My son will be studying in London this summer and I am interested in knowing where I might purchase phone cards that will allow international calling from London to the U.S.. Most of the cards I have found in the U.S. are for use within the U.S. or for international calls from the U.S..Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Have him buy his phone cards once he is in London. There is a large variety and they are available at any news agent, tube station, etc.

I have bought several different brands over the years - my last one was (I think) "America 1st" and it was really cheap.

Folks over on the AOL travel boards report "difficulties" with America First. Everyone highly recommends AT&T cards available at Sam's, Wal-mart, etc. Cheap - and you don't have to worry about the dismal exchange rates.

I'm not saying America 1st is the only one - but the last two cards I used were those and I had absolutely no problems with them. Have used them to call from the UK, Paris and even from LAX on my way home. There is a much wider range of cards available locally in London and you can get VERY cheap rates.

I used to use AT&T cards but have found them to be much more expensive for calling back to the US.

Also, some cards purchased in the States are trickier when it comes to access codes etc.

The Pay Peanuts" card available at news stands in London is a good value. The more expensive cards with more minutes are a better value per minute, but even the £5 card gives 100 mintutes, is easy to use and the sound quality is good.

Keith

DON'T get the AT&T ones here and then use them to call from overseas back to the US! My husband is overseas with the military, and we found this out the hard way! If you'll read the fine print, you'll see that each (1) minute of use charges FIVE minutes to call back to the US. So if you buy the 100-minute card, you really only get 20 minutes of use! They are great for domestic use, and a real bargain, but they stink for overseas! Also, you have to dial a 20-digit access number to get the dial tone to call the US, which my husband said was a pain!

We've found that buying the cards overseas ALWAYS gets a better value. He's called home using cards he purchased in Bosnia and Iraq, so obviously something works.

Thanks for all the great info. Will have him buy them once he arrives in London!!

I use a $20 MCI rechargable prepaid card that I bought at BJs Wholesale Club here in the US. You can use it anywhere served by WorldCom. I used it last year to call the US from Italy with no problems, and the rate was around 20 cents per minute. Just call MCI (number on back of card) before you leave the US for very specific instructions on what number to dial from the country you're visiting and what code numbers to enter.

20 cents a minute is pretty high. Most phone cards I've used from the UK ( except for AT&T which is a lot more ) have run between 3.5 cents and 7 cents a minute.

I know that isn't very much difference per phone call but for a student in London over the summer it will add up fast.