Hi, xyz123. Which calling card can I use to call home (Germany/France) from the U.S. I've been recommended http://www.pinonsale.com/Details.asp?Product=686
, but there's so much choice and it all sems to be the same thing. It claims to cost 0.9ct/min to Germany (1-800 access number) BUT there are so many possible additional fees, which makes it hard to find out what I'd really pay. Which card would you take? Thanks :-)

logos...

I wish I could help you but that's not up my alley unfortunately...I don't use them here (US) there are just so many and the fine print is awesomely hard to follow...many with very low rates have a per call rate that wipes out any savings on short calls.

I use net2phone direct but they have $1.50/month but no per call charges and do have very low rates with billing as usual rounded up to the next minute.

Thanks, anyway. I'm going to try it. I'll buy a "Mardi Gras" card. If anybody knows a better alternative? :-)

an article in the NY Times yesterday addressed this question.

A good article (www.nytimes.com)...but does not have too much on mobile phones and absolutely nothing about the multi national international sim card from united-mobile...it also doesn't point out the advantage of using enlinea.com as your callback service as in addition to everything else they give you a US 800 number which can be rung to either your local prepaid mobile sim or a landline number.

I have a quad band phone so I don't want to go on eBay and purchase another phone as suggested. Like the others here, I just pay the extra fee to open the international feature at $5.99, the monthyl rate that Cingular charges. I already have the int'l. roaming on the plan and then I pay $.99/call. Sure it can add up if you make alot of calls. But I use the phone for emergency calls only and then buy a calling card to call home from the hotel room. This may not work for you, but it works well for me.

Quick correction to the above...you pay 99¢/minute rounded up to the next highest minute...99¢/call would be a bargain and as I said earlier, if you just feel the phone is for emergencies, that is a great way to go with the least hassle. But as a reminder, you have to have a GSM carrier (Cingular or T mobile in the US in general) and an international plan.

Also be aware that if you turn the phone on and it registers on a foreign network, it is possible a call coming in, even if the phone is off, will bounce back to voice mail and count as a completed call to you and a completed call from you to your voice mail box or $1.98...not a big deal if it happens once but steps are necessary to prevent this if you get a couple of such calls.

Not knocking this though...as I said if you just want a phone to be reachable in an emergency it is by far the easiest way to go.

JeanneB, as travelbunny says there is what appears to be a good article in today's NY Times on this subject. If you can't get a Times, go to their website.

I read the Times article and am now pretty sure the best way to go is the calling card. I really don't expect any business emergencies, so it's not worth the trouble. If my sis needs to reach me, she can use email, or call us and we'll pay her back when we return.

I do apprciate everyone's input. I'm sure it's been helpful to several Forodites.

You can find the NYT article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/travel/01prac.html

Two years ago my husband bought a cell phone for use in France, and last month we got SIM cards to let me use it in Austria and Germany. Back in California we can use the phone with a calling card--and no monthly service fees. It's a great deal.

I always buy an AT&T calling card from Sam's Club. Go online before you leave to get access numbers. EASY!!CHEAP! They work in all the countires I have visited, including Hungary.

Scatcat-
What do you mean by going on line before you leave to get "access numbers"? Sorry, I've never done this before.
Thanks,
Dina

please read:

http://www.usa.att.com/traveler/acce...ndex_Page.y=16

Thanks, Travelnut.

I found it much cheaper to buy calling cards in Europe to use to call home.

On my next trip (finally getting close!) we will be gone for so long that I bought a Mobal phone. Now I just have to figure out the sim card and riing thing... great info from xyz on that!

Anne

Dina4
I have never bought a calling card in Europe, but the AT&T is about $43.00 at Sams for 1200 minutes. This equals to approx.120-150 international minutes. At a pay phone dial the access number then the 800 number on the backside at the top. Then a recording prompts everything else. My nephew is in Europe now and is calling home at least once a day. CHEAP!

A calling card that you can buy in Paris for the US costs 7.50 euro for approximately 55 minutes.

Scatcat-
I checked out the ATT phone card website (given by travelnut), and maybe I'm being really dense, but it seems as though the prices were about $1 per minute + a 90cent service charge for each call.

Is Sam's Club like Costco? I will check there.

Otherwise...
Francophile, your French calling card sounds really great. Is there a brand that you're specifically speaking about?

So far the telecartes I have bought at the tabac stands are fine. Once it was a brand called Iradium and the other time it was Maxicall. Ask for the cards with scratch off codes on the reverse (telecarte avec code). You can use them at either a public phone or at your hotel room's phone.

I found that the telecarte that I bought from the post office was really difficult to use because there is no English language selection available. Somehow I managed to figure out how to use it, but I'm not fluent in French so it was frustrating.