Might be a silly question! Have you used a calling plan that seems to be cost-effective for calling Sydney Cell from USA? Because of the time difference, its almost impossible to get hold of my son via Gtalk or skype.
Any idea? Thanks much.

As an Australian I haven't a clue about US calling plans, sorry, but when travelling in the US and Canada we found prepaid phone calling cards a cost-effective and satisfactory solution.

The American cards we used didn't offer the rock-bottom call rates of many Asian cards, but the call quality was better, so we found them good value. We bought our cards from Walgreens and Safeway stores, but I'm sure there are many more. To make a call all you have to do is dial a 1-800 number and follow the voice prompts.

If your son has an Australian mobile (cell) number, frm the US you would dial country code 61 followed by his 9-digit number, which will begin with '4'. All Australian mobile numbers begin with '04' (i.e. they don't have area codes as in the US) but when calling from overseas you omit the leading zero.

I would recommend that your son use the same procedure in reverse, as calling cards are much less expensive than any mobile/cell plan you'll find here, offering rates of only a few cents a minute.

sumplanner,
Our situations are similar. We live in the USA and our son leaves Feb 12 for the semester to study at University of Newcastle. I have been reading your threads with interest.
My son's program (AustraLearn) suggested that he get a Skype phone number (which would be a local New Jersey number for you to call) for $20 and then you could use your phone and call your son without incurring any long distance charges at all. If the problem is mainly that you never can call your son at a time that you can reach him, maybe he should do the process in reverse?

Can you get Vonage? I thought I noticed that their TV ad shows Australia as one of the countries included in their free long distance plan

Of course I was forgetting Skype, which we've been using for months to keep in touch with our daughter and son-in-law in Hanoi. Video calls are FREE and of acceptable quality, given that they use the public internet. You get occasional freezes and drop-outs of video, but they're no big annoyance.

All you need is a PC with a webcam, which is standard with virtually all laptops/notebooks/netbooks* these days but can be bought cheaply (>$50) as an add-on for desktops or older laptops.

The Skype software is a free download and even I found it easy to install, set up and use. You don't have to activate video if you don't want to.

* I notice many netbooks only offer a 0.3 Megapixel webcam. It might be worthwhile to pay extra for a netbook with a higher-res 1.3 MP camera.

You can also get mobile phones that accept and can make Skype calls. I have one and it's really easy for my family in the US to call me here anytime. I got mine at a 3 Mobile store here in Sydney...no contract needed.

dkw, what's the deal there? Does 3 Mobile charge airtime while you're on a Skype call - if so do you know how much?

I don't get charged mobile minutes while on Skype. I haven't been using it long, so I don't really have all the ins and outs sorted yet....but so far its been very convenient.

Thanks, dkw. I used to work in the industry, but not in mobile comms specifically and the complexities for the unsuspecting user breed by the day and I was curious to know how the carrier made money out of the deal. Maybe "carrier" is the wrong word in the case of 3 Mobile, which I think resells capacity wholesaled by one of the major carriers (would have to check that, but in this context it's not especially relevant).

A little more info Neil (I checked with my Husband).....when he purchases minutes for my phone (I use a pre-paid) it comes with about a zillion Skype minutes and a bunch of text messages to use as well. I don't think I've even come close to using them all.

Thanks again, dkw - worth knowing.

Prepaid calling cards are cheap. And this one isn't really a calling card plan but the rates are really cheap. You can try Pingo.com to call Australia for only 2.25cents per minute to landline or 16.5cents per minute to mobile phones.