Hi all, can anyone help me with how to call home from US as our phones do not work over there? thanks so much!

You can buy a phone pretty cheaply with a pre-paid SIM. See Cingular or one of the other local telcos.

Or you can buy a calling card.

Where is home?

Just buy a calling card with a given amount of credit and use it from any phone. You dial an American 1-800 number, enter your PIN then dial away. Rates are reasonable. Any Safeway supermarket or Walgreens pharmacy will sell you one.

thanks so much for your input! Jed, sorry, home is Aussieland.

i should have also ask how your family can call you from Aust?

If you don't want to buy a cheap cell phone for your trip, you'll obviously need to give them the number of where ever you are staying.

pardon the ignorance...where are some places to pick up a cheap cellphone?

kimmos, you need to run a search on this forum to read some previous threads on the vexed question of the portability or lack of it of mbiles/cellphones between North America and the rest of the world. But in summary if you buy an unlocked quadband (triband at a pinch) GSM phone you'll be able to use it just about anywhere bar Japan, buying prepaid SIM cards.

I'm told eBay is the best way to pick up a suitable phone.