Phone Cards
How do you know the scam phone cards from the good cards? Where is a good place to buy them, in the U.S. or after we arrive overseas? I am looking for being able to call from Spain/ France/ & Greece to the U.S. Any suggestions?
Judy
Arvada, CO USA 5/14/08
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I've always bought mine from convenience stores, grocery stores or tobacco shops/news agents and purchased them in fairly small amounts (5 Euro). Never had a dud or a scam.
Some people purchase calling cards in the U.S. from places like Costco that they can use in multiple countries, but I think you'll find lower per minute international calling rates if you purchase a phone card direct in each country you are going to.
I have always purchased the one-country PIN cards from tobacco shops and had good luck.
Before the next trip I'm going to check out the Costco cards to see if they might be a better choice.
Judy, I think you can find good phone cards over the counter (i.e. Costco and 7/11) or online.
If you plan to purchase a phone card over the counter, however, please be aware that the rates are printed and you don't necessarily know how long the card has been on the shelf--rates do change.
Consider purchasing a phone card from a good retailer online. The great thing about buying a phone card online is that many sites are very tedious about keeping their rates and phone card information up to date. This makes it more likely that the rates you see advertised are true.
For a good list of online phone card companies, try searching Yahoo or Google for "prepaid phone cards" (no quotes). Even after doing so, consider looking for tell-tale signs of a company's experience and dedication to their customers.
Example:
1. Phone card guarantee 2. How long the company has been in business 3. Prominently displayed customer support information
Eric SpeedyPin.com Phone Cards http://speedypin.com
You might want to look into most any of Rick Steves guide books for the section where he talks about calling cards - or use the search feature above on this web site.
We buy them in the country where we'll use them. This will generally get you the best rates but the card you buy is specific to that country. We just bought a card in Spain. It worked fine and we made several calls back to the US with it but it wouldn't work in Portugal. These are the cards with a micro chip that you insert into the phone. No pin and no dialing code reguired so they are much easier to use. We usually buy them for about 10euros at a newstand.
My husband is going to buy a card online from the States that can be used in Europe. It's called Absolute World Passport.