SIM Card purchase for 10 day trip in August

I think the first thing you need to verify is whether your cell phone is unlocked, or if it isn't, whether or not it can be. I don't think you can change out your SIM card unless and until your phone is unlocked.

One thing to consider if you can't unlock your phone is downloading WhatsApp, as most AirBnB hosts use it to communciate with guests. You can use it on wifi to make calls or send texts. I don't have experience with TIM, so can't give you any advice there.

While you wait for others to chime in, you might search the forum (SIM cards is a fairly common topic), or you can check out the Technology Tips part of the forum as I know there are often SIM questions there, too. And, my bad, it looks like you have already read a bit on the forum, so this might not be a suggestion you don't already know but I'll leave it for others who may not be aware of the Technology Tips section (I didn't notice it at first).

TIM has a store - actually two counters facing each other - near the exit from terminal 3. The staff there is helpful and speak English. On my last two trips, I prepaid and got the voucher. That way the clerks know exactly what you want. I don’t make many calls but burn up data using maps and researching sites. If you use it for texting, there is a €.20 charge for each text. It’s up to you and your wallet to determine how many people in your party need cards.

Hello. I am in Italy now (Venice) and I would highly recommend walking...no running away from using a TIM sim card here in Italy. My family of five all got TIM cards when we arrived and for the first three days all seemed to work as advertised--then four of the five cards suddenly were unable to receive a signal. We purchased the 15 GB 200 minute tourist TIM plans good for 30 days. Anyway, when we returned to the TIM store to get them repaired/replaced we were told that our data had been completely used up and we would have to pay a 15 euro fee per phone to get them back up and running--THREE DAYS AFTER INITIAL PURCHASE OF 150 EURO FOR THE 5 OF US!!! ...and I can assure you that we did not burn through our data or make multiple calls. So what we have been forced to do is all share one line by using a hotspot--very inconvenient and unfair. Regardless, TIM is a scam in my humble opinion and should be avoided like the plague. Try Vodafone or Wind...something else must be better! ....by the way, our phones were all unlocked and we purchased TIM sim cards for all phones at 20 euros each + 10 euro sim cards. I hope this helps you avoid the mistakes that we have made. If others here have had nice experiences with TIM cards then you should feel very lucky--VERY LUCKY--.....like winning the lottery lucky lol! Have an amazing trip! Aside from the phone debacle Italy has been all that we hoped for and then some!

I have used the E30 tourist TIM card in Italy for a two week period, and had so much data left over that I could have stayed another three weeks and never used it up.
Perhaps some of the group of five were teenagers , using up data without really thinking about it?

As I mentioned above, I’ve used TIM, being in Italy for over 3 weeks each trip and constantly using my iPhone quite heavily for maps, GPS, web browsing and more, I have never come near to running out of data. What you should do is go into “Cellular” on the “Settings” tab and then see what’s eating up your data. Then make the necessary changes to stop certain apps from draining you dry in the background. I think the problem is with settings/usage on your phones rather than problems with TIM. There is a charge of €.29 for SMS and text messages and that might eat into the €5 balance on the card when you first get it. I am not sure but when that balance reaches 0, the card might lock and you might have to top it off to reactivate.

I, too, was in Italy for 3 weeks, using a TIM card. No problems, had leftover data. Definitely will use it again when I go back.

We bought SIM cards in Spain and all went well. One of us had a long paid off Verizon iphone that was never unlocked. He had to get it unlocked before SIM would work. Not a SIM issue.

We also noticed that the data killer is apps automatically updating. Make sure to go to settings to set app updates to WIFI Only. One of us did not set it and he ran out of service on day two.

Manuel

My service was terrible and my customer service was even worse. The only phone that we could get to work was one of my teens and yes, it was an iPhone. It should be of note that several members of my tour group in Italy were complaining of the same problems despite numerous changes to our internal phone settings. My point is simply buyer beware--and don't say that I didn't warn you when you are back at the TIM store waiting in line only to receive atrocious customer service. There are other phone services and my advice is to simply do your research.

If your phones quit working you depleted the complimentary 5 € of credit doing something not included in the Tim's plan for tourists.

Either you or your phone sent text messages (yes, when you insert a foreign SIM Apple's iMessage sends texts in background without users noticing it).

Maybe your phone is set to send receipts any time you receive a text (yes, a receipt is just a text sent automatically). Otherwise you may have activated the VAS services clicking "SI" on some banners, an italian sim implies that some system pop-ups are in Italian and Tim can't do much about it.
Another usual mistake made by Americans is surfing the web out of the EU (i.e. in Switzerland or during a cruise).

If it was Tim's fault all phones would have stopped working, not 4 out of 5.

I also had a lot of problems with TIM and very poor customer support. I went with Vodafone and never had any problems. My TIM experience was basically intermittent signals despite making no calls and carefully shutting off all apps/texts. When I tried to get some assistance at the TIM store I was rudely pushed away and told that I would have to pay 20€ again to use the service. I personally would be very careful about using this company.

Thank you all for the responses and passionate feedback! All of our phones are iPhones and they are unlocked (I had confirmed that). It sounds like the TIMs experience has been positive for many of you and I appreciate hearing there is a store in the airport – I will investigate other options – including contacting my AirBnB hosts to see if they prefer to communicate by WhatsApp (I didn’t know that would be an option). But it seems like it might be reasonable to try a SIM card for at least one phone to have, if needed. You’ve all given me plenty of options to think about. Thank you so much!

Dale, Apple just released an iOS update about a week ago and there was a flood of updates by App developers as a result. If your phones allowed automatic updates and you have quite a few apps on the phone, there goes your data allowance. You also might want to turn automatic notifications and location services off.

You should also know how phones use data and not expect a store clerk to educate you. The customer care you receive going to a reseller can be a hit and miss situation vs. a company owned location. I guess I’m a “nut-hugger” 🥜. On trips to Italy, i’ve used T-Mobile, Labara and Vodafone. I personally have had the best service and customer experience with TIM.

Phil, I own a Samsung Galaxy Note 8....my son has an Apple and his was the only other phone working. The other three with problems were also Apple phones. I honestly don't know what or why this happened, I am simply trying to share an experience and hopefully save others from getting burned like I did (..and apparently Julia as well as hundreds of other users (Yelp). The bottom line is please go with who you personally trust--just make sure to do your research and in my humble opinion avoid TIM like a rabid dog.

If we were to heed these anecdotes, we would never buy a SIM card from anyone, because I have no doubt that you can dig up horror stories like this about every mobile company. So...don't buy a SIM from Vodafone or Wind either. Or anyone, because of someone's bad experience with them.

Or we could try to accept responsibility for our own situations and try to understand how our phones use data and not assume a big company like TIM must be ripping everyone off - otherwise, they would soon lose a lot of customers.

I had wonderful service at the TIM store on the main tourist-highway in Venice a couple of years ago.
I had wonderful service from the Vodafone stores in London, Edinburgh and Florence.
I had wonderful service from CarPhone Warehouse in the UK for Lebara.
I had wonderful service from Orange in Paris a couple of years ago.
All buying a SIM card, and having ++data left over after all of my two week trips, despite using it constantly.

I am very polite, I learn a few words of the local language before I travel, and I say please and thank you in shops, as it always helps.

Hope you do better on your next trip dale; and I hope you are still enjoying this trip despite your problems.

Hello S J! This is my last post on this controversial yet strangely fun and obviously highly debatable topic. I hope that the moderators (and several others here) realize that the bottom line is to provide the readers (like myself) with real world experiences that may benefit others. I have been a huge RS fan for years and I have been a passive member on these forums for a long time with a large collection of RS travel books.
Aside from TIM, this vacation has been amazing! My family has finally been able to physically see/touch/feel the many splendors that are Italy from surley Naples to the cliff-hanging Almalfy coast to ancient Rome on to magical Florence and finally here in romantic Venice! My kids have been wide-eyed and star struck throughout this entire fascinating adventure and I think that my wife and I may have just fallen in love for a second time lol! Thanks RS and most of the other contributors on these forums for making our dreams come true!

Suggestion for those using SIM cards. We have Vodafone SIMs and here are our learnings after 10 months in Italy.

Get a plan with 15-20+ GB. For whatever reason, it's easy to go through data fast. Secondly, set your phone to 3G from 4G, that helps reduce data usage. Make sure your App setting is NOT set to update in background. Check settings to make sure you don't have photos or google maps updating on cellular. We update apps when we stay in hotels.
Close the apps/screens if you are not using. For a heavy iPhone users, one could have 15-20 apps open at once, which can be eating away data. Watching something like Netflix on cellular uses about 1/2 GB for every hour.

And lastly, download the TIM or Vodafone (or whatever carrier) app so you can monitor data usage. From there you might be able to buy specials. We just ran out of data on our router SIM, and I purchased 50GB for 4 Euros for 1 week. Netflix marathon, here I come. Not a bad idea to turn on Airplane mode when not using as to prevent unexpected used.

The Vodafone Global + plans include unlimited Chat on What's App/Messenger etc.

Hello! So excited for you to go to Italy. We spent 11 days there at the end of February into March 2019. The plan and use of our cell phones was one of the biggest "discussions" we had, mostly because 2 of us were from the US and the other from Japan. We decided to purchase an international travel plan from Verizon before we left. I don't necessarily recommend this - however, it's good to research the data options from your current carrier. We realized that we didn't actually NEED a plan while in Italy. We simply turned off all cellular while out and about and only turned it on while using wifi. You can find shops in Rome that allow free wifi (or McD's, for example). We downloaded our maps while in our hotel/airbnb and did not need cellular. That was our experience, but certainly there are many wise posters on this forum that have great experiences using SIM and TIM cards. And there are TIM places all over Rome. Enjoy your holiday! Best, Sheila

tb, I found this blog post when I was researching SIM card opitions before a trip to Sicily earlier this year. I think you may find it helpful-https://www.traveltomtom.net/destinations/europe/italy/buying-a-italy-sim-card-in-rome-airport-fiumicino

I chose to go with a SIM card from Tre 3. Worked great. I used it for both driving and walking directions through the map app on my iPhone.

Do be careful of any texting other than through WhatsApp. None of the SIM plans available from any of the available companies support regular texting.

I bought a SIM from TIM in Puglia and used it there and in Sicily for a month. It was wonderful to be able to make local calls and to have good Google Maps available at all times. I think it cost 30€.
We put an international plan on my spouse’s phone and did have to use it for a medical emergency, calling airlines, trip insurance, etc.