What's the real deal with calling home from Italy?
Aug 19th, 2003, 12:38 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What's the real deal with calling home from Italy?
What is the best/cheapest way to call the U.S. from Italy? I've already read thru some of the previous threads, but I'm still uncertain.
HELP!
HELP!
Aug 19th, 2003, 02:09 PM
#2
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 679
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't know if it's the best way, but we used pin cards. I think you pay a certain amount of money for a certain number of minutes. It was really cheap - like 3 cents a minute. I read about them in the Rick Steves guide to Italy - I can't remember what they are called in Italian. You buy them from tabocco shops / magazine vendors.
Aug 19th, 2003, 02:56 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 283
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We too used the phone cards purchased in the tabacchi. In 2001, I think we paid around 10,000 lira ($5) for ...I'm guessing here... 100 minutes(?). I remember it being a really great deal. Check it out when you get there.
Aug 19th, 2003, 03:51 PM
#4
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 108
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have used AT&T cards purchased at Sams all over Europe and they work great. To get the lowest rate..you have to get it at Sam's. Make sure you take the correct country code to dial out of Italy with you. Once you get out of Italy, you follow the directions on the card as if you were in the USA and begin dialing the 1-800 no. on the card.
Aug 20th, 2003, 12:08 PM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 135
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just got back from Italy and I stayed in a villa with two other couples. The other couples both got cell phones with the best deals they could find. However, when they discovered the phone cards, they stopped using the cell phones because the phone cards are so cheap...I believe 4 cents per minute to the U.S.
Aug 20th, 2003, 01:12 PM
#9
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Definately better to purchase the phone cards in Italy-and don't get the big brands such as AT&T (though i did not see them) as I was told that they were MUCH more expensive and only sold to unknowing tourists. Get the cards at the local shop or at the internet stores. They are much cheaper. Ask about how many minutes, we found a great difference in the time/price. As I recall, last year we paid 3-4 cents per minute to call NA from Italy. Never, never, never phone direct from the hotel-it will cost you a fortune.
Aug 20th, 2003, 01:38 PM
#10
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have an account with www.net2phone.com. They have good rates and it's easy to use. Plus, you have the option of them automatically adding minutes if you need them.
Even if you have phone cards from home and want to use a pay phone, you still usually have to buy an Italian phone card just to activate the phone. The older coin operated phones are getting harder & harder to find in Europe.
Even if you have phone cards from home and want to use a pay phone, you still usually have to buy an Italian phone card just to activate the phone. The older coin operated phones are getting harder & harder to find in Europe.
Aug 20th, 2003, 02:22 PM
#12
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 607
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We are going to Italy in a few weeks and had the same questions. It sounds like the best deal is to buy a phone card once we arrive in Italy at a tabachi. Can we then use the card from any phone? Including our hotel room phone? Or would the call need to be made from a payphone?
Aug 20th, 2003, 04:12 PM
#14
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Net2phone cards work all over Europe, with a few exceptions, as well as the United States.
I don't work for them or anything, but it's the best thing I've found so far. If you're going to buy phone cards in the US, this is a better deal than Costco or Sams...I checked.
I don't work for them or anything, but it's the best thing I've found so far. If you're going to buy phone cards in the US, this is a better deal than Costco or Sams...I checked.
Aug 21st, 2003, 05:06 PM
#16
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Most prepaid phone cards from, Sprint, MCI, etc...are considerably higher. I just checked the rate on my Sprint prepaid card from Costco and the rate from Italy is 50 cents per minute, with surcharges for calling from a pay phone!
Aug 21st, 2003, 07:05 PM
#17
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 232
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Europa phone cards you get in the tabacchi stores in Italy cost 10 euros for a good 2 hrs. Be sure to get an international calling card to the US. They give you a toll free number that worked from all of my hotel rooms in Rome, Florence, Bolzano, and Venice. I asked at the from desk if there were any charges if I used a toll free number from my room and there were none...at least at the hotels I stayed at. I know these phone cards are way cheaper than anything from Costco, MCI,etc. and they worked great. Clear connections.
