Calling cards

[johnniet]

It's not a gadget exactly...but sometimes they're better than a cell phone.
I used OneSuite for a couple of years. They were okay.
The other day I tried to dial in and they said my number was "expired". Apparently if you don't add money every 6 months or so they cut you off. (I had about $20 on my card at the time.)

So I'm looking for something else. Any suggestions or reviews?

 

[Velitrius]

Hi Johnniet,

We used to spend about $500 a year on your average pick up the phone and call plan. Couple of years ago we were in Costco and spotted a big rack of MCI calling cards for not much money. The pack we got had two cards and I think around 1000 minutes. Maybe it had 3 cards, I can't remember.

We each took a card and put it in our wallet. We then got rid of EVERYTHING off our home phone. Long distance plan, call forwarding, call waiting, messaging service, the whole thing. Picked up a $10 digital answering machine and hooked it up.

We then programmed the 1-800 access number for the cards into "memory 1" on our phone. The pin # was then programmed into "memory 2". So now when we go to make a long distance call, we don't have to punch in thirty numbers.... just punch mem1, wait for them to say enter pin, punch mem2 and dial the number. Slick as hell.

After the codes are punched in, the lady sez "You have 'X' minutes for this call". Nice, it keeps us informed as to how much time is remaining on the cards. When it gets down to about 120 minutes, we recharge the minutes with our credit card. The process is incredibly simple, and we usually have about 5 hours or so on the cards.

We now spend about $50 a year on long distance, have a card on each of us for calls when we are away, and couldn't be happier with the arrangement.

 

[slide13]

I also use phone cards for all my long distance calls, don't even have long distance service on my phone. I like the AT&T cards I get at Wal-Mart. Well priced and hassle free.

 

[newknifeguy]

www.iscard.com

My folks live in England, and I use this calling card service, and it is cheap! I got like 300 minutes to England for $20. You should check it out. I think they are having a special holiday bonus thing also. Good luck, Josh

 

[maury]

There is a "whole world" of calling cards out there - the trick is finding the one(s) right for you. For example: some have a "connection charge" that automatically deducts a bit every time you make a call (in addition to the minutes that are used). Just about all charge extra if you are calling form a pay phone.

Then there are "monthly fees" that also may be deducted, Most cards also "expire" after a fixed period, even if they are not used up.

I live in New York City and we have lots of "ethic" neighborhoods; in each of them you can buy phone cards that give special discounts for calls to particular areas of the world or even calls to to one paeticular country.

The "trick" is to read the fine print on the back of the card pack and/or to call the customer service number before you buy or use a card. They can be really tremendous savers. I always travel with several and save lots.