Buying Phone Cards
 

We will be in france for three weeks this summer and one of the things we want to buy there is a phone card. I've heard there are two different kinds - one for pay phones and one for private phones. The problem is, we will need each. Is there a card that will work for both? Where do you buy them? Thanks.

I bought a phone card that I used in the hotel and the pay phones, but I don't know about private phones. It was good all over France. I would do a little comparision shopping first to get the best dollar value. One word of warning: one of my cards had instructions in English up to a point and then changed to French when it told you to enter the number of the party you wish to reach. If you don't speak some French, you might want to have a phrase book or someone who speaks it help you the first time you use your card just in case. You can buy them at stationary or tobacco stores, or in the airport, in a pinch. They come in 5e, 7 euro 10, 20 and more.

Never heard of the private phone card, though as owner of a house in France I do know there is a way to block people from using my phone, which I've never used. Maybe there's a phone card you can buy that let's you use a "blocked" phone in France - I dunno!

Any phone card you buy at any Tabac or Café will work at any public phone. They are simple to use, and cheap.

I believe I have the answer for you. The ultimate phone card that you can buy is the AT&T phone card. You can pick them up anywhere, including Walmart.

However, the cheapest place to buy them is at a Sam's Club. If you don't have a membership, find someone that does. You can get 800 minutes for less than $20. However, if you are calling from Europe to the U.S., your minutes start out lower than the orginal 800 minutes.

Every time I travel, I carry an AT&T calling card. I have used it at pay phones, hotel room phones, hotel pay phones, and private phones. I have never had any problems with it at all.

When you get it, make sure you have the access numbers from the countries your calling from. Example: get the AT&T Direct Access Number. Then, dial your 1-800 calling card number. It will then prompt you in English to make a call within the U.S. or from Europe. Choose Europe. Then it will prompt you to dial the desired number you are wanting to call.

The phone card I purchased at a tabac to call the US was one with a scratch off code. You could use it at both a pay phone and a private phone. It was about 7 euros for 500 minutes total.

I believe there was a long posting earlier this year about where to purchase phone cards. And I think quite a few people agreed that the ones you purchased at the tabacs are cheaper than the ones purchased here in the US. I think some people who purchased phone cards at Walmart, etc. had some problems in making calls to the US.