Hi everyone,
I am curious as to where I can purchase sim cards in Italy upon my arrival... I fly into Pisa, is there a kiosk in the airport?
I was going to use Call in Europe, but when they called to confirm my order yesterday they said they had no Italy cards, that I would get a UK card. When I asked about the rates, it was $0.49/min to receive calls (almost certain) and $0.99/min to make them (definitely). I then said thats not whats advertised on the web and they said they are updating the site.
Anyways... I am bringing my iPhone with the international call option activated (it would be $1.29/min, but thats cheaper when CIE card and shipping is factored), but am bringing an unlocked world phone for if I can find sim cards. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I leave Saturday...

Although I'[m not an expert on Italian sim cards, from what I've read they are among the cheapest in the world. I had a TIM sim card a couple of years ago and it cost €10 with €5 worth of credit. Receiving calls will be free while in Italy but calls outside the eu are, I am afraid, pretty expensive...in the vicinity of €0,75/minute (unless it has changed recently).....Italian cards require registration so bring your passport with you and ask the clerk when you buy the card to work with you to set up the voice menus in English (that option is available on TIM)...perhaps other people have had more recent experiences with TIM or you can go to their web site, run it through a translator to see the latest info.

Last year, I paid €10 for a TIM SIM card. You do need a passport. It took about 20min of filling written and online forms. The TIM SIM lets you keep your number for 13months. You can extend the expiration by 13 months by adding at least €5 to the balance before expiration. If not airport, you can find cell phone stores along pretty much any major streets in big cities. I think the Italians live on spaghetti, wine, and cell phones.

I used a Brightroam sim card in Italy in February and had no problems. Just make sure your phone is unlocked before you leave. I ordered it on line and the card was free but I purchased $50 worth of minutes you can prepurchase more time if you want. If you use up all your minutes no need to refill they will just charge it to your credit card, but the rates will be slightly higher. Rates were free incoming, $0.59 per minute calling to Canada. Checkout their website http://www.brightroam.com/

I did what Greg did last year - same €10 SIM from a TIM store. Free incoming calls in Italy. I took advantage of that to use a UK service called Local Phone to get a US forwarding phone number, so people could call me from home by calling that US phone number (no cost besides US long distance to them) and would forward to my Italian cell phone, costing me about 15 cents/minute for Local Phone but nothing to use the mobile phone. That way, people at home didn't have to fumble with international calling codes or worry about how much the call would cost them. (Some setup was required on my part at Local Phone's website per phone number that would be calling me, though.)

One of the best deals is with 3 - see http://www.tre.it/public/scheda_pian...ref=6_1&type=R,

10 cents a minute towards all Italian numbers (both mobile plus fixed lines), no fixed charge made per call, 10 cents per text message. There is a one off charge of 5 euros to activate this option. In addition it is possible with 3 to pay 5 euros per month to have 3GB of data which will enable you to use Skype (not Skype out) as well as navigate to check train timetables, send and receive emails etc.

No-one offers a better deal than this for a top up phone card.