Pone card and calling from U.S. to London
 

Does anyone know if they still sell phone cards in the local post offices in London? It was a great value back in 2002; 200 minutes for 10 pounds.

Also I have re-read posts here on dialing from London to U.S. as I had forgotten, but how do you call from U.S. to London?

Thanks for your help.

I think you need to dial 011 + the country code 44 and the city code and the number

yes, the post office still sells the phone cards.
To dial the US dial 001 /area code /number

To call London from the USA...

The city code for London is 020...if the next digit is a 7 then it is "inner" London and if the next digit is an 8, then it is "outer" London...

So you might see a London number listed as 020 8555 1212 because of the 8 the number is in outer London

To make the call you would dial 011 (the international code in North America) 44 (the country code for the UK) 8555 1212 (the local number in London)...note you drop the lead 0 when listed on most (but not all) European numbers....if you were calling the same number in London you would dial 020 8555 1212...the 0 indiates to the switching equipment it is a UK trunk call..

If you have a mobile phone the "+" key serves instead of the internatinal prefix either way (sometimes calls on US mobile carrier especially to European mobiles are not all that much more expensive if at all then using a landline)...so to call somebody in London on your mobile number you would dial + (substituting for the 011)44 20 8555 1212 and if you are in the UK (or most any other European country) and calling back to the USA on your mobile phone you would dial +1 212 555 1212 with the + substituting for the international prefix which in most European countries is 00....(if calling the USA or Canada (Canada doesn't even have its own country code)on a landline you would dial 001 212 555 1212...

Guess that covers it from all angles!

If the hotel number is 0870 333 9110 (Thistle Hyde Park) then you would dial from the U.S. 011 44 ????????? I seem to missing something....too many numbers?

0870 number are sort of like 800 numbers in the US of A but you may not get the lowest rate on your US ld when you call it...you may get the surcharge rate same as with mobile phones..

Anyway if the number is listed as 0870 333 9110 then you dial from the US 011 44 870 333 9110 omitting the lead 0, 870 sort of being losely speaking the area code.

0870 numbers in the UK are more like 900 numbers in the US (not 800). The 0870 numbers cost a lot more to phone than "regular" UK numbers. Some phone cards can't handle these numbers at all. Other phone cards can handle it, but you'll deplete the value quickly. I still prefer using a phone card to phoning from a home phone.

More about 0870:
http://www.saynoto0870.com/

Thanks to all for the info.