WIND SIM card?

Nobody seems to talk much about Wind, but in looking at their offerings, it seems to be the one I'd prefer (I haven't gone yet - I'll be there next month).......so I'm anxious to read the responses.

However, if you do go with TIM, you can still chat on WhatsApp or another app like Signal that uses data - you'd just have to tell your friends and family to download that app so they can chat with you. I'm still planning on Wind, though, unless I hear otherwise on here. Their tourist plan is 25 Euro for a SIM card with 20 Gb data and 200 voice minutes, and it deactivates in 1 month (unlike the Vodafone tourist package which renews unless cancelled).

My understanding based on anecdotes is that Wind/Tre probably has decent coverage in the urban areas but poorer coverage outside.

Too late for someone already in Italy, but Americans who want to text can use Google Voice to text for free (not sure you can text non-US numbers).

More info on Italian SIM cards here:

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Italy

We've used SIM cards with plans from TIM several times and could text all we wanted to. Right now, using Vodafone, we can too. That's text here in Europe, not back to the States --- which did you mean?

I have no personal experience with Wind, but have just heard that the other three main companies are better.

Tim's plan for tourist does NOT include texting, you can chat via internet with that plan but you CANNOT text.

Apple iIMessage sends texts in background to US servers, this has caused many problems and complains from the foreign tourists that picked Tim plan for tourists. In short after a couple of texts to non Italian numbers the credit goes negative and the Tim sim gets blocked even if you have minutes and data left.

There are dozens of other plans by Tim that include texts, but being a new activation most plans would be more expensive than the Tourists' one (30 € for 30 days).

If you pay the Vodafone sim in cash the automatic renewal is not a problem, after 30 days you just throw the Italian SIM away.

For somebody visiting the above mentioned cities and towns, Wind would be more than adequate. Frankly my US sim is more expensive than Wind's, but the service is worst the moment I leave the east coast.

Apple iIMessage sends texts in background to US servers

I have read about that before on various travel boards, but I didn't know it was "in the background" - I thought people were sending texts via SMS or iMessage without knowing they weren't included. Do you mean there are programs or apps that are sending texts without me knowing about it? Usage data, something else?

The moment you Insert what iMessage thinks to be a foreign sim, iMessage sends one or more texts in background to a server based in your home country. The reason is unknown to the masses, it could be a security feature.

If everything goes right and iMessage sends only one text, it's not a problem because Tim always includes a couple of Euro of complimentary credit in every SIM for such cases. If it sends more texts... You go negative and you have a problem.

Note that the receipt your phone may send when you receive a text from US is... well that receipt is a text message you are sending back to US.

The moment you Insert what iMessage thinks to be a foreign sim, iMessage sends one or more texts in background to a server based in your home country.

Interesting.

I agree with Dario, and this is exactly what I’ve done on my last two trips to Italy.

If you pay the Vodafone sim in cash the automatic renewal is not a problem, after 30 days you just throw the Italian SIM away.

The Vodafone SIM card has worked well for me. The one I got last year (Sicily) provided unlimited local calls to other Vodafone members, 500 Italy minutes, 300 International minutes to the U.S., and 8GB (4G) for 30 days (€30)
Vodafone always offers some type of plan for travelers.

I’ve also used Google Voice (thanks to Andrew’s advise!) to call my mom’s landline for free!

WhatsApp is also great and many in Europe communicate via this app.

I’ve also used the hotel’s WiFi (with phone on airplane mode) and send iMessages or use FaceTime to communicate with family members who have iPhones.

Enjoy your trip!

What is Apple iMessage? We have iPhones but our home country is Canada, so is this an issue for us?
Can we turn off iMessage? We use WhatsApp and Skype and email to stay in touch with those at home.
We've decided now that having text message capabilities is NOT a criteria now - it was to communicate with Airbnb hosts but re-reading their messages we can just call them or email to let them know when we arrive.

SO we've narrowed it down to TIM or Vodaphone, thanks to the excellent advice here. We will go this afternoon - I'm leaning towards Vodaphone as I like the good suggestion to pay cash to avoid the automatic payment.
Thanks again for all your help!

IMessage is apple’s messaging service that’s included with their products. It sounds like you use other methods of texting so you probably aren’t aware of it.

To turn off iMessage go to

Settings >>> Messages>>> iMessages. Move the slider from green (on) to white

DONE! I've turned off iMessage but will that affect Airdrop? We like to transfer photos from one person to the other.

We went to the TIM store and got the tourist SIM card and paid cash. Such a relief to have our phones working now away from wifi and have access to google maps etc.

Thanks so much for your help!

It doesn’t look like iMessage use affects airdrop. You can always try it with a test photo.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204144