international calling cards
 

Any recommendations on what type of calling card to use to call US from costa rica? I want to check in with my kids while we are gone. Any comments or suggestions?

If your carrier is tmobile or A&T and you have a GSM phone with the corrrect bands, for a quick call, you may as well use your phone, instead of trying to hunt down a calling card.

if you are ATT you might want to sign up for the ATT world traveler package for 1 month before you go. I do it each time I leave the country.

No, I do not have an ATT phone. Any other calling card ideas?

If you are talking about cards you buy in Costa Rica, you don't really have much choice. Its not like Canada or the US where many convenience stores etc have a wide array of cards for really cheap international calls.


The Costa Rican International calling card issued by ICE the national telecommunications company is called Viajera 199 (199 being the access number you use to connect) ends up costing somewhere in the range of 30 cents per minute. You can buy them at many pharmacies - Fishel is one of the biggest chains and they have them, small shops, kiosks. There is also a desk at the airport that sells them - but it is not always manned. Shops that sell them often have a sign - yellow with a telephone and the words in Spanish indicating that phone cards are available. Something like Tarjetas Telefonicas Aqui.


Although there is another card that they sell for local calls (actually 2 different cards Colibri 197 and CHIP) the Viajera 199 can also be used for calls within the country.

Some internet cafes will have SKYPE which you can use. That would be about the cheapest.

As for the prepaid cards you buy in the US - unless the card specifically has an access number for Costa Rica, it will not work. You can check with your own phone company to see if they have an access number in CR. If so, you can call and bill it to your home. For Canada we can go through Canada Direct. However usually the prepaid CR cards turn out cheaper.

Warning - DO NOT use the phones with all sorts of credit card symbols that beckon you to call to the USA. You might see them in hotel lobbies and other touristy places. Calls are very very expensive.

raquel