How do I avoid high cellphone bill in Italy???

I don't mean to be sarcastic, but have you thought about just sending emails and leaving your phone at home? One less worry about texts, etc. I always send and check emails either from the hotel for free or purchase a bit of internet time at a cafe as often as I need. I don't like the worry of the cell phone with me. But I'm probably older than you are...

I suppose that not using it is out of the question. How did we ever survive ten years ago?

Check to see what your International Calling plan is. I have standard international roaming with my non-Iphone ATT phone and it costs me maybe $1.25 a minute, which is fine as I do not use it much. They do sell an international calling plan, but as I recall, it only drops the rate to maybe $1......More importantly though, discuss with them options for turning off any data use while in Italy. People who find they have a huge bill usually get it by either knowingly or unknowingly using the data or internet portion of the features.

I think you can turn off the data and switch it to wifi. That shouldn't interfere with your phone and text abilities. We got the International plan a few trips ago. We used the phone so seldom it was not worth it. We just got back from Italy, where I bought an Italian SIM card for my unlocked phone. My husband doesn't get as many calls as I do (that's why I wanted a new number in Italy), so he planned to use his AT&T number if necessary. When he tried to use his phone it didn't work. He assumed that since AT&T works in Italy it just would automatically. Nope - you have to notify them that you will be traveling.

Shannon, go to the AT&T website and you will find a section that deals with just overseas use of your I phone. http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/iphone-travel-tips.jsp It is very easy to read and understand, and will give you some good options. If you have any questions, call them. They are wonderful to work with. In my case they put together a special plan because I needed the ability to receive important family calls. It is also very important to understnd that any message left on your voice mail will be charged at the rate that you sign up for in Europe. Also take a good look at the special data rates that you can sign up for. My Iphone is unlocked and jailbroken, so I bought a EU SIM card when I got to Europe and used the IPhone for internal EU calls and for WiFI. It worked great. I put my AT&T SIM card in my old AT&T Razor and used it for my overseas calls using the AT&T overseas calling plan.

Just returned from Italy. Rates through Verizon for my Blackberry Tour: standard voice $1.29/min or $.99 minute if you sign up for a plan at 4.99/mo. Either way texts are .50 to send and .05 to receive and data is $20/megabyte. Since I didn't sign up for a plan my sim card needed to be activated by Verizon which there is no charge to do. If you don't sign up for a global data plan you will want to block data which you can do on your own. It would have been cheaper to swap out the sim card with an Italian one once in Italy but this way my phone # stayed the same. (I had the global dept walk me through the steps to unlock the phone so I could use an Italian sim card if I wanted.) We have a cell phone we purchased at Vodafone in Italy a couple years ago that is our main phone over there and just purchase new sim card for it. It was 20 Euros for the sim + what would be about 125 min.(if making Italy calls) Rates: incoming calls always free no matter where they originate; calls within Italy are .16 Euro; .50 E. to U.S.; .12 E. texts. Not sure what rates are to other European countries are. Buon Viaggio!!

Unless the calls will be lengthy, for one call a day for ten days it's simpler and perhaps cheaper than other options to sign up for the ATT World Traveler at $4.99/month while you're abroad, then cancel it when you return. Calls in and out will be charged at $.99/minute. If you will have access to wifi, get the Skype app for the iPhone and set up a Skype prepaid account; then you can call anywhere for $0.02/minute plus a small connection charge when on wifi. If you want access to data when not on wifi, get one of the data roaming plans. Even then, don't check email or download any maps unless on wifi; those are the big data hogs. It's possible to have full use of the iPhone without incurring exorbitant charges if you're smart and careful about data use. Learn how to turn data roaming on and off, then don't turn it on unless you need it. Also turn off any email "push" that you use in the States. When you return home, leave the data plan in place for the rest of the billing period in case any delayed charges from abroad hit ATT which will then pass them on to you.

Will you be calling local numbers or international numbers? Does your hotel have a landline you can use? It might be worth looking into other options, instead of using your own phone and racking up a big bill. There are a number of international cellphone companies from which you can buy a phone and load it with pre-paid minutes (Ken on this board knows all about these); you could buy an AT&T calling card to call the U.S. from Europe via landlines (there's info about this on the AT&T website); or you might want to buy an Italian SIM card which would allow you to make cheap local calls.

Shannon, it would help to know whether you plan on using the data portion of your phone while you're travelling? Under the circumstances, I'd suggest turning the data roaming "OFF" while you're in Italy and zero the usage meter so that you can verify that you're not using any data. It's a good idea to check the phone periodically to ensure that the data roaming remains OFF. You will still be able to access E-mail and web surfing where Wi-Fi is available. ¶ For the voice calls and texts, speak with AT&T regarding a "travel plan", which will reduce your rates somewhat. If you use the voice calls sparingly, you costs should be manageable. I find that texts are the least expensive way to keep in touch with family and friends back home (especially as received texts are usually free). Finally, as you're "first time European travelers", I'd highly recommend pre-reading the Guidebook "Europe Through The Back Door" before you depart. Happy travels!