Can i buy a phone card to make calls from Italy to the US from FCO? or should i wait to buy one when i get to the city? also, can someone reccomend a particular card with the best rates and easy connection? What prices should i expect?

i'm leving in a few days, any help is appreciated

ciao!

we just bought one at costco i think it is from mci and used it from rome. it worked fine.

I've always bought them in Rome at newsstands. Make sure to say you would like an international card.

They are very inexpensive, you can buy in 5,10,20 euro increments.

Yes, wait until you get to Rome. Any Tabacchi store will have them. I was able to get over an hour talk time back to the states with a 5 Euro card.

To echo Jay's post, I bought my calling card from Costco and think that I got a very good deal (cheaper than the AT & T cards they sell in the supermarket, drug store chains with a better price on the per minute rate). The most important and obvious factor was that the card can be used from Europe to the U.S. (A lot of the cards will say they are international calling cards, but read the back and the fine print, often they can be used here in the U.S. to Europe and not the other way around!) That is why I thought the Costco calling card was the best bet all around. There was a choice of time increments (minutes) so you don't have to spend that much money on getting an expensive card.

You could certainly buy a card from a tobacchi in Rome upon arrival, but IMO think it is best to be prepared and already have it on you to use.

If the 5 euro card is good for an hour you might as well have mine. We bought one last week and only made one call for appx 5 minutes. It did not work in the payphone we used on the street (we could not find out how to get instructions in English) but it did work from the phone in our hotel room.

If you want it, email me at [email protected]. I can mail it to you.