Prepaid SIM in Italy?

[cs2797]

Hello! Just wanted to apologize if a similar question has been answered previously, but this thread is rather long.

Thanks Effendi for answering so many questions. I have another slightly more complicated one. I'm going to be an exchange student in Milan, and I am studying there from September till the end of December. However, I plan on traveling around Europe a lot (places like Spain, France, and the UK, among others). I need to get a pre-paid SIM that I can use on an unlocked iPhone 4 that will allow me to use 3G data in Italy and affordable data roaming when I travel. I usually don't talk on the phone a lot, but I do text. Some people have suggested that I use Wind. What would be the best plan for me?

Thanks in advance!

[wco81]

May be out of luck. I'm in Italy right now and tried to get some gas the other day. Doesn't like my card.

Fulfillment of these sites are usually done by Italian banks, which for whatever reason doesn't want to work with American CC issuers. Maybe try to contact the bank that issued your card or better yet, Visa?

I'm going to probably look at getting a scratch card. I was the one who couldn't recharge my SIM. Basically, it expired about 2 weeks before I came on this trip.

[Effendi]

Which operator?
With Wind you can send it at any time and you will continue to use till the regular last day. I think with TIM it should be the same.

[sdoe21]

With Wind!!

Thank you boss!

[BrowningC]

Another vote here for saveonroaming as the intermediary for recharging Wind cards, as it seems this cannot now be done on the WIND site using foreign credit cards. Haven't tried setting up an Italian PayPal account as one user recommended, but as a way of keeping the WIND card alive without having to go to Italy to do it, saveonroaming is the way. There is a service charge of 3.90 but compared to the fuss of having to obtain and register a new Wind card, that is a minor inconvenience! When I used them they did initially charge the wrong number, but this was quickly put right following an e-mail.

[Effendi]

Wind is ok for Italy. Outside of Italy prepare to spend a lot with roaming rates.

[wco81]

If you're traveling for an extended period, say at least a week, in another country, get a local SIM there.

For shorter periods, Wifi?

[Effendi]

For very low usage he can use one of these two options by Wind:
- Web Travel Weekly: 100MB for € 15/week (valid in whole EU+USA)
- Easy Travel Internet: 0.50€/MB (1KB billing) in whole EU+USA plus € 3.00 per month.

With 3 Like Home it's even better, if he plans to visit UK, Ireland, Austria, Denmark or Sweden.

Vodafone has also some interesting offers:
- Passport Mobile Internet: € 2.50 per day including 50MB (you pay only the days you use it). Valid in the EU+Switzerland+Ukraine
- Weekly Tariff: 20MB for € 10/week. Valid in ALL Europe (excl. Russia, incl. Turkey)

With TIM:
- TIMxSMARTPHONE Estero: € 2.00 per day including 10MB (you pay only the days you use it). Valid in the EU+USA
- TIMxSMARTPHONE Estero: € 5.00 per day including 10MB (you pay only the days you use it). Valid in the rest of the World
- TIMxINTERNET Estero: € 5.00 per day including 50MB (you pay only the days you use it). Valid in the EU+USA

[wisniak]

Hi,

I have a prepaid Vodafone card that I purchased last summer
.
I'm traveling again to Italy on October.

I've been trying to contact Vodafone to check whether the SIM is still active snd that it's on the appropriate plan (last year it was a mess).

I'd appreciate if someone could provide me the Vodafone support email address.

After a lot of research in their Web page I found what appears as the customer support page, emailed them a while ago but they do nit respond.

Thanks.

[Effendi]

Vodafone sim-cards are valid for 11 months plus 1 more month for refilling. If yours is older it's dead now. Go and buy a new one, possibly not by Vodafone...
AFAIK there's no way to contact Italian operators by e-mail, phone only.