My SIM in Italy

[janyyc]

I currently have WIND SIM. I have a few questions...

1. I bought it in February (in Forlì with no need for the Codice Fiscale), and I'm back in about a week. I assume it hasn't yet expired?
2. Where could I buy a topup in Ancona Airport? A convenience store?
3. When leaving Italy in February, I didn't disactivate my plan (10GB Internet). Do I have to do this when I land so I don't get billed for it when I top up?
4. I'm thinking of the All Inclusive Ricaricabile plan. I've read online that tethering is possible with this plan. Anyone able to confirm?
5. If I activate the plan on October 27, will it be valid until November 27?

Thank you for all your help!

Jan

[Effendi]

Let's go with the answers:
1) yes, Wind sim-cards are valid for 12 months. You can also try to use it in Canada and it should roam. Check *123# for your credit.
2) At any Tabacchi or newsstand
3) This could be a problem... your credit is surely now at 0 euros and if you refill you could be charged for all the unused data traffic of these months... My suggestion: buy a new card.
4) Any data option with Wind can be used for thethering, no problems.
5) Options are valid 30 days and recur automatically. You can also deactivate it after a couple of days and it will still be usable for the whole 30 days. Remember to do that, so you do not need to buy a new one the next time.

[janyyc]

Thank you Effendi.

I did check my credit which is indeed at 0 EUR.

What I think I'll do is that I'll simply enter the country, check if the plans were cancelled, do the text messages, and then reload the card. I'd prefer to keep the same number, plus I don't really have the time to go and buy a new card (plus the additional cost!).

[Effendi]

Beware that you could end up paying all the rates for internet since February! Which means 20€ per 8 months (160€!). Or maybe, if you are lucky, just one monthly rate (20€). A new card costs 10€ including 5€ of credit. Better to buy a new card, believe me.

[janyyc]

I wouldn't believe it. Wouldn't the plan cancel automatically when there was no credit in my account? That's what Vodafone Germany does. Plus I couldn't have used the plan for those six months, right?!

[Effendi]

You always have to deactivate the option.
It depends on how much credit you had at the moment of the renewal of the option: if you had, for example, 10 euros, you would loose those 10 euros plus other 10 euros at the moment you refill. If you had 5, 5+15 and so on. If you had 30, you would loose 20 at the first renewal plus other 10 at the second renewal and other 10 once you refill. And so on.
It works this way in Italy...
Go and buy a new card, so you know how much you will pay.

[janyyc]

Originally Posted by Effendi

You always have to deactivate the option.
It depends on how much credit you had at the moment of the renewal of the option: if you had, for example, 10 euros, you would loose those 10 euros plus other 10 euros at the moment you refill. If you had 5, 5+15 and so on. If you had 30, you would loose 20 at the first renewal plus other 10 at the second renewal and other 10 once you refill. And so on.
It works this way in Italy...
Go and buy a new card, so you know how much you will pay.

Thanks for your help Effendi...

Crazy Italians, I guess!!

[janyyc]

Wait a second!!! I used up all credit on the SIM because when I was flying home I data roamed in Munich - until the card stopped working... So perhaps there wouldn't be any problem! Care to confirm?

[Effendi]

Honestly I don't know... I searched on internet and I read that Wind can only take you 1 month maximum. But if your credit was already at zero when the option should have been renewed it could be possible that you'll end up paying nothing...
Good luck!

[janyyc]

Thank you!
Could you please point me to where you read this? I don't speak Italian but Google Translate could do the work for me...

PS - Trieste is such a beautiful city, you are privileged to live there! That's actually the last place I was with the WIND SIM!