I was recently in China and arrived without a calling card and after all of the local shops had closed. I needed to call home so I didn't know what to do until I decided to go online and see what I could find. I had never bought a phone card online before, and figured the rates would be terrible, but I needed to make the call so I would spend $5 that night and get a real card the next morning.

I came upon this site (http://phonecardsavers.pushline.com) and since it had China on it, I decided to use it. I then got the access number, called it, and input my pin and destination number in the U.S. Much to my suprise, the announcment on the number with my balance told me I had hours to talk.

To make a long story short, that phone card company I mentioned is truly a great value. It costs a few cent to connect and then for $10 you can talk about 5.5 hours back to the United States. I'm not sure exactly how it works (becuase the person you are calling in the United States shows that you are calling from some Limo service that bounces around the country), but it was one of the best values I have ever seen. Plus, the number that you get (a 10800 #) is considered a local or free call at most hotels so you don't get charged anything (or very little) no matter how long you talk. Anyhow, I hope that others who may struggle to find a way to call can take advantage of this!

Thanks for the tip! You just saved me a lot of money - I gave the website to mtacchi and he's using it to call Hong Kong from Paris...this is going to save on the roaming charges for sure!

...gotta luv FT members...:)