<p>Anyone's child have a recent study abroad. I'm taking suggestions.
DD is considering minimal, if any, travel outside of Italy.</p>
<p>We are thinking: get a pay as you go Italian phone upon arrival for local peer to peer contact and using e-mail, G-chat, Skype and an international calling card for contact with stateside friends and loved ones.</p>
<p>Are we missing something?</p>
<p>I’m trying to remember my D’s Florence semester (she has now lived abroad three other summers since then and I can’t keep it all straight). I recall getting the Italian phone upon arrival (which was returned at the end of the semester) and paying for minutes which she mostly used for local peer contact and so forth. With us, we also had an international calling card…through Zapfel I think it was and those minutes were used to call home and to relatives. We dont’ have G Chat or Skype. She was just in France all summer and similar situation.</p>
<p>See if she can get her current phone unlocked (if it is a quad band which is probably required). Then she can just buy a local sim card in Italy and top it up as needed. My friend just did that with her daughter for a semester in London. Had to persuade (argue a bit) with the phone co but they gave her the unlock code in the end.</p>
<p>My understanding is that it is less expensive to get a mobile phone in Europe and use it there. When DS was in London, he used Orange Mobile. It was a great thing…arranged through his university and he picked it up there. Funny thing…several years later, his sister took the phone with her and called us from Vienna. Apparently there were some “extra minutes” left! </p>
<p>The nice thing about the European mobile phones is that you can get recharging cards just about at every store in town.</p>
<p>You can put an orange mobile card in her current phone if you can get it unlocked. otherwise they are cheaper to buy in Europe than here. I think you can find a pay as you go phone for @ 20-30 pounds in England.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I believe there is no unlocking with Verizon 
But I’ll give them a call.
Thanks</p>
<p>We also have Verizon and so that was not an option. I agree that it is very easay in Europe to get the recharging of minutes on the phone in any type of store (I was just there with D in France and saw her pick up some minutes at a gift shop).</p>
<p>I just read that about verizon on another thread. Well if PAYG phones are as cheap in Italy as in England it is not too bad. My friend is also planning to use Skype for keeping in touch with her daughter.</p>
<p>Hey, how does this change things?</p>
<p>Older DD has an old AT&T iPhone. </p>
<p>Should younger DD take that with her and get a sim card in Italy?
Does she need to do something (unlock) to remove old sim card?</p>
<p>It would still have to be unlocked. And I have heard that iphones are more difficult to unlock for some reason (more to do with Apple that ATT I think I read - didn’t investigate too far as we don’t have an i phone). But worth looking into.</p>
<p>My daughter just got back from Italy. We unlocked her phone & she bought a sim card in Italy. Make sure the phone is compatable. Italian phone plans are mostly pay as you go - so that is the best route. Skype for international calls - computer to computer for free or computer to phone for $ - that is the way she would call me when I was at work.
Your daughter will have a wonderful time in Florence :)</p>
<p>Mom of study abroad child last semester. </p>
<p>Phone- pay as you go purchased abroad.</p>
<p>SKYPE- $2.95 a month, cancel at any time. Can make calls from her computer to all her friends cells in the US and to us at home/work/cells and land lines, etc. He called at least once a day just to check in and say hello. We had his cell number for emergency contact (though we never needed to call.) SKYPE was wonderful for him to stay in contact with everyone. Reception was fine too!!!</p>
<p>crazed - why was Skype $2.95 per month? Was that for the computer to phone?</p>
<p>My DD studied in Florence and did the same thing as soozievt’s DD (we’re also Verizon). She tried to do without a phone, using email and phone card to contact the US - but the study abroad group was quite social and spread out across the city. It really helped to have a local phone. I don’t remember it costing that much (to rent) and she mailed it (somewhere) when she returned home.</p>
<p>My son is leaving Monday for the Netherlands and I think they give him a phone and a bike to use while he’s there (til Christmas). We’ll probably buy a phone card for those infrequent calls home. </p>
<p>My DD’s bf just moved to France and they Skype and email constantly. I guess my son could Skype my DD.</p>
<p>My DD LOVED Florence.</p>
<p>My D is planning to study in Italy, as well. When her phone came up for an upgrade (6 months before her trip), we asked if verizon has a phone that is set up for international use. They did. We chose that model and will go have it unlocked before she leaves. It was not much more expensive than the other models.</p>
<p>It’s the usage that’s the killer; not the hardware :(</p>
<p>I bought a beater cellphone off ebay that is compatible with euro standards and then got a SIM card. . The travel site called slowtravel has excellent info about cellphones abroad including Italy. You get a discount from cellularabroad from them. The phone they sell is pretty good basic phone.</p>
<p>Here’s a link with some info. They don’t seem to mention cellularabroad now:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.slowtrav.com/europe/cell_phones.htm[/url]”>http://www.slowtrav.com/europe/cell_phones.htm</a></p>
<p>mominva-- I already told you what we are doing on the study abroad thread. If your land line phone is verizon, look into the international package that costs $10/month and you get 300 minutes for the month. </p>
<p>Also look into packages available for the iphone. D left for Geneva Wednesday. We’ve already spoken to her on her phone and have had back and forth emails. She does not have internet for free where she is staying. This was all through ATT packages available for international phones (iphones, blackberries,…)</p>
<p>BYW soozievt–still no place to live for September.</p>
<p>My son had an ATT Go Phone for awhile. Then he had it unlocked (you can buy these codes online, or call ATT, and sometimes they’ll give you a code/instructions depending on how long you’ve had the phone, I think). He then purchased a Country specific sim card from an online company. Phone was up and operating in no time. I won’t say that this is the cheapest way to go, but it was very easy and the company he used is extremely helpful and efficient. These sim cards use the postpaid method…that is you have to buy phone cards to recharge just like the ATT go phone.</p>