Italian Pre-paid Sim Cards

liz5959 · 23-02-2006, 16:06

I'm so glad to have found this community, and hope that someone will be able to give me some more useful advice than I have been able to find so far in hours of internet searching.

I'm sending my 18 yo daughter to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) from US with a school group. It is, of course, the same week that college acceptance letters are due to arrive at home. She would really like to stay in contact.

I'm thinking about buying the Sieman's A70 unlocked phone from mobilee.com for $80. The last time we traveled to Europe, we rented a phone from Verizon. Its advantage was that any one calling me from the US only had to dial my regular cell phone number. I do think that owning a unlocked gsm phone is now the way to go. I don't really care about too many phone functions, I just want it to work! The Sieman's A70 looks like an acceptable choice.

What I can't figure out is since my daughter is only going to be in one country, am I better off buying an Italian SIM card from Cellurabroad.com or an international SIM card from United-Mobile.com . Or is there a better place to buy an Italian SIM?

I do realize that it is most often advised to just go to a tobacco shop and buy a SIM card in Italy. But, I would really like to deal with this prior to her leaving, so I know the phone number, and so she doesn't have to detour from the group to run to a tobacco shop. Any insights? Thanks so much.

snaimon · 23-02-2006, 16:35

If the only travel EVER is to Italy this one time, then the Italian card is probably the best option. I believe you can buy them on EBAY USA, DE or IT for much less than you would normally pay.

Another option is for her to call home using an MCI, ATT or other calling card and stay in touch.

If OTOH there will be other travels to other continents at some time in the near future (say 1 - 2 years), why not invest in an international card?

Good luck.

Stan

Effendi · 23-02-2006, 19:30

Now you can buy Wind prepaid cards for just 5 euros, including 5 euros of credit, which is really cheap. If you are not in a great hurry we could take one for you and you can pay us by Paypal, but first we have to wait for AndreA to come back from Switzerland (next week). If you are in a hurry I can see if I can directly help you by myself.
Just let me know

Also AndreA lives by Florence, so he can be very helpful also for any other things in that part of Italy, so feel free to ask!

DRNewcomb · 24-02-2006, 01:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Effendi

Also AndreA lives by Florence, so he can be very helpful also for any other things in that part of Italy, so feel free to ask!

Oh yeah! She should send her 18 year old daughter to see Andrea. Yeah, right!

Actually, I usually advise waiting until you get to a country to buy a SIM but this might be an exception. She is probably not a seasoned traveler and it might be a good idea to try to have a SIM in hand when she arrives. Both Cellular Abroad and Telestial are reputable firms who deliver what they claim. However, the premium you pay when you deal with them is pretty stiff.

What is this "mobilee.com" I get a "domain for sale" sign when I enter that address.

liz5959 · 24-02-2006, 01:56

Thanks for replies so far. I do hear that Telestial is a rip off. Any other ideas?

I think I typed it wrong the first time....they seem to have tons of unlocked phones for sale.

http://www.mobilebee.com/

Mobilebee.com
121 West 27th Street, Suite 502, New York, NY 10001
+1 (646) 336-7000

snaimon · 24-02-2006, 02:44

To me it seems rather silly to spend $80 + shipping for a phone (Siemens A70 as you suggested) IF YOU DON'T need the phone but for 2 weeks, at least initially.

From the way you write, you and your family either have NO cell phone service or you have service with a non-GSM provider. OR you may wish to pick up a pre-pay service like T-MO and get a phone that way. Kicker is you must wait 90 days to unlock a pre-pay phone. There are ways around that -- anyone with postpay T-MO service could ask for the unlock code for you as if the phone were their own.

If you DO have GSM service, you might be able to have your current phone UNLOCKED so you could give that phone to your daughter. Then you could upgrade your handset for your US service.

A usable cell phone may be closer than you think. You cannot find anyone in the family or circle of friends with a spare phone?

Just two examples:

My son (21) just signed a new contract with T-MO for a year and got a new phone. I sold his old Nokia 6010 (850, 1900 -- no good for overseas) and he got a new quad band for free. After less than 4 weeks with the phone, it accidentally fell from his pocket into the toilet and now works intermittently. I have temporarily loaned him a spare phone. I have another clunker as backup.

Before Christmas 2005 a friend told me he was going to Portugal. I offered him my Riiing card and a phone. He found someone at work who had recently also been to Portugal on business who loaned him a phone and local SIM card.

It IS possible there are phones you can use near you.

Good luck,

Stan

DRNewcomb · 24-02-2006, 04:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by liz5959

Thanks for replies so far. I do hear that Telestial is a rip off. Any other ideas?

I would not call Telestial a "Rip off". I would just say that they charge a premium for what you get from them. Since there are two firms who sell pretty much the same products and charge pretty much the same prices, (being a believer in competition) I have to assume that there are some high costs involved with that business.

I've looked at the MobileBee site and that Siemens phone looks like a good deal for a traveler.

I take it that your regular wireless carrier is Verizon? Does she have her own phone? Have you asked Verizon what it would cost to get a SIM linked to her number, without renting their phone?

For getting an Italian prepaid SIM, you pretty much get it after you get there or deal with the aforementioned companies. Or maybe one of your friends is like me and keeps an active Italian SIM, just in case...

0700700 · 24-02-2006, 07:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

Oh yeah! She should send her 18 year old daughter to see Andrea. Yeah, right!?

why not

<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Effendi </span>. I checked the offer page for wind italy and it states that validity is 12months , and you need a refil after 12th month! .. can you extend the card for another 12months with a 4euro refil , or does it have to be bigger?

maccoy · 24-02-2006, 07:15

Don't worry: 4 euros is enough to extend the validity of the card as you need.

MATHA531 · 24-02-2006, 11:13

My other complaint with the rip off artists at Telestial and the other one (incidentally is there such a thing as price fixing in the USA?) is you have no choice of which network you buy the sim on. You get the network in the country they are featuring on their site that week (or month)...

Example: I was travelling to Ireland about a year ago and was looking to pick up a local Irish sim...same business you want the number before you leave...the only Irish carrier Telestial had was Meteor which is generally acknowledge to be the weakest of the Irish networks...I wanted either Vodafone IE or O2-IE preferring vodafone because you can use vouchers from other vodafone operations to keep thethe number active more easily (don't know if O2 UK vouchers work on O2-IE but I do know Vodafone UK vouchers work on Vodafone IE (as well as Vodafone NL, Vodafone DE, SFR, Vodafone IT etc.)....in any event I passed on the Telestial offer which was something like $50 plus shipping (don't you love when they charge you $15 for shipping when USPS charges them $4)...and decided to wait for arrival in Ireland. Sure enough there was a Vodafone IE store right in the arrivals area of the Dublin airport...10? for a sim card including 5? of service and they had a special if I registered the sim (using the hotel's address) I would get an additional 5? of call credit...somehow my math tells me that would make the sim card free...of course since I use callback world to call North America, ultimately I still had 9,25? left on the card when I left Ireland...the one year expires in April...I will be visiting the UK in April...the choice is mine to walk into a Vodafone UK store and buy a voucher to keep the account active or since I now rely more or less on United Mobile to let it expire.

My preference has always been for local sims for incoming as I find them more reliable (although I have to admit United Mobile reliability has increased tremendously over the past year and is now pretty stable).

None of this would have been possible if I had accepted the Meteor offer on Telestial. In almost all cases, their charges are 3 times the price you will pay by waiting and buying the local sim upon arrival and in this modern era of text messaging and e mail, letting your friends know your number is no big deal.

	(#1)
liz5959 (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 23 Feb 2006	23-02-2006, 16:06 I'm so glad to have found this community, and hope that someone will be able to give me some more useful advice than I have been able to find so far in hours of internet searching. I'm sending my 18 yo daughter to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) from US with a school group. It is, of course, the same week that college acceptance letters are due to arrive at home. She would really like to stay in contact. I'm thinking about buying the Sieman's A70 unlocked phone from mobilee.com for $80. The last time we traveled to Europe, we rented a phone from Verizon. Its advantage was that any one calling me from the US only had to dial my regular cell phone number. I do think that owning a unlocked gsm phone is now the way to go. I don't really care about too many phone functions, I just want it to work! The Sieman's A70 looks like an acceptable choice. What I can't figure out is since my daughter is only going to be in one country, am I better off buying an Italian SIM card from Cellurabroad.com or an international SIM card from United-Mobile.com . Or is there a better place to buy an Italian SIM? I do realize that it is most often advised to just go to a tobacco shop and buy a SIM card in Italy. But, I would really like to deal with this prior to her leaving, so I know the phone number, and so she doesn't have to detour from the group to run to a tobacco shop. Any insights? Thanks so much.

	(#2)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	23-02-2006, 16:35 If the only travel EVER is to Italy this one time, then the Italian card is probably the best option. I believe you can buy them on EBAY USA, DE or IT for much less than you would normally pay. Another option is for her to call home using an MCI, ATT or other calling card and stay in touch. If OTOH there will be other travels to other continents at some time in the near future (say 1 - 2 years), why not invest in an international card? Good luck. Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox

	(#3)
Effendi (Offline) The great Dictator! Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,487 Join Date: 13 Jan 2004 Location: Trieste/Trst Country:	23-02-2006, 19:30 Now you can buy Wind prepaid cards for just 5 euros, including 5 euros of credit, which is really cheap. If you are not in a great hurry we could take one for you and you can pay us by Paypal, but first we have to wait for AndreA to come back from Switzerland (next week). If you are in a hurry I can see if I can directly help you by myself. Just let me know Also AndreA lives by Florence, so he can be very helpful also for any other things in that part of Italy, so feel free to ask! Working Prepaids: IT: Wind, Vodafone IT, UNO Mobile; SM: Prima; UK: 3, Virgin; INT: TravelSIM, Truphone. Deceased Prepaids: CZ: Oskar, Eurotel; SK: Orange; DE: E-Plus, Aldi, Simyo; GE: Geocell; AM: Armentel; PL: Heyah, Plus; LT: Tele2; LV: Amigo; EE: Elisa; UA: Kyivstar; NZ: Vodafone; INT: UM, UM+, ICQSim. GSM/3G Phones: Nokia Lumia 630 dual sim

	(#5)
liz5959 (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 23 Feb 2006	24-02-2006, 01:56 Thanks for replies so far. I do hear that Telestial is a rip off. Any other ideas? I think I typed it wrong the first time....they seem to have tons of unlocked phones for sale. http://www.mobilebee.com/ Mobilebee.com 121 West 27th Street, Suite 502, New York, NY 10001 +1 (646) 336-7000

	(#6)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	24-02-2006, 02:44 To me it seems rather silly to spend $80 + shipping for a phone (Siemens A70 as you suggested) IF YOU DON'T need the phone but for 2 weeks, at least initially. From the way you write, you and your family either have NO cell phone service or you have service with a non-GSM provider. OR you may wish to pick up a pre-pay service like T-MO and get a phone that way. Kicker is you must wait 90 days to unlock a pre-pay phone. There are ways around that -- anyone with postpay T-MO service could ask for the unlock code for you as if the phone were their own. If you DO have GSM service, you might be able to have your current phone UNLOCKED so you could give that phone to your daughter. Then you could upgrade your handset for your US service. A usable cell phone may be closer than you think. You cannot find anyone in the family or circle of friends with a spare phone? Just two examples: My son (21) just signed a new contract with T-MO for a year and got a new phone. I sold his old Nokia 6010 (850, 1900 -- no good for overseas) and he got a new quad band for free. After less than 4 weeks with the phone, it accidentally fell from his pocket into the toilet and now works intermittently. I have temporarily loaned him a spare phone. I have another clunker as backup. Before Christmas 2005 a friend told me he was going to Portugal. I offered him my Riiing card and a phone. He found someone at work who had recently also been to Portugal on business who loaned him a phone and local SIM card. It IS possible there are phones you can use near you. Good luck, Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox

	(#9)
maccoy (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 194 Join Date: 23 May 2004 Location: Paris Country:	24-02-2006, 07:15 Don't worry: 4 euros is enough to extend the validity of the card as you need. Prepaid I: Vodafone, Wind, 3; F: Bouygues Telecom; M: Melita; INT: Travelsim, Zeromobile.

	(#10)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	24-02-2006, 11:13 My other complaint with the rip off artists at Telestial and the other one (incidentally is there such a thing as price fixing in the USA?) is you have no choice of which network you buy the sim on. You get the network in the country they are featuring on their site that week (or month)... Example: I was travelling to Ireland about a year ago and was looking to pick up a local Irish sim...same business you want the number before you leave...the only Irish carrier Telestial had was Meteor which is generally acknowledge to be the weakest of the Irish networks...I wanted either Vodafone IE or O2-IE preferring vodafone because you can use vouchers from other vodafone operations to keep thethe number active more easily (don't know if O2 UK vouchers work on O2-IE but I do know Vodafone UK vouchers work on Vodafone IE (as well as Vodafone NL, Vodafone DE, SFR, Vodafone IT etc.)....in any event I passed on the Telestial offer which was something like $50 plus shipping (don't you love when they charge you $15 for shipping when USPS charges them $4)...and decided to wait for arrival in Ireland. Sure enough there was a Vodafone IE store right in the arrivals area of the Dublin airport...10? for a sim card including 5? of service and they had a special if I registered the sim (using the hotel's address) I would get an additional 5? of call credit...somehow my math tells me that would make the sim card free...of course since I use callback world to call North America, ultimately I still had 9,25? left on the card when I left Ireland...the one year expires in April...I will be visiting the UK in April...the choice is mine to walk into a Vodafone UK store and buy a voucher to keep the account active or since I now rely more or less on United Mobile to let it expire. My preference has always been for local sims for incoming as I find them more reliable (although I have to admit United Mobile reliability has increased tremendously over the past year and is now pretty stable). None of this would have been possible if I had accepted the Meteor offer on Telestial. In almost all cases, their charges are 3 times the price you will pay by waiting and buying the local sim upon arrival and in this modern era of text messaging and e mail, letting your friends know your number is no big deal.