I have a rechargeable MCI phone card (from Costco) that will allow me to call home (US)from the UK for 17 cents per minute. I used it last year from our hotel rooms in Austria and France with no problems, you just have to call MCI ahead of time and get the appropriate toll-free number. But since we will be "on the road" a lot during this trip, I'm wondering what sort of public phone booths are available that I can use my card with, and if you can dial toll free numbers from them by depositing coins? Or are phone booths going away in the UK (as they are here)? If so, maybe I should just buy a cheap cell phone when I get there. Any help appreciated.

I've used a similar kind of phonecard in UK and Austria. I had no problem finding phone booths or public phones to use. Mostly I think I had to pay the cost of a local call to connect to the provider's number.

Phone booths are gradually disappearing.

Not an issue in central London, at stations or on motorways. But they can be very difficult indeed to find in the countryside, and even in modest-sized towns. "Gradual disapearance" means 100% disappearance if there was only ever one phonebox in Chipping Snodbury.

If you really are going to be out on the road a lot of the time and need to be in touch, you do need a mobile. Dialling the US with one is likely to cost you a lot more than 17 cents a minute though.

Avoid using a postbox with 'Police Box' written thereon: That one will really disappear! (Should you disregard this advice, give our regards to the Doctor.)

I believe you can rent a mobile at our airports when you arrive.
However, like flanneruk says,...forget the 17 cents a minute.

regards

17c a minute is from a normal landline (home or business). Some hotels don't charge for dialling a toll-free access number for your calling card, but many will, sometimes a fixed fee (say £1 per call).
Using your calling card in BT payphone will incur an additional charge of 25p (50c) a minute. While you don't need any coins to make a call, your credit on the card will go down much faster.

if you want to use a phone card - you can buy them locally in the UK w/ much better rates than 17 cents a minute. I don't think the Sam's club/Costco-available cards are anywhere as good for the UK as they are w/i the States.

For Janis - do you think the Costco MCI card will be a problem in the UK? As I mentioned, I did use it successfully last year in Austria and France and don't know why Britain would be any different. I have about 1000 minutes on it (don't use it at home much since DH and I both got cell phones), and thought I might as well use them up somewhere.

A costco/MCI card won't be a problem - it will most likely work fine. It just won't be as cheap as a card bought locally in the UK