Prepaid SIM Italy

[jlbaer1]

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

[maccoy]

Originally Posted by jlbaer1

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

The only mobile phone shop at Malpensa Airport is a Vodafone one, but it's in the boarding area.

[Motel75]

Originally Posted by jlbaer1

Yeah I think I may go with TIM but I am leaning toward buying it here in the US and paying a bit more so she has it when she lands and doesn't have to hassle with finding a store that sells TIM and getting Euro to pay for it unless you know of a store at Malpensa airport that sells TIM or WIND.

We do have these amazing new things in Europe called "credit cards". (Though I would advise her to have some euros in her pocket before she arrives.) You are better off buying in Italy -- just figure out what you codice fiscale is ahead of time. Again, have a look at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/italy.html

Any problems with sending or receiving SMS from Europe to the US rest with the US operators, who were very late in adding SMS and making it a viable inter-network option. However, I could have sworn my Italian one worked fine sending to the US. (IMO it can be a problem with too many people stateside who don't know how to respond to a text message. As you will soon discover, this is not an issue in Italy...)