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International phone cards

mkt

17:35 / 24.08.04

It's all in the summary, really. I want to call a landline in the USA. Is it worth my while buying a dodgy card from the late shop?

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

17:48 / 24.08.04

Sure it is! I've used 'em, and they're great. Easy to use if you're adept at punching in a long series of numbers, hard to use if you're really drunk. Good news for all, I think.

HCE

18:07 / 24.08.04

I'm not sure where in the UK you can buy them, but the way those phone cards work is that the company that issues them buys large blocks of minutes at a discounted rate, and resells them to you. Read the terms very carefully to see what kind of incremental billing you're being offered -- for example, if you're getting 5 minutes/ 1 minute, it means there's a 5 minute minimum and you're charged a full minute for every fraction of a minute after that. With some companies they really nail you on that, and you find that after only a few calls your minutes are used up.

Linus Dunce

18:15 / 24.08.04

That's my experience too -- you get calls at low rates but the "connection charges" mean they're not quite the bargain they sound.

If you have a landline of your own I wouldn't bother with the card.

mkt

18:53 / 24.08.04

Hey, thanks for the quick responses.
I didn't actually realise how cheap normal BT calls to the USA are if you call in the evening, so to be honest it wouldn't make a huge difference after connection charges, etc, are factored in.
I'm boring myself now.
Cheers again.

Fist Fun

19:05 / 24.08.04

They are great and will save you loads and loads and loads. I'm always suprised that there isn't a catch...

Cat Chant

10:05 / 25.08.04

There's a thing called 'Tele Discount' which I use to call Australia from my NTL landline in the UK - you ring an 0845 number and can talk for as long as you like for a penny a minute (no connection charge). They have slightly different numbers for different destinations, but if you put 0845 2449449 (the Australia number) into Google you'll get their website with a list of numbers to ring for America, etc.

Grey Area

10:21 / 25.08.04

Some cards don't charge connection rates if you're using a normal landline...I use the Swiftcall cards to phone the US, and am always pleasantly surprised at how long they last.

Cherielabombe

22:19 / 29.08.04

I'm sure you've all ready made the call by now, but just thought I'd let you know that in my experience phone cards are not a great deal at all. There's often a connection fee, and also they subtract at least an increment - could be just 1 or 2p each day for every day after you've first used the card.

Like Deva, I use telediscount, which means calling the states is only 2p a minute and there is no catch that I've noticed. Anyway the number to call for the states is 08444 620 620

Probably too late, but better late than never, I guess...

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