INT CALLING CARDS W/MOBILE
Aug 30th, 2005, 06:53 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
INT CALLING CARDS W/MOBILE
Are there international calling cards that I can purchase in Germany to use for calls to the states on a mobile phone. Are some better than others? Are som SIM cards better value than others? Thanks!
Sep 11th, 2005, 07:41 PM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Does the mobile have a local, in this case German sim??? Or are you roaming using an American carrier? Or whatever...
Do you want one that will span several different countries where you will be roaming with one country's sim (ex you have a French sim in Germany)j...
In theory if you purchase in Germany a local ld card with a local access number, you would pay local rates for the triggering call. What am I talking about? Well I'll use net2phone as an example. Net2phone charges 15¢/minute to call from Europe to the US (along with $1.50/month fee) and provide 00800 numbers you can use to access their service (00800 8728 3525 is what it once was and might still be)...in theory you pay local rates to make the call whatever your German carrier charges. However the problem is that in some cases this number is blocked by the German carrier.
You can also open up an account with either callbackworld.com or enlinea.com. These are callback services. They give you a number in the US which you dial in the normal way and the call is not answered. You hang up and in a few seconds the computer calls you back. As you are receiving, the GSM German carrier does not charge you and you enter the number you are calling. Charge is about 32¢/minute (US) atimed in 6 second intervals, not too bad but this would only be a good idea in Germany as once you are out of Germany you are roaming and pay for incoming calls.
OTOH you might wish to look at riiing which is an international sim which works in all of the countries of Western Europe and where the enlinea charge is 12¢/minute which is quite frankly nearly as good as any ld card and it doesn't matter if you're in Germany or Austria or wherever.
Sorry I couldn't give you a direct answer but there really are a great many variables.
Do you want one that will span several different countries where you will be roaming with one country's sim (ex you have a French sim in Germany)j...
In theory if you purchase in Germany a local ld card with a local access number, you would pay local rates for the triggering call. What am I talking about? Well I'll use net2phone as an example. Net2phone charges 15¢/minute to call from Europe to the US (along with $1.50/month fee) and provide 00800 numbers you can use to access their service (00800 8728 3525 is what it once was and might still be)...in theory you pay local rates to make the call whatever your German carrier charges. However the problem is that in some cases this number is blocked by the German carrier.
You can also open up an account with either callbackworld.com or enlinea.com. These are callback services. They give you a number in the US which you dial in the normal way and the call is not answered. You hang up and in a few seconds the computer calls you back. As you are receiving, the GSM German carrier does not charge you and you enter the number you are calling. Charge is about 32¢/minute (US) atimed in 6 second intervals, not too bad but this would only be a good idea in Germany as once you are out of Germany you are roaming and pay for incoming calls.
OTOH you might wish to look at riiing which is an international sim which works in all of the countries of Western Europe and where the enlinea charge is 12¢/minute which is quite frankly nearly as good as any ld card and it doesn't matter if you're in Germany or Austria or wherever.
Sorry I couldn't give you a direct answer but there really are a great many variables.
Sep 11th, 2005, 08:00 PM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
XYZ123, I was hoping to hear from you. I was planning to use either a German or international SIM card -- not an American carrier. I'd love to try to find a way to pay as I go, pre-paid SIM and calling card, so I have no suprise bills waiting for me when I get home... Is this realistic? Of all the options you mention,the international SIM and enlina seem to make the most sense... I'll check it out. Thanks.
Sep 11th, 2005, 08:17 PM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sure it's possible to prepay everything but it may not be the cheapest.
Example if you buy in Germany a German ld card with local access phone numbers, as I remember, Germany prepaid rates for lcal calls are not particularly cheap so you would pay the German prepaid sim rate for the triggering call and then whatever the going rate is on the ld card...you know if they charge you €5 for 100 minutes of talk time to the US you would pay 0,05€ for each minute youcall the US but do remember that even if the call to the US is not ocmpleted, you would still pay the local German rate for the triggering call against your German prepaid and then the question comes up of do they bill by the second, do they charge for the first minute and then by the second, do they simply charge by the minute rounding up? You would have to check out your German prepaid carrier's rates. Then also, if they don't have a local access number but a 0800 access number, does the German local sim charge more for that or do they even allow calls to the 0800 number or the 00800 number as is the case of net2phone...it's a crazy patchwork of calls being blocked etc as basically the german gsm prepaid wants the revenue for the international call and will take steps to make it difficult to evade their high rates for such calls.
The nice thing about the callback services is that the outgoing call is not blocked as it is an international call and since it is not technically completed it is not charged for. The incoming call as long as you are in the country of origin of the sim card is not chargted either so you only pay enlinea rates and indeed they charge in 6 second intervals and they do give you a little bit of a grace period in case the call is not completed. Using a ld card with a mobile, well let's say the local calls on the german prepaid network are 0,40€. You pay the 0,40€ even if the international call is not completed or if you get a busy signal...imagine trying to make a call and getting 3 or 4 busy signals each time you call...so of course some would say ha ha that's why it is better to get a local ld card and use it in public phones or on the hotel phone as you don't pay for busy signals and/or not answered calls. Wanna bet whether some hotels and some pay phones don't charge anyway..
It's a very mixed world out there and things change by the day as the EU is starting to get involved on the outrageusly high roaming rates charged on intra European calls...but as it stands right now today I think riiing with enlinea is the best solution.
Example if you buy in Germany a German ld card with local access phone numbers, as I remember, Germany prepaid rates for lcal calls are not particularly cheap so you would pay the German prepaid sim rate for the triggering call and then whatever the going rate is on the ld card...you know if they charge you €5 for 100 minutes of talk time to the US you would pay 0,05€ for each minute youcall the US but do remember that even if the call to the US is not ocmpleted, you would still pay the local German rate for the triggering call against your German prepaid and then the question comes up of do they bill by the second, do they charge for the first minute and then by the second, do they simply charge by the minute rounding up? You would have to check out your German prepaid carrier's rates. Then also, if they don't have a local access number but a 0800 access number, does the German local sim charge more for that or do they even allow calls to the 0800 number or the 00800 number as is the case of net2phone...it's a crazy patchwork of calls being blocked etc as basically the german gsm prepaid wants the revenue for the international call and will take steps to make it difficult to evade their high rates for such calls.
The nice thing about the callback services is that the outgoing call is not blocked as it is an international call and since it is not technically completed it is not charged for. The incoming call as long as you are in the country of origin of the sim card is not chargted either so you only pay enlinea rates and indeed they charge in 6 second intervals and they do give you a little bit of a grace period in case the call is not completed. Using a ld card with a mobile, well let's say the local calls on the german prepaid network are 0,40€. You pay the 0,40€ even if the international call is not completed or if you get a busy signal...imagine trying to make a call and getting 3 or 4 busy signals each time you call...so of course some would say ha ha that's why it is better to get a local ld card and use it in public phones or on the hotel phone as you don't pay for busy signals and/or not answered calls. Wanna bet whether some hotels and some pay phones don't charge anyway..
It's a very mixed world out there and things change by the day as the EU is starting to get involved on the outrageusly high roaming rates charged on intra European calls...but as it stands right now today I think riiing with enlinea is the best solution.
Sep 11th, 2005, 09:37 PM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,017
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
0800 access numbers to enliea are blocked on all 4 national german providers if using a prepay card. Not a chance here! I have tried it using numerous cards.
One option is this: www.tchibo.de, 35ct/min 24/7 to German landlines. Costs are 29.95€ including a phone and 10€ credit. Another alternative is www.simyo.de which is 19ct/min to German landlines or www.simply-card.de From 10/1 Tchibo is offering a 5ct/min special for calls to other Tchibo phones. Least expensive would be a Ep-Plus contract for 24 months, no minimum usage, no access fees. 3ct/min to German landlines www.bmwmobil.de
One option is this: www.tchibo.de, 35ct/min 24/7 to German landlines. Costs are 29.95€ including a phone and 10€ credit. Another alternative is www.simyo.de which is 19ct/min to German landlines or www.simply-card.de From 10/1 Tchibo is offering a 5ct/min special for calls to other Tchibo phones. Least expensive would be a Ep-Plus contract for 24 months, no minimum usage, no access fees. 3ct/min to German landlines www.bmwmobil.de
Sep 12th, 2005, 01:51 AM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hiya logos999...
Enlinea gives you a US number such as +1213xxxxxxx; when last I was in Germany this past June, it worked fine from a Vodafone.DE mobile and riiing to enlinea worked fine at the start and then I ran into problems at the beginning of July trying to connect to enlinea but that seems to have been resolved....but most assuredly vodafone.de to enlinea via US numbers did work without any problems.
Enlinea gives you a US number such as +1213xxxxxxx; when last I was in Germany this past June, it worked fine from a Vodafone.DE mobile and riiing to enlinea worked fine at the start and then I ran into problems at the beginning of July trying to connect to enlinea but that seems to have been resolved....but most assuredly vodafone.de to enlinea via US numbers did work without any problems.
Sep 12th, 2005, 02:14 AM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Should have said ran into problems at the start of July trying to use enlinea via riiing but that was not just in Germany and when I was in the UK this past August, riing to enlinea functioned almost flawlessly so I'm not sure if there are still problems connecting to enlinea via the US number. However even in July, connecting to enlinea via Vodafone.de, although somewhat more expensive than connecting via riiing worked fine. In any event, they can't block the outgoing call which is to a US number and enlinea uses countless incoming numbers which makes it hard for them to block.....
Sep 12th, 2005, 04:33 AM
#10
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They're really about the same...enlinea is 12¢/minute on riiing, cbw is 14¢/minute on riiing; prices to Germany are very close too..
You know something though, neither one charges you to sign up and neither one charges a monthly maintenance fee so the obvious solution is to sign up with both and if one doesn't work to try the other....
You know something though, neither one charges you to sign up and neither one charges a monthly maintenance fee so the obvious solution is to sign up with both and if one doesn't work to try the other....
Sep 12th, 2005, 08:49 AM
#11
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,017
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi xyz123 and everybody,
I just walked by a Tchibo shop. From today prices are 25ct/min to any german phone. Quite o.k. but still far from the 3ct/min I'll get with a contract. The problem with riiing in Germany is that it's (sometimes) difficult to reach from a german phone. Yo can dial around via the US, but if you have people in Germany who need to contact you on riiing (Hotel, car rental, whatever) this may be a big problem for them. So don't complain later that your phone was "always switched on".
I just walked by a Tchibo shop. From today prices are 25ct/min to any german phone. Quite o.k. but still far from the 3ct/min I'll get with a contract. The problem with riiing in Germany is that it's (sometimes) difficult to reach from a german phone. Yo can dial around via the US, but if you have people in Germany who need to contact you on riiing (Hotel, car rental, whatever) this may be a big problem for them. So don't complain later that your phone was "always switched on".
Sep 12th, 2005, 10:50 AM
#12
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think you hit on the solution...call via the US. You can open up an account with kall8 (www.kall8.com) for $2 US and $2/month + calls...they give you a US 800 number which you can key to your riiing account. Give the people the US 800 number or do as I do have call fowarding from your US landline and give them your home number and the clls get forwarded seamlessly.
Know it is not really a good solution if you live outside the US (or is it not?)
Know it is not really a good solution if you live outside the US (or is it not?)
Sep 12th, 2005, 11:14 AM
#13
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,017
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What I have done was to set a call forward from my local German ISDN to riiing. I can choose between over 20 phone companies to connect to riiing, about 5 of them work. The big problem is that some only work at certain times and with others it takes up to a minute until the call gets connected. Nobody is going to wait that long and the caller doesn't even expect to wait, since he is "only" calling a landline. The 800 number in the US is an alternative, but then again many german phone companies block them. Problems over Problems.
