Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
This is an archived site closed to new users and posts
If you'd like to find out more read the FAQ

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...