I am traveling to Europe and will have to make many phone calls back to the U.S. I've been told to us a phone card. Should I buy it here or in Europe???

ttt<BR>

You really might want to look into buying a pre-paid cell phone once you arrive in Europe.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

If you decide not to buy a cell phone, use the prepaid cards of the country you are in. I used them in France and the Netherlands last year and found them easy to use and very good value. You must insert the card into a payphone which reads the microchip and deducts value as you talk. For about US$7 I was able to make several local calls, calls to the US totalling about 25 minutes, and still had time remaining (I gave the card to a flight attendant on my return to the US). The downside is that you would not be able to use it from your hotel room, where the dialup codes of US calling cards would work.

Do countries (like France) have phone cards that you can buy with dialup codes? I have a telecarte, but prefer to call from my room. Are there cards you can buy here that allow you to call from Europe? Inquiring minds want to know.

Sue,<BR><BR>Calling from the hotel room (not to mention the car, the train etc) is one of those really great things about buying a phone there. And no rate will ever be as good as the ability of your American caller to call you back from their home phone. US-to-Europe rates are ALWAYS the cheapest way to go. And my last cell phone was NO charge for incoming calls.<BR><BR>I will never do anything different.<BR>

Rex, if I traveled more, I would consider it, but I have discovered that I can buy a Ticket de Telephone with a scratch PIN for 15 Euros, good for about 35 mins--enough to call the petsitter. I actually looked at cell phones the last time in France, but was overwhelmed.<BR><BR>By the way, my US-Europe phone rates are outrageous, which is why I use 10-10-811.

My wife put us on some AT&T plan. Fairly inexpensive. Seems like the trans-atlantic rates are very, very cheap - - but only to one country (which you can change - - not sure how often). Or maybe I have those details all screwed up. I'll have to ask her.<BR>

&lt;&lt;Rex, if I traveled more, I would consider it&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Wasn't there a thread about selling the phone after the trip was over?<BR><BR>Posted by?<BR>

yes

Yes, I did sell it after I got back home and recouped something $55 of $80 I paid. Some of the info about this is at http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...=2&tid=1323048 if you want to read more about it.<BR>

Go to www.prepaidcall.net and you can buy a phone card there that is very inexpensive.

My sister bought an international phone card at Cosco for about $20 to call home. It had a scratch-off code and worked to call from our apartment in Paris and from pay phones. I bought a local phone card in Paris which could be used the same way. Don't know if hotels would charge an additional fee for using their phone system. I currently use a phone card to call my daughter in Jamaica which is very cheap. The calls from my home directly are really outrageous.

I am enrolled in an AT&T plan that only costs $5 a month. I can call back to any number in US and it is billed to my home phone number. European rates are very good on this plan. I don't know if it is still being offered to new customers. All you need is the phone card that they issue and an access number for AT&T from the country you are visiting.

I will be on a cruise stopping in 12 countries in Europe including St. Petersburg, Russia. Is there a single card that I can buy that would allow me to call family in the US from any of the ports?

If I get a cell phone from one of the companies that ship them to you before you leave home, and I am able to use it IN a city, like Nice for example. will I also be able to use it as we near a port? That is, how far do "cells" extend out past the shoreline?<BR>