iphone in Italy

Talk to AT&T about packages, none of them are good, but it may be reassuring to know you have a phone you won't pay exorbitant fees calling/using data with. I got both the cheaper roaming and the smallest data when I went ($5.95 and 25 respectively) I don't know that I would do either again this summer. We ended up just getting a phone card and used that to call home - though we weren't arriving separately. Wifi was something I made sure all of my accomodations had this time around, I will likely just put it on airplane mode the minute I board and never take it off. Now, if you are willing to/have already jailbroken your phone - there's probably another forum somewhere that could get you fitted with a prepaid sim card, which would be much better - and what I plan on doing with my current phone when I get my replacement for it.

Below is information about AT&T international plans. If you do use one of these be very aware of what your usage is and turn off automatic email retrieval, wait until you are on wifi in a hotel or such to turn it on temporarily to collect it. It would be nice if they had a usage meter to go along with limited data plans as going over can cost a lot. Also you are metered for all incoming voicemail messages (from your talk time) while overseas, so be careful if you get many calls. Only set it up close to when you leave and be sure to call AT&T to cancel when you return stateside. You need more than a jailbroken iphone if you want to try to use another SIM, you need an unlocked iPhone. It's two different things. Jailbreaking just lets you install other apps. http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-0044LQ-0-1&WT.svl=calltoaction

You can track your usage on your iPhone. When you're about to board the plane to leave go to Settings>General>Usage Scroll to the bottom and tap Reset Statistics Your current period call time will reset to zero, so you will be able to tell how many minutes you have used since you left the US just by going back and viewing this screen. Your Cellular Network Data will also reset, but you will need to add the Sent and Received to calculate how much data you have used since you left the US. The translator app does require an internet connection, but it's fantastic! Just to see how much data I use, I did a test run and reset my statistics. I also turned off all push notifications and changed my email settings to download only when I tell it to. I only downloaded email when I had a wifi connection, but I used the apps (translate and google maps) that I felt I would use most in Italy. 20MB was more than sufficient for 2 weeks. If you only plan to call your sister when she arrives, the $5.99 you pay to reduce the rate by $0.30/minute doesn't really pay. You will need to use the phone for about 20 minutes for that plan to be worthwhile. The biggest problem is still incoming calls (you get charged for text messages the same way you would if you were at home). You will get charged every time the phone rings and gets transferred to your voicemail. If anyone knows how to turn off voicemail or prevent these charges without turning off the phone I'd love to know!

Amy, and Bev. If you take your Iphone with you make sure that you change the personal message on your phone, and let everyone know that you are out of the country, and that THEY SHOULD NOT LEAVE ANY MESSAGES ON YOUR PHONE UNLESS IS VERY IMPORTANT! No messages=no cost. That is what I did on my last trip to Italy. I absolultely did not want to pay for message that were not important. You can tell them to Email you, and read the messages for free when you get near a wifi hot spot (and use Skype for phone calls.) The problem is that there are not many wifi hot spots in Italy...they were severely restricted until lately. The best ones are your hotel/lodging, and Micky D's. My Iphone is unlocked and jail broken, so I bought a prepaid Italian SIM chip (avail at any small electronics store) and used my Iphone for local calls. Problem: you need to make sure that they walk you thru all of the Italian voice prompts...(ie voice mail, etc.).I did not buy a prepaid Italian SIM chip for data, but they are available. I took my AT&T sim chip and stuck it in an old Razor for emergency calls to and from home. AT&T's web site is quite good at explaining the options that you have overseas...just be aware that; if you leave your data on you could have thousands of dollars in bills when you come home, and.....if you buy an overseas data pkg from them it won't last.........data minutes are extremely expensive in Italy, unless you buy a prepaid EU SIM chip with a data pkg.

Unfortunately, Steve's info is not correct... Here are the rules from AT&T's site: Q. How am I charged for voicemail calls while roaming internationally? A. Voicemail calls are charged as follows: When your device is on: •Calls that you do not answer that are routed to the AT&T voicemail system will be charged as an international roaming incoming call to your device. •In addition, the foreign carrier's routing of that call to the AT&T voicemail system may generate an outgoing call charge from your device's location to the U.S. •These charges apply even if the caller disconnects from the voicemail system without leaving a message. If your device is turned off or in flight mode and the wireless network is off: •When someone tries to call you, the call will go directly to your personal voicemail greeting. •Since the network does not try to deliver the call to you in a foreign country, there are no international roaming charges. When receiving Visual Voicemail messages on your smartphone or Apple® iPhone®:
•Visual Voicemail messages received when roaming outside of the U.S. will be charged at international roaming data rates, either at the international pay-per-use data rate or against your smartphone or iPhone international data package.

This works with T-Mobile, so I would think it might work with AT&T, too: Unconditionally forward all of your calls to voicemail (call your company to get the voicemail number or just forward the calls to your own number; I think either way will work but test it out before you go). Then incoming calls never travel overseas. You may still get a notification of new voicemail messages, though. You can make outgoing calls. Or get a Google Voice number and forward calls to that number. GV transcribes voicemail messages and sends the transcript to email or texts it to your phone, or both. Then, to communicate with your sister, just text her. Texts cost a bit more, but nothing as outrageous as roaming voicemail calls. Practice before you go if you don't text much (or at all). Be sure to turn off all data, though. That is the real killer. By-the-way, I'm assuming you have AT&T because you have an iPhone. Now that Verizon has them, I guess I should note that a Verizon iPhone will not work in Rome.

My phone strategy for my upcoming 3 week visit to Italy is kind of weird but I think it will work. I want to use the iphone for a bit of data, mapping and GPS #1 set up my AT&T iPhone for 100 MB $119 data plan #2 forward my iPhone calls to my google voice phone # so I don't get messages through my phone but rather my email #3 buy a SIM card (from Tim, Wind or Vodafone) with phone data plan in Italy for local calls and internet for use on my unlocked android phone I know this doesn't answer the OP's question but does address some other comments in the thread.

Normally it sets this up automatically and asks for your voicemail pin. Check under settings->phone->change voicemail password. Use your voicemail password you have set up if normally calling into a number (Ex - Verizon is *86).

If that doesn't work there was a bit of an issue on the iPhone 4, which required a couple of voicemails before being prompted to enter in your password pin. So, you can always try to leave yourself a couple of messages and try to retrieve deleted voicemails on iPhone until prompted.

Once it is set up though you should be able to click the message under the voicemail tab and you'll see a play triangle on the left hand side of the message to play the message on the interface of iPhone Data Recovery. Good luck.

Turn off data roaming. Turn off anything on your phone that is set to automatically update-email for example. Communicate through text messaging until you meet up. You do not need to get an international texting plan to be able to text. And it won't be cost effective if you are only going to text a few times. Once you meet up, just switch your phone to airplane mode. And you can use it with Wifi network for free.

Or, just exchange flight information and the first to arrive waits in baggage claim.

Just text each other. It's less expensive than calling, although you will pay for the text messages. IF you have internet, you can iMessage, then there is no charge..and if you both have iPhones, utilize Facetime.

As others have said, make sure Data Roaming is off (I always keep it off).

Also, I always FORWARD my cell phone calls to my home number (you can do that from the iphone). That way I don't get anyone calling me at 2AM. I leave a message for work (I use my iphone for work) on my home number. I let people know that can email me if they wish, I can reply that way. Nothing is more miserable than having your doctor's office calling you at midnight to confirm your appointment.

Most hotels offer free or low cost internet connections now....ask for INTERNET (not wi-fi) at the front desk when you check in, they will give you a code to use for the internet on your phone if you'd like to use your translator app, or internet for searches or other internet apps

ATT data plans for roaming really suck. In the past i've paid hundreds of dollars for a week trip anywhere overseas for data but now i opt for getting a sim card when i arrive in my destination.

I got my iphone unlocked easily from ATT so once i arrived in italy (milan) i went to a WIND store and got a simcard with only data for just 9 euro that covered 1gb data a month they also had a 3gb and a 5gb plan all extremely affordable compared to even the cheapest data roaming plan that att gives you... last time i checked it was $30 bucks for 120mb. There was a plan that came with unlimited data, voice, and text for a pretty low price also. you can check them all at www.wind.it

also, once you arrive to italy, be sure to have your phone already on airplane mode and dont switch it on. if your sister also has an iphone you can always send messages from iphone - iphone for free as long as you have data via imessage

sorry if this is a bit confusing =) but once you get to a store you'll be in and out of it within 5 min if you know what plan you want.

I would put your phone on airplane mode at the start of your trip & leave it in that mode for the entire time because if you accidentally go into roaming mode, you will incur big charges! As for getting in contact with your sister, have you thought about renting a cell phone? This is what my husband & I did last Aug/Sept when we traveled through Italy for 3 weeks. I used my IPhone for skyping and e-mailing home (and for using various apps) but we rented 2 cell phones through Cellomobile.com which worked out extremely well. We wanted to each have a phone in case we got separated from each other by accident (which happened in Florence a few years back and we wasted half a day searching for each other!). I also wanted to have a phone in case someone at home needed to reach us in an emergency. We also used the cell phones to communicate with our tour guides and/or hotels when necessary and it sure came in handy. The rental cost itself for the 2 phones and the cost for air time usage was very reasonable and it was worth while for the peace of mind of having a phone when we needed it.