Insights on using USA iPhone in Italy
 

I am new to this forum so apologies if this question gets asked regularly. We have iPhone 14 cell phones with Verizon. What is best way to use these phones in Italy? The iPhone 14 has an electronic SIM "card." So is there a European 5G carrier who sells such a SIM or should we just buy a month of international use from Verizon? We would want to have access to GPS or text/calling one another in Italy if we get separated. Thx

For GPS all you need is a view of the sky - you can download offline google maps before you travel. No network connection or data plan required.

You'll still get turn by turn driving or walking directions, but won't get real time traffic info without a data plan.

For data only, you can get a cheap 2nd eSIM frmo a 3rd party - such as Simoptions.com or airalo.com. You can still use your verizon for calls (over wifi only if you want), at $10/day from verizon which adds up.
With a data only sim you can turn off your verizon sim and use data apps such as whatsapp to text / call each other.

Or you can get an esim from TIM or another italian carrier - those come with a local italian phone # but cost more than a data only sim.

The monthly plan would work if you are there for a chunk of time. I was there for a 25 days in November and did the monthly plan. They gave me a credit of my monthly plan and charged me for the international plan. It was an easy yes for me.

I have Verizon and will be paying $100 for the month I’ll be in Italy. For that price I’ll have 250 minutes of talk, unlimited texting and some data. I didn’t pay much attention to the amount of data allotted because I generally use Wi-Fi for data.

How long will you be there?

Under 10 days:
Make sure each phone has activated the TravelPass option. $10/day & you can use your phone just like you're in the US, including data.
Put the phone in airplane mode when now using it. Each TravelPass day is 24 hours from activation, so you might not even pay $10 for each day.

10+ days:
Activate the Intenational Plan for each phone. $100 for 1 month of using the phone just like you're in the US (including data, but it's not unlimited data).

or if the $10 per day or $100 for a month is more than you want to pay you can buy a 30d 3GB data only esim on airolo for $10.

I have used the $10/day option on past trips but didn't know how to make local calls. I could talk to people at home but did not know how to phone a restaurant for reservations. I got by with emailing them, but would like to be able to phone in case we are running late for a check in, etc. Any advice?

It would not be for making calls, correct?

Both of the major providers in Italy (TIM and Vodafone) have excellent plans for tourists. However both require that you buy a physical SIM card. To get an esim with these providers, you would need to sign up for an Italian phone plan. You can get one on a month-to-month basis, but you have to make sure to cancel it when you leave. Also make sure not to request automatic renewal, which requires a credit card and would involve automatically charging you each month. There is a possibility of renewing from your credit balance, which is what you want. You can top up your credit balance at an ATM or at a tobacco shop.

I see that there are various types of data-only eSIMs, but I'm not familiar with any of them. Read the fine print and don't sign up for huge amounts of data. Nearly everyone overestimates how much data they need. However, avoid plans with a few megabytes, and with a per MB charge if you run over.

5 GB should be more than sufficient even if you don't have WiFi available. I use 1-2 GB per month.

I strongly suggest that you install WhatsApp, which is almost universally used in Italy. All hotels and restaurants will have it, and you can use the app to call or text them as long as you have a cell phone number for them.

Used my Verizon iphone 12 in Italy in April with no problems. Paid $10/day.

I have used WhatsApp and it works well when connected to wifi. However, I didn't find many restaurants with it. I'll look harder for it next time.

Need to add the country code prior to the number.
Example +33 for France (hold the 0 button down to get a + symbol

When I travel, I want easy & full proof, so I don't want to mess with sim cards or having my # temporarily changed.
Slightly more expensive, but worth it IMO.

alandavid, thank you. I want easy too.

bfrac: I agree. I just use the $10 / day or the monthly international plan. Sure its a little more expensive but a tiny fraction of other travel expenses and easy is good :) - just one less thing to worry about. But that is just me. Others are happier using a sim/local plan and saving $$

And yes -- you do need to use the country code etc since it is as if you were phoning from home.

WhatsApp isn't a search engine, so you don't find restaurants with it. What I meant is that you can call restaurants and hotels with it if you have their cell phone number. All cell phones in Italy have numbers beginning with 3, and all land lines have numbers beginning with 0.

WhatsApp is like Facebook Messenger or Apple Facetime. However these are not as commonly used in Italy (and many other European countries) as WhatsApp, which is almost universal here. That's why I suggested it. (I've read that over 90% of cell phone users here use WhatsApp for messaging.)

If both people have WhatsApp they can call and message each other, so a data-only eSIM might suffice for all their communication. I repeat that I can't recommend a data-only eSIM, because I've never used one.

bvlenci: Thank you for your response. I meant when I looked at restaurant websites I didn't see many with WhatsApp as an option for contact. Your explanation of cell phones beginning with 3 is a big help.

janisj: I will definitely stick with the 10.00/day plan. It's easy and stress free, now that I've learned how to make the phone call.

You won't see Whatsapp listed as a means of contacting them; they'll just list the number, or they'll have your number from your hotel reservation or whatever, and will often be reachable by Whatsapp on that number. Basically, in any situation in which you communicate by text and some situations in which you talk on the phone, you use Whatsapp.

I agree 100%. I just make sure to learn/write down the codes for each country I’m going to. Helps with communication with restaurants and AirB&B hosts. I tried the SIM card in the past and would much rather pay the $10 daily to use the iPhone just like at home

Janis; is your cellphone service Verizon?

Yes

Does anyone use t mobile? Thank you