SIM cards at MXP

It’s foreign money exchange desk like you see in all airports that also happens to sell SIM cards. At least it did a couple of years ago. They sell you the SIM pack at the price Vodafone (or Tim) sets. Honesty and reputation doesn’t come into play. It’s like buying a magazine at a bookstore, you don’t think about the reputation or honesty of the book seller. They are just selling you a magazine, they are not a plumber fixing your toilet or electrician fixing your lights.

No, it's highly overpriced compared to any sim for tourists offered by the real telcos: Tim, Vodafone and Wind-Tre. More, in case of troubles are you going to go back to MXP to receive assistance?

Read here:
https://goo.gl/f6HEcE that Sim costs 30 €, not 40! In a Vodafone store they would have installed the company app and explained how not to run out of credit.

Dario, that's the exact review I saw before. And now after looking up Vodafone stores in Milan I see most of them have terrible reviews. Does anyone know of a reputable store with someone that can assist without issues?

Seems like the TIM store near the Duomo is a better bet.

I was on a three week trip to Italy and used the TIM for Visitors sim card. I bought a voucher on line, presented it at the TIM store and they set the new sim up for me. Whole thing took about 10 minutes. You have to pay for texts but you get a €5 credit on the card. I never ran out of data, made calls back to the US and in Italy. Worked perfectly for the whole trip. I recommend it highly.

Thanks for the tip Phillip. I've just read so many mixed reviews about both companies. Perhaps most of the bad reviews are from angry tourists who don't have a level of patience with the Italians. I'm going to check out the Forexchange booth and see what cost they have for SIM cards. Plan B will be to go to a TIM store. I just hope I don't have a long wait as most people have commented on.

I have used both TIM and Vodafone. I would be comfortable with either one - both are known to have great coverage in Italy, and I think their prices and plans are pretty similar. I would ignore the reviews of both, actually. People with good experiences rarely take the trouble to post positive reviews of places like this, so you wind up with a skewed perspective.

Getting a TIM voucher as described above locks me into a TIM SIM, which is the only reason I wouldn't buy a voucher. What if there's a long line at the TIM store but no line at the Vodafone store across the street?

And if you aren't planning to make local calls in Italy with the SIM and just need data, buy a SIM before you leave the states. Then you won't have to worry about a wait at any store. Your phone will work as soon as your plane hits the ground. But, you can't buy an Italian SIM like that - have to buy from countries like the UK or the Netherlands that don't require you to be in country to activate/buy a SIM to use it. I have had good luck with my Dutch Vodafone SIM (last year in Italy, France, and Slovenia - never used it in the Netherlands, bought it on eBay). Because the EU has done away with most roaming, you can use a SIM from another country in Italy for data. Calls to Italian phone numbers may be more complicated or expensive though if you have a UK or Dutch SIM in Italy, but I never needed to make any.

Thanks Andrew and very good points. I will want to have a number just in case because I'll be renting a car and I'll probably want to call my parents who will be with me in case we get separated (getting them a SIM card as well).

Unless there has been a change, you need your ID to buy and activate a SIM card in Italy. So don’t forget your passport when you head to the shop.

I went to a Vodafone shop in Palermo a couple of years ago. It was fine even though my Italian was limited and the clerk’s English was limited. So don’t let the online reviews dissuade you.