I just did a search about phone rentals, and the latest post was 2007 so I thought I'd ask it again.

I'll be in the States (Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and around Dallas)for two and a half weeks. I will probably make a few miscellaneous calls to hotels and stuff (long distance, most likely), relatives in the States, and if possible, a phone call to Japan (probably five or six of these, lasting at 15 to 20 minutes).

When I was back three years ago, I bought phone cards, which worked OK as long as I had a phone.

What would be my best bet right now? And where can I purchase it?

Thanks for any advice!

I don't suppose you will have a laptop with you? If you do, Skype might be your best bet. You could get a local phone number in Japan for your Skype account and then people in Japan could call you as if you were there. Calls would "ring" on your computer as long as you are on the internet, and you could talk with a web cam or a headset.

If you can talk computer to computer (no phone number involved) via Skype, it's completely free.

Ho! My laptop! That's a whole 'nother can of worms. I was thinking about doing that, and a friend even sent me his USB wifi thing.

But I had problems connecting to my school LAN, and if I'm going to have the same kinds of difficulties with the hotel wifi, then I just don't know if it's worth lugging around the laptop for two and a half weeks.

I'd still have to buy headphones, set up the skype, etc. And, I leave day after tomorrow. No rest for the wicked, nor ease for the procrastinator.

It's a good idea, but I don't think it will be practical.

Any other ideas?

You can actually buy a phone at drug stores for not much. Here is one on sale at Rite Aid for $20. You just buy minutes to use with it as well:

http://tinyurl.com/5ugqdg

Tracfone makes a prepay cell plan with cheap phones too:

http://www.tracfone.com/

They have phones starting at $14.99. You can put in where you will be and see where you can pick up the phone.

You will have to read the fine print about international calling.

Happy travels!

If you are making that many calls to Japan, then a phone card is a much better deal. If you are in a large city, it should be easier to find a good phone card, but even my parents can now buy them for international calls, and they live in a very small town in Kansas.

If you want people to be able to call you, that's a different story. Then it's cheaper to get a cell phone, but for two and a half weeks, I'd probably just rely on email. If it were 2 and a half months, I'd buy a cheap cell phone.

Get a phone card...just read the fine print BEFORE you walk away from the counter...make sure it is international and that the timing has not expired (some are time limited). Buying from a respectable source is key: like RiteAid or Walmart.

Do I sound like I have been ripped off for a lousy $20 out-of-date phone card in the past by an unscrupulous retailer? Yes, it does happen! But SO much less of a hassle than sorting through cell phone plans.

You don't need to buy a physical phone card. Before you leave home, go to zaptel.com. Buy a Flying Colors card. I have used one for calling from the US (cell phone or land line) to my son when he was in the Dominican Republic and for the last year in Uganda. It costs me 17 cents a minute to talk to him in Uganda. Another friend used it when her daughter was in Brazil. You don't need a card at all -- you get a dial-in number and a PIN. Everytime you make a call it tells you how much money you have left on the card (you can add more if necessary, again on-line). When you dial the number it tells you how many minutes of talk time you have left. There is no connection charge, the quality of the calls is very good, as is customer service.

Yes - but for that you need to buy a cell phone in the US - or rely on hotel phone systems (which will charge you a fortune for their line access).

nytraveler: last time I was in the States, all my phone cards had a 1-800 number, so access from the hotel phone was free. 'Course, I stayed in the cheapie hotels that offered freebies like that.

Why is it that the "luxury" hotels seem to charge for all sorts of things that come free at a Super 8? (Maybe it's just my imagination -- anyway, that's also thread drift, so maybe y'all should ignore that.)

Anyway, thank you all for your kind responses. I might look into getting a cheapie phone for the domestic calls, and a phonecard for overseas. It would be nice to be able to get calls while on the road (and my daughter can act as my personal secretary ).

Kmart has $30 phones and you must buy $30 worth of airtime that's charged out at 10c per minute. Ralph's/Krogers has $20 phones and $20 phone cards but the 10c minutes don't start until 6pm. Both have free long distance and roaming.

My mom has a cell just for emergencies, the Ralphs-Kroger phone, the total investment is $80 per year, after purchase of the $20 phone.


For a phone card to call Japan, check with cloncom.com for the best rates. You just pay online and print out your pin number.

Just an update: I wound up getting a Tracphone from Walmart. 9.99 for the phone, and about $40 for the 120 minutes (I thought that would be plenty, but I wound up buying another 60 minutes -- of which I used only two minutes!!). Tracphone airtime cards are also available at Walgreens, and I'm sure many other places.

I was pleased overall, but don't buy a Tracphone and expect to have a usable phone right away. I'm pretty sure it needs charging first, and then you'll need a phone line or computer to get things set up. After that, I think it was a 40 minute wait.

All of the hotels I stayed at had free 1-800 access, which is all I needed for both TracPhone and the phonecard I got.

The phonecard I got at the airport was a total rip off! (But what else should I expect from an American airport?) OTOH, the phone card I got at Walmart was wonderful -- I left-over phonetime to Japan on a $10 card.

I read this tip elsewhere, but bringing along a powerstrip so you can recharge all your goodies in the same place is a great idea. One hotel provided a power strip. The others didn't, and we were plugging things in behind the sofa, under beds, etc. (We had the cell phone, rechargable camera batteries, and the kids' DS rechargers.)

Technology is wonderful, though!

Glad the Trackphone worked out for you. I had a bad experience with a Pay as you go phone - no one told me that when you stopped paying the phone was completely dead and could not be resurrected. I had bought a $60 phone plus time at Radio Shack. The clerk didn't explain and I didn't read the fine print. After all, I figured if I weren't going anyplace I could add minutes later. Couldn't believe a $60 phone couldn't be reactivated. Couple of weeks ago I shopped at Target planning to buy the 19.99 phone because the 9.99 phone didn't close. Then other shoppers pointed out a $39.99 phone with a free double minutes card that was worth $50. Ended up buying the $49.99 phone because it had a camera and also contained the double minutes card. Now I'll get double minutes for the life of the phone PLUS it always displays how many minutes you still have and when they expire, otherwise if you keep buying minutes they roll over. My husband was so impressed with quality (he was home, I was on the road) that he's thinking of switching. I figure the phone is only going to cost $19.99 every three months to keep it active. The phone itself is a Motorola. I was very pleased with it and glad to have a phone for a very long drive.

Glad that Walmart phone card tip worked out for you! I think in general that W is the scourge of the small retail universe, but they do some things well...