If I buy a Tim Tourist sim card, would I be able to call the US with it?
I've also looked at at&t's International Day Pass. With this it costs $10 a day and allows me to use my phone with the data, voice, and messaging plan in Italy just as if I was in the states
Yes, the TIM (not Tim's) SIM card has some calling minutes to call US numbers for free. (No texting though as I understand it.)
But you can also just install the Google Voice app to let you do the same thing, for free, even to landlines. You can try Google Voice now before you leave for Italy. If you have a landline, try dialing it from within Google Voice. You can send/receive texts with Google Voice also. You will get a new US phone number (doesn't replace your old one) when you sign up for Google Voice. When you send a text from Google voice, your Google number is used for the text - that's what the person you send a text to receives, not your AT&T number.
When you are in Italy, be sure to add a +1 (international access code plus the US country code) to the front of any US number to dial it. You get a + by holding down the 0 on the dial pad.
I used the TIM Tourist SIM for multiple calls from Italy to the US last year. I used it only for calls, not for data. It worked fine.
It works only in Italy. I knew this when I tried it at Heathrow on the way home, and, sure enough, I was right. ;-)
TIM seems to offer two versions of their passes:
TIM in Viaggio which includes 10GB data plus 500 minutes (250 outgoing, 250 incoming) and 500 texts in the EU(roaming) plus USA, Canada and Brazil: TIM in Viaggio
The second plan is TIM Tourist which offers 15GB data plus 200 min calling toward EU plus USA and many other countries. Use of Snapchat, What’s App and a number of other services don’t count against the call minutes TIM Tourist
Both plans are the same price, so it’s a bit confusing. TIM in Viaggio looks like the better deal to me, unless you really need the extra data. The Italian descriptions were much clearer than the English versions, so Google Translate as needed..
