Phoning the US from Israel
 

I will be leaving for Israel Feb 1 and I need to know the best way to call home. I have a cell phone I could use in Israel, but T-Mobile charges $2.99/minute, so that will be a last resort. I've never used SIM cards before and I don't think I'll do enough calling home to justify the trouble or expense of getting one.

Do they have those pre-paid phone cards you can just pop into a public phone? I've used those in Europe and those are easy enough even for me. :-)

Thanks.

Yes - we do have those (not sure if you pop them in or you just dial the code you scratched-off on the back of the card).

Try buying them at the local post office - it will probably prove the cheapest (it's where all the foreign workers buy them).

Elad.

Thank you Elad. Now I have a silly question. I bought a calling card in Italy where we had to dial a # to get access, and when I did that, the instructions were all in Italian. :-( Of course it stands to reason they would speak Italian in Italy, but will language be a problem using the cards you mentioned?

Just to clarify--when I dialed the #, a recording came on the line in Italian and I don't understand Italian. Will there be a recording when I dial the # in Israel, or do I just wait for a dial tone? Thanks again.

Sorry, I don't know.

Most cards have the dialing sequence written on their back, so if you wait a few seconds between each part, you can dial regardless of whether you understand the instructions or not.

I suggest you ask the seller at the post office what is the dialing sequence required, so you will not need to put this to the test...

Elad.

P_M, I was using the cards, don't worry, if I didn't have a problem, you won't. :)

I bought mine in a produce store. Just put it in, and dial the number. Make sure you have the correct code for US. I think it was 012-1-xxx-xxx-xxxx, but don't remember for sure.

In hotels, the public phones are tucked in somewhere in the basement. Don't worry, it's safe there!

In Israel, English is everywhere. Or Russian - told you, take me along :)

For ATMs, once you stick it in, it goes automatically from Hebrew to English. Not all ATMs accept US cards, look for a little bigger ones.

Yes, I was right, it's 012 code, here is a paragraph from my report:

Using the cards, take your time. Wait till it shows the quantity of units on the card; don’t hurry to punch the number in. For US, it’s 012-1-xxx-xxx-xxxx. Remember: work it slowly, or you’ll get a busy or disconnected signal. Trust me, I’m talking from my (sad) experience.

As an alternative option to worrying about it buying a phone card there and whether the instructions will be in English, I have used www.ekit.com multiple times in the past and was very happy with it. You just go to their site, set up an account for yourself, and put as much pre-paid $ on it as you want for phone calls. You can do all this before leaving home. It works in virtually any country, and the rates by country as well as the access phone #'s are listed on the site. You can print out the numbers and directions and bring it with you, and recharge anytime from either a phone or an internet connection. It was very easy to use and the instructions were always in English. Plus, if you end up with left over time on the card, you can also use it to make calls from the US after your trip or for future trips.

The international access code in Israel is 00.
The country code for the US is 1.

Thus the generic access code from Israel to the US is 00-1-phone_number.

012 is the access code for international dialing through "Golden lines" international phone operator.

013 is the same for Barak, 014 for Bezeq Intl, and so on (there are more new operators).

In FainaAgain's case, she probably bought a Golden lines calling card, so she used the 012 access code.

The generic way to go (unless you are instructed otherwise by the seller or on the back of the card) is to dial 00-1-phone_number.

Elad.

Thank you, Elad, I didn't know that.

Bookmarking for next year :)

Thank you all for your replies. Until my cell phone provides a better calling plan from Israel, I think the calling card will be a good option. I'm leaving on Thursday, Feb 1, can't wait!! :-D