage?

You could also buy an unlocked quad-band GSM handset off E-Bay and then buy an Italian SIM when you arrive. If you do buy a phone make sure the Charger supplied with it is designed for world operation! A Plug Adaptor will still be needed though.

I always use roaming with my home network when I travel, and it's worked well so far.

Good luck!

In addition to a cell phone for incoming calls, don't forget that you can buy an international calling card and a local newsstand (cigarette shop) for about 5 euros that gets you 100 minutes of calls home from any phone. Dial the 800 number on the card, punch in the PIN code on it and then dial your number. At that price you can call your father several times a day, and only use the cell when he wants to call you...or when making reservations at museums, etc. Also keep in mind that in most cases he will be sleeping when you're awake, so you'll want to be aware of the time at home. I think from Charlotte it's 7 hours earlier than Italy. I tell you this because we woke up relatives a few times because we wanted to tell them what we were seeing at that time. After a while they said "just show us the pictures when you get home." Good Luck.

The last advice- getting a calling card, is very important- but for your father.

I was in Sicily for 5 weeks last summer. I'd call my wife and have her call me right back on the cell phone I had (because I had a very limited amount on it).

We forgot about a calling card and didn't know how viciously the phone company would hit us... and I came home to a phone bill of around $400. They were charging us several dollars a minute (I'd talk with her a few minutes two or three times a week).

Since we didn't check into the cost of calling out, we were stuck. The phone company wouldn't cut us any slack.

Needless to say- we're now with a different phone service.

Tmobile works in Italy

All of this information is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

I just got back from spending a month in Italy. Before I left the US, I bought a SIM card through Rebelfon. Depending on when you leave, you can get the card before you leave with your number for Italy. I have an ATT phone which I unlocked before I left. However, Rebelfon has cheap rates to rent a phone. To call the US was only 45 cents a minute. This was the cheapest I could find. All incoming calls are free.

Good luck.

I can empathize about leaving your Dad. You can rent a cell phone from Cellular Abroad ( preferably with a TIM card). They give you the phone number at the time you get your phone. Your dad can use a phone card (cheapest from Costco, Sam's club or Bj's) and he can call you for about 3 cents a min. This is probably the easiest way. Now skype is another way to call you in Italy.

Was just in Italy late June/early July - I have a Verizon cell phone, but it's not Global. I read about their occasional world travler phone and rented it - you pay a $9.99 shipping fee and then it's $4.99 to get the global plan and .99 / minute. Your dad would pay nothing to call you because when you call to activate the phone it shuts off your "real" phone and puts your number onto the rental phone. If you use the phone in the U.S. (at the airport or whatever) you will not pay extra, you will just use your regular plan minutes, then the .99/ minute charges start once you are overseas. Now there were times when the coverage was spotty, but usually if I turned the phone off and on again it would reset (esp. had to do this in Venice).

It was so worth it - and I haven't even gotten the bill yet. We were meeting a friend in Rome and we could call him and he us. Our daughter was at home and she got hurt while we were away and we could easily be reached. Like I said there were a couple of times a call didn't go through, but we had no worries about trying to find a phone and all of that. Just flipped it open and dialed. Just be sure to return the phone within 30 days or else you'll be charged for it - full price. If you order it 4-5 days before your trip you should be fine.

I too am traveling to Italy soon with an elderly father and want to be in touch. My phone is an ATT LG and is unlocked. Plan to buy a SIM card in Italy then email all my contacts with the Italian number. My question is, how much does the SIM card cost?

Anyone requiring an international cell phone or international sim card? When I travelled abroad this year to Europe, I needed a better solution for my cell phone. I go on a trip every year and when I come back, I’m always faced with huge roaming charges on my cell phone bill. Deciding to try another route, I soon heard about Rebelfone, a company that provides temporary cellular service for those who are traveling. Unfortunately, that’s all I knew about the company and I didn’t bother with researching any more about them before I packed my bags. I soon found out that the 35 networks they say are in partnership with don’t cover even the most populated areas of service. And if you have a problem and want to talk to the people at Rebelfone, I wouldn’t bother. They are either unavailable or rude. I wish I had done more extensive research on Rebelfone before I decided to give them a try. If I had, I might have found out that the Better Business Bureau has given them a rating of D-. This means that not only does the BBB find nothing of value in this company but that they also strongly advise using caution when choosing them. I might have also found out that there were customers just like myself who had the exact, or worse, experiences. I’m sure there are other companies available that can help reduce the cost of roaming cell phone charges while you’re abroad. But Rebelfone certainly isn’t one of them.

Linda,

One important point to mention is that you should verify that your AT&T LG Phone is a quad-band model. I encountered some tourists from the U.S. in Italy last year that were very surprised that their "GSM Phone wouldn't work in Europe". When I checked the phone, it turned out that it was a dual-band model, having only the two North American frequency bands.

Also be sure to verify that the phone charger is designed for operation from 100-240 VAC (of course, Plug Adapters will be required).

Joseline,

I wouldn't bother with the Blackberry phones, as they may not be unlocked, may not be GSM models and would add the complication of data roaming charges.

You mentioned that "please provide me an explanation that a 10 yr old can understand. I need for him to be able to call me at any time". If that's the case, I wouldn't use an Italian SIM card as your elderly father would need to dial internationally and pay long distance charges each time he calls you. That's not exactly the most "user friendly" method.

As an alternative you might consider one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad or others, who can provide either a phone or just the SIM card. Some of these can provide a LOCAL NUMBER with any area code desired, which will be seamlessly forwarded to your phone regardless of where you are. That would probably be a much simpler option for your father, and wouldn't involve any international long distance charges for him. Be sure to check the rate structures carefully so you have a good idea on what your costs will be.

Happy travels!

Thanks Ken - I will double check with AT&T.

Like you, i live in Seattle and last year had a similar situation with an elder father. My father had my cell on his speed dial both at his home and cell. Whenevee he had problems, he knew to press speed dial 2 to get me. The safest and easiest way that i found was to continue to have him speed dial 2 when i traveled domestic or international and have my cell have international service so that he didnt have to learn or remember something new. I have AT&T service and with unlimited data and voice for the 10 days i was gone didnt cost me that much - maybe $100 and that let me have unlimited internet access so i was not paying hotel or internet cafes. The piece of mind was priceless and this system worked even as he slid further into dimentia. He always knew he could get help by speed dial 2. It worked untill sadly he passed away. When i go back to itsly this summer i will continue to turn on data and voice as it avoids all of the other confusion.

Ken: I found out that my AT&T phone is a quad band. Thanks for giving me that tip. I hope to stay in touch with my family and especially my Dad. I've learned so much from this forum and have passed on the website to my friend in Chicago who is going to Italy in September. Ciao! Bella Italia - here I come.