I have an Italian TIM SIM card in my phone. We are travelling to France. Will I be able to use that SIM card in France or must I get a french SIM Card. If so, will I be able to reload money onto my TIM card while in France?

Many thanks.

You can use your TIM SIM in France, I have but it's expensive. There will be 59 cents roaming fee plus, I think, 28 cents per minute. I don't think that you can buy additional minutes over the counter, maybe through internet or by phone.

quote:

If so, will I be able to reload money onto my TIM card while in France?

Unless things have changed recently, TIM would not allow payment for more minutes on foreign (non-Italian) credit cards. This cuts out buying minutes on the web at the Tim site because you pretty mcuh have to pay by credit card.

I bet the tobacco stores in France don't sell minutes on TIM, but maybe I would be surprised.

I bought a Telestial global SIM card for a lot of different reasons. Minutes were $0.49/min, the phone works all over Europe and the US (calls from the US are expensive $1.38/min). I can buy minutes on the web with my credit card or I have auto-refill that buys a block of minutes whenever the minutes go below a certain level. no monthly charges.

The EU forced the European phone companies to lower their roaming fees within the EU. TIM has some sort of deal. Off the top of my head I don't remember how much but it's not too much.

For topping up maybe who ever is the TIM partner in France?

It's TIM Senza confini Europa. Looks like 58.8 cents to send per minute. No charge to receive. But 10 Euros to turn on. So you'd need lots of minutes to justify.

I bought an TIM phone in Rome last September.

The sucking sound I heard when we went to France mid-month was the rest of my TIM minutes going down the drain when we used the phone. I bought a French SIM card (ORANGE, as it happens). To me it was a no-brainer, especially since we plan to return to France several times - starting with 2 weeks in Drome-Provence TOMORROW !!!

Thanks for all the info and advice. Enjoy your trip.