Any suggestions for good phone cards to call the US?
 

Hello everyone,

I've procrastinated too long and won't be able to get a phone card delivered to me before I leave for Europe on Monday. Oh well, the rates aren't too good anyway.

I don't speak ANY Italian or German (that is why I was thinking about US phone cards). Do you have any specific suggestions for phone cards to call home from France, Switzerland, or Italy that are easy to use and offer at least decent rates?

Do hotels usually charge something for making calls? How does that compare with calling from payphones? (Sorry for my ignorance, I've never traveled by myself before and thus, never had to make calls to check in with my family). I just need a couple of minutes each night to tell them that I'm back at the hotel safe and sound. :D

Thanks for your help!

we just got back from Italy,so not sure if it is different elsewhere. But we bought a phone card from the tobacco shop for 5 Eu.,which was so easy to use and cheap. It was called Europe something so maybe it is all over ..

Don't worry about getting a phone card ahead of time. In Italy you can walk into any Tabacchi and get a phonecard good for calls to U.S. They come under different names - just ask the clerk if it is good for calls to U.S. I bought one for 5 Euros and got over one hour talk time. You can use them from your hotel room or from a payphone. I would ask the desk clerk at the hotel if there is any charge to use the phone card in your room but we have never been charged to use one.

For France, the Telecom2 card is a good deal, although I did not hear any English instructions on it. I picked up a card in Austria which was great, useable all over Europe and with English directions. Such cards might be available in other countries, although my lack of Italian might have prevented me from getting one; I got one good for Italy only.

I used phonecards that I picked up at newsstands in Italy and France for 5 Euros each. The first one I purchased in Italy only offered instructions (on the card and on the phone) in Italian - my fault for not being careful to make sure I got one that also was in English - but an extremely helpful desk clerk at my B&B translated it for me. Once I got the steps down, they were virtually all the same, no matter which card I purchased thereafter.

One thing I noticed though - if I used the phone card on a pay phone, my "minutes" were used up at a significantly faster rate than if I used the hotel phone - at least twice as fast. Just check to make sure if your hotel charges you to make a call with a phone card.

I bought a prepaid phone card at Costco which say it can be used to call to the US from many foreign countries. I believe that the rates are very good. It might be worth it to check it out at your local Costco or similar store. ((F))