Cell phone service from Italy when texting/emailing is not an option

Hello everyone. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

When we are in Italy, I will need to make frequent, longer calls to the US to handle items for an older relative. She does not use the computer at all so email messages aren't an option. Texting is also not within her skill set.

What is the cheapest/best/most reliable way to handle calls back to the States? I have an unlocked quad-band phone that I have used with SIM cards in several countries (either buying the SIM card at the arrival airport or buying it via the internet before leaving home). Looking online, most of the SIM cards I see charge at least 50 cents/minute for calls to the US from Italy while I was hoping to find an option for less than 15 cents/minute.

Ideas?


Comments

  • edited September 2015
    We are leaving for France and got an international calling plan from our cell phone provider. We did the same thing when we went to Russia. You might look into that and see what your provider charges. Years ago when we took Classic Italy we bought a phone card in Italy. Very inexpensive and there was no additional charge when using it from the phones in our hotel rooms. Again -- that was awhile ago so I don't know how that would compare with what you can do now. Hopefully more people will chime in.
  • We get an international calling plan for during the month we will be away. It's very cheap and has worked well already in England and Spain this year and have just activated for England and Italy for a month.
  • Thank you Judy05 and British.

    We have Verizon cell phone service and I am planning to check to see what international options they offer. Does Verizon (or their Italian partner) offer good coverage for Italy?
  • edited September 2015
    We have Verizon and got their International Value Plan for one month for our Best of Ireland trip this month.

    The basic fee is $3.99 for the month. Talk & Text: 100 minutes & 100 messages for $40. I don't think we got data this time.

    Unfortunately I just had to cancel our trip just two days before departure so cancelled the phone plan, too.

    A real bummer : (

    We'll be doing the same for Italy in the Spring and Ireland again next Fall.

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