Ken

I am travelling next week to Paris, and expect to be calling back to the US for business and family reasons. I have heard that there are telephone cards that you can buy once you get there that may have better rates than some of the cards that you can buy here in the States before leaving. I have two very basic questions: (1) is it true that cards that you buy in France are better value, and do they work? (2) If not, do all cards that you can buy here in the US work to make calls back to the US from France? <BR> <BR>Thank you.

Beth

We were in Paris in August and bought phone cards at the local tobacco shop. I don't know about value; they weren't expensive, and yes, they worked. We used them both in public phones and by calling from our rented apartment by dialing in the card numbers. The cost was deducted from the card upon completion of the call; we made at least 3-4 calls and still hadn't run out of time purchased.

marsha

Ken, I just returned from Paris and bought a phone card once I arrived there. They can be bought at various places, I bought mine at the Tabac (sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes etc.) The phone card was 50 francs for about 40 min? (possibly even 50 minutes I can't remember) That's around $6.90 for 40 min. I don't think thats bad at all. The card is very easy to use, I used it in pay phones and at my hotel.

sally

Is it hard to work out how to use the phone cards? How clear are the instructions. Also I've heard that many hotels somehow block you from using them in your hotel room. Is this true?

Bob Brown

I have bought and used phone cards in France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. They are the easiest way I have found to call anywhere from within Europe. All Tabak shops sell them as do post offices. <BR> <BR> Because of the 6 hour time difference between the Continent and the Eastern time zone, I usually am not in my hotel at the best calling times. <BR>If you have a card, all you have to do is find a phone that accepts the plastic card, insert it in the slot, read the display on the telephone that tells you how much time you have left, dial the access number for the nation you want to call (001 for the USA), then dial the area code and number just like at home. In Germany, the public phones are usually in pairs. One phone takes a card; the other takes coins. In Switzerland, the phones take the phone cards. In Austria, I found that some phones took cards; some took coins. I never had a problem finding a telephone and I never had any trouble calling home. <BR>The thing I like about the phone cards in Europe is that there are no entanglements. You buy the card, use it up, and that is the end of it. No lingering efforts to have you up the value or any sales gimmicks. <BR>Every time I go to Europe, I am led to wonder what has deregulation done for us? Other than to confuse things, and lead to all types of crazy assed telephone rate schemes and calling plans that defy comparison and comprehension, I don't see that deregulation has done a blessed thing for us. <BR>

sally

Thanks Bob, that's a start. So if I'm renting an apartment in Paris for example and want to phone home (to Australia actually which is 9 hours ahead of Paris now) how do I use a card from there? How do I know how much is used up and how much is left when it's an ordinary phone?

Arnie

The phone card in Paris is a snap. Buy it from the Tabac or the magazine kiosks. For 50 francs you get plenty of talk time. The one we used was not a swipe card but still very easy. On the back of the card are access numbers. After you dial that, you are asked for the pin. You get this by scratching of a silver coating on the back of the card. You will be told how much money is left on your card. Then you enter the number you're calling, first entering the country code. Before being connected, you are told how many minutes you have left on the card. Very easy and much cheaper than using a calling card.

Bob Brown

As Arnie says, the display on the telephone tells you how much value is left on the card. <BR>All of the pay phones I have seen in Paris had a LED display that gave a digital readout of how much value in terms of units was left on the card. <BR>The term in France is Telecarte and are commonly available at Tabac shops. The plastic cards are sold in various units of value. <BR>I came home with one that I bought just before I left that was good originally for 50 unités. The plastic card has a micro chip embedded in it that contains the encoded value information that is read by the telephone instrument. <BR>Most of the time, I used an telephone booth on the street with a door that closed thus effectively reducing street noise and giving me reasonable privacy. <BR>There may be cheaper ways to do it, but the telecarte is, as said earlier, "non entangling". You buy the card, use it up, and be done with it then and there. <BR>Nothing to install or to uninstall. <BR>Given the wide availability of public phones in Paris, I thought it was exceptionally easy to use. Sound quality for calls to the USA and various nations in Europe was fully acceptable -- even good at times. <BR>

ritardo

I'm not sold on the Telecarte being very cheap when calling the States from France - even when I'm calling within France the units seem to fly by. Investigate AT&T, MCI, Spring cards which may be cheaper. With these cards you get toll-free numbers to use from pay phones and then connect with a MCI Spring, etc. operator and supposedly charged US rates - best may be to call home and have them call you back using a cheap phone card like i have here. Thanks to deregulation in the US I now pay a whopping 3.3 cents a minute to call France from the States with no connect fee on the PINCITY calling card i buy at the Chinese grovery store - it says it works both ways but i've never tried it from France or what the rate may be. To place a call from a pay phone in France however you do need a phone card of some kind as they are virtually no more coin-accepting pay phones around.