Thought I'd purchase an MCI prepaid phone card at Costco before traveling to the UK. Are these easily used at phones in the UK and Ireland? If not, is there a better way? Thx for the info.

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Yes. You need to call the number on the card and ask what the local access numbers are for Enland and Ireland. These are not cards you insert into the phone. You call the local access number in country and that connects you to the MCI system. Works great...you can also find out how many units equals a minute from a certain country to the US so you can keep track of your time although every time you use it, it will tell you how many units you have left. I was just in Austria and had an MCI prepaid card...the local acces number in Austria is 0 800 200 235...you dial that number from whatever phone than enter the world service code on the back of the card when asked for the PIN then it will prompt you for the actual PIN on the card, then for the area code and number in the US. It's great once you get used to it. On some pay phones you need to drop in enough coins to cover the local call for the access numbe but if I remember correctly, in London the pay phone required no coins for the 800 number. It's much better than coming home to a huge phone bill on your calling card through the phone company!

For some reason my MCI Costco card did not work in London last month. I had checked the access number with customer service before I left and was told everything was set. I used the BT phone as instructed. Ended up buying a local phone card but it was very cheap so it worked out fine. It was called "Pay Peanuts," cost 5 pounds and had no connection charge. That's where the card gets used up so try to get one with no connection charge.<BR>