loisco

We are going to Italy and France and will need to make some calls with a phone card.

Is there any card preferable over any other?
Any other information will be most appreciated.

ira

ttt

mf62

We used phone cards in France and Italy - but we discovered just before we returned home that there is a much easier and more comfortble alternative.

I don't know what they are called - phone and internet places - typically with internet access on one side and phone booths on the other. You pay ony for the number of minutes you use - very cheap and you dont have to battle with public phone booths.

The trouble with phone cards is that often phone booths are noisy and the cards require you to use a long series of numbers - too much margin for error.

kwren

I wish I had known about this...here was my problem:

When I arrived at Orly, I went to the Tabac and asked for a phone card that would be useful to call the USA as well as in France. It was interesting that they have a list which compares the different types of phone cards and lets you know the best bargain for what you want.

I opted for the card which gave about 3 hours of calls and paid about 8.50€ for it. It came in a little cellophane packet with 2 cards: a card with an 800 number to call and a card ID/pin number, and the usual phone card you get in France to make calls.

The card with the 800 number worked fine for calls to the US and for calls out of the local area within France, but not within the local area; the normal phone card never worked at all. Every time I inserted it into the phone slot it gave a message such as 'credit exhausted' or 'card not valid'. Do you need to validate this type of card? I never have in the past - they usually work right away. Does anyone have any insight into this? I never could make any local calls with either card.

Thanks for any info for me.

hopingtotravel

I could never figure out how to use the one I bought, so still have a 15 month old phone card!
I charged a couple of 1 or 2 minute calls to my VISA card when I called my son in Oregon. $100 VISA bill!

Carlux

In Franced, my memory from the bad old days before everyone had cell phones is that there are two types of cards. On both you pay for a certain amount of time.

One type goes into a slot in the phone and you just dial the number you want. You can use it till the credit is exhausted - epuise.

The other has a phone number to call, then you enter your code, about 14 digits, which you have scratched to reveal, on the back of the card. Then you finally dial your number. The advantage is that you can use it on any phone, not just a pay phone. The disadvantage was that I always made a mistake in a number half way through, and had to start again.

At least with France Telecom there were cards for local and cards for international calls. You could use each one for both types of call, but international calls were cheaper with the international card.

But I havent used these for a while, as I go everywhere now with my 'portable'

If you do have one from an earlier trip, have a look at the card - often they have an expiry date.

roadlesstraveled

I was in Itlay in April and I just went into a tobacco shop and ask for a phone card that I could use without using a phone booth. I really didn't want to use pay phones. I was mostly interested in calling the U.S. I paid 5 euros for 6 hours and it worked great.

francophile03

In France you can buy at tabac shops phone cards that have a certain amount of minutes on the cards with a scratchoff code on the reverse. You can use the cards from both public and private phones. It came in handy for me as I wanted to make calls privately from my hotel rooms. The minutes are deducted a bit more when you call from the hotel.

ParadiseLost

In Italy I've used the 'Europa' phonecard, available at tobacco shops and newstands.

You call from your hotel for free (too be safe always double-check for charges with the desk after you use it but very unlikely you will be charged) and get 225min for 5e.
Regards, Walter

ParadiseLost

hopingtotravel; *If* it was the kind you insert into a public phone *perhaps* you didn't break-off that one corner of the card where it's marked?

I've done that before and no matter how much cursing I did at the phone and the card, it still didn't work . Regards, Walter

hopingtotravel

Thanks. I'll look at the card. I'm going again in a year or so, so am printing messages for instructions.

kwren

<<*perhaps* you didn't break-off that one corner of the card where it's marked?>>

I thought I had my answer! However, there is no mark on any of the corners on either side.

So I'm now looking at my (pristine unusable) French "Telecarte 120". It has a little gold chip embedded on one side, says 120 unites and exp 1/08/2008 on the other. It looks like any other telecarte I've used, but wouldn't work! Obviously since I'm home now, it doesn't really matter (unless I can con my husband into another trip), but I'd love to know what was up with this frustrating little card.