Travel Technology - 10 free SkypeOut minutes on Skype.com

Login to your account, and click the "free minutes" link. Gets you 10 free minutes.

Not huge, but it's free - so why not? And you get a cute confirmation note:

Your free Skype gift has been delivered to your account.

You’re welcome... we hope you like it and it fits you, because you can’t exchange it.

Elsewhere it says that today is "the first free Skypeout day" and that there will be four in July, one a week. Clever way for them to get us to come back every day to check! I'm guessing they'll vary the day of the week and perhaps the amount at random - my psych major friends tell me that's the best way to train any kind of animal, humans included.

BTW, the 10 minute time applies if you call a number in the continental U.S., Canada, most of Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and small areas around Buenos Aires, Moscow, St. Petersburg (Russia), Mexico City and Monterrey (Mexico). Elsewhere in the world, 20 Eurocents don't go as far - in some places less than one minute, especially if you call a non-U.S. mobile phone.

Ta very much.

Regards
I

my psych major friends tell me that's the best way to train any kind of animal, humans included.

Exactly. Variable scale and frequency payout is the most addictive-- exactly why casinos, slot machines, and lotteries work.

Thanks.

BTW - I just signed up for SkypeOut a couple of hours ago, paid with confirmation, logged out and in again, and it still says that it is not active. Any ideas?

Thanks.

BTW - I just signed up for SkypeOut a couple of hours ago, paid with confirmation, logged out and in again, and it still says that it is not active. Any ideas?

Last time I did this it took some time, their CC processor is pretty useless.

thank you for this !!!

I had some minutes left, soon to expire. with those extra minutes, i just extended their lifetime :)

BTW server is really really slow :td:

Thanks ScottC.

Twenty cents is twenty (*FREE*) cents. Thanks ScottC

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".....When one is approaching, we’ll let you know through our website and on Share.Skype.com. We’re planning to have those days every week in July, so keep checking back for details. And when you spot one, spread the word....."
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MisterNice

Nice - thanks for the tip ^

Although, I do feel stupid getting excited about 20 cents free. But when I think of it as 10 minutes it sounds better. ;)

Actually, I look at it as saving $1.50/minute that I DON'T need to spend in using my cell phone in China.

FDuvall

Nice - thanks for the tip ^

Although, I do feel stupid getting excited about 20 cents free. But when I think of it as 10 minutes it sounds better. ;)

Today is another 10 minutes free day.

20 more cents in my account. Woohoo!

Today is another 10 minutes free day.

20 more cents in my account. Woohoo!

Thanks for the reminder. I checked this morning, and it was NOT a free day. I would have missed this had I not gone back.

Sam

I just launched Skype but I don't see anything that let's me get the free minutes. What am I doing wrong? :(

1. go to skype.com
2. select "your account" from top right
3. sign in
4. free skpe days promo is top right

Sam

Thanks Sam. I was thinking I would see it on my Skype console. That's what I get for thinking.

And thanks ScottC for starting this thread.

Does anyone else put FlyerTalk as a keyword in their profile? I tried a search but nothing came up.

Does anyone else put FlyerTalk as a keyword in their profile? I tried a search but nothing came up.


great Idea. I will do :)

Several of us who work together are just setting up Skype. We have some people off site as well as collaborators who now communicate my IM and email and this could be a great replacement. I was wondering too about whether it would be useful for finding other Flyertalkers. If we put Flyertalk and our handle in our profile, will we be able to find other FTers who are online and say hi? Would a Skype or IM handle listing be a good sticky ScottC? Thanks.

Several of us who work together are just setting up Skype. We have some people off site as well as collaborators who now communicate my IM and email and this could be a great replacement. I was wondering too about whether it would be useful for finding other Flyertalkers. If we put Flyertalk and our handle in our profile, will we be able to find other FTers who are online and say hi? Would a Skype or IM handle listing be a good sticky ScottC? Thanks.
From what I can determine, the Skype search feature is buggy. In my profile, I placed the word FlyerTalk in the About Me section. A friend did a search from his Skype account and entered FlyerTalk in the About box. Skype returned no matches. When he searched for my full name, and found it, the info panel on my profile showed FlyerTalk.

Hopefully Skype will fix this soon so that we can search by About keywords.

Have you checked Skype today?

;)

Nearly a week into August and the site still says "We’re planning to have SkypeOut Gift Days throughout July..." Anyone know if they're doing them this month? Perhaps I missed one?

I quit checking after 30 July - the last one I know of.

Sam

I have software monitoring the Skype page and it will tell me when the next free day is. I'll be sure to post here when they do.

I have software monitoring the Skype page and it will tell me when the next free day is. I'll be sure to post here when they do.
Thanks - I've just subscribed to this thread!

I have software monitoring the Skype page and it will tell me when the next free day is. I'll be sure to post here when they do.

They finally update the webpage. Now it says:

"We've got a little secret we'd like to share as well: more gifts might come in the future … so stay tuned …

In the meantime, Happy Skyping"

It seems it will be a random hit-or-miss deal now.

What do you guys think of SkypeOut? Good?

What do you guys think of SkypeOut? Good?

I've been using it for over a year and have been very happy with it. I even recently got skypein so my mother could call me without having to track where I was or what my current mobile phone number was.

Currently have a big gripe which is that they changed their policy on site purchases, so depsite having been a regular customer I can't buy any skype out credit - I think because I'm in this scary country called argentina! :(
So I'm trying openwengo

Manar

What do you guys think of SkypeOut? Good?
I've been very happy with it, except for one thing. The tones that you need to control some systems you dial into don't work reliably when you click on the screen "keypad." For anything using voice, including voice recognition systems as well as human conversations, no problems.

NOTE that you can make free 0800 calls in many countries - including the US and UK. Great for calling those helplines that might put you on hold for 20 minutes or something. It's in beta and seems to hang up sometimes but works often enough.

Forgot to mention that when giving my skypeout take. It's been real handy.

I've been very happy with it, except for one thing. The tones that you need to control some systems you dial into don't work reliably when you click on the screen "keypad." For anything using voice, including voice recognition systems as well as human convesations, no problems.

Frustrating isn't it -- it works sometimes and not others. Haven't played too hard to try and work out a consistent pattern for recovery but I did find this:

http://www.skypejournal.com/blog/archives/2005/07/khaosdial_dtmf.php

Alas I'm mainly using skype on my Mac at the moment :(. Mic on my laptop's gone gaga and using my bluetooth headset on it seems to blue screen it. Love computers.

What do you guys think of SkypeOut? Good?

I have been a customer for over a year. Nothing but good things to say about Skype. My favorite feature is calling one of my friends on skype and then conferencing in a friend on Skype Out. Called an old collegue in Tokyo on Skype (I was in the US), then we conferenced another old friend in Australia. Worked great and for only a few pennies a minute, it was well worth it.

Thanks. I have been debating between Skype and Callpacket, which has a free incoming SkypeOut type of service. I will look into Skype since it seems to be more reliable.

PS. Is Skype compatible w/ bluetooth headsets?

Thanks. I have been debating between Skype and Callpacket, which has a free incoming SkypeOut type of service. I will look into Skype since it seems to be more reliable.

SkypeOut does what it says on the tin: it allows you to call out to telephone numbers around the world. You buy an amount of credit and are charged based on to where, when and how long you calls are - much like a calling card.

SkypeIn is in beta I believe but seems to work pretty well. It allows you to pick a landline number (in one of several countries including the US, UK etc.) which when called will go through to your skype account - either making your skype "phone" ring if you're online or going through to voicemail. It seems to have worked reliably for me but I'm not a heavy user.

PS. Is Skype compatible w/ bluetooth headsets?

Depends what you mean by compatible. If you can pair your headset with your computer then there's little skype can do to make it incompatible. I.e. It works fine as a simple headset replacement.

But if you want to be able to use the bluetooth profile stuff so you can do things like pick up / drop calls etc. I think it's less clear - I seem to recall there's a patch/hack to allow you to use some headsets this way. Alas this was a PC only hack and my bluetooth headset only works on my Mac. Oh - the PC version of skpe has a "automatically answer all calls" option which may be useful if you can't get the profiles stuff to work.

Best to search the forums on skype.net

I will say that's it's really nice to have a proper wireless headset when using skype.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks. I have been debating between Skype and Callpacket, which has a free incoming SkypeOut type of service. I will look into Skype since it seems to be more reliable.
Skype's general incoming call service (where anyone can reach you by calling a number that looks like a regular phone number) is not free. It costs €10 for three months, €30 for a year. Free Skype takes incoming calls only from other Skype users.

I talked to a few Callpacket users and they give it a thumbs down. Going SkypeOut.

Just found out now and claimed my free 10 minutes. :)

Hopefully some other FTers can get yours in the next 1.5 hours (if they go by PST).

Just found out now and claimed my free 10 mimutes. :)

Hopefully some other FTers can get yours in the next 1.5 hours (if they go by PST).
Thanks! Worked for me. :)

Thanks guys!

I too got mine last night ^

Thanks, I hadn't seen this before! Those 10 free minutes will come in handy.

Same here. Didn't see it before. Thanks for the heads up!

Where do you log into to get the minutes? I can't find it anywhere.

Where do you log into to get the minutes? I can't find it anywhere.
Go to FILE,
My Skype Account,
Go to My account page
^

Not sure if that's some random luck or whatever. I just signed in my Skype account (5:45 CST) and see "24 Free Minutes" to call anywhere... right after I signed in. I thought it was a new Skypeout promo and clicked on it.......Guess what?

"Your gift will be delivered in the next 12 hours!..."

I cannot believe my eyes!! To make sure I was not dreaming, I rechecked my account and indeed I got another 24 minutes in seconds. :D :D

Not aware of any Skype Gift Day, I guess today is my lucky day. Just want to share my small luck and see if our fellow FTers will have one also.

So if you have a spare minute or even just 30 seconds, please sign in your Skype account on 2/9/07 and maybe you will have a pleasant surprise gift! :)

Go to FILE,
My Skype Account,
Go to My account page
^

Tried it but can't get the 10mins :(

I tried it (for a crummy $0.26 worth of calls) and they indicated I already got free minutes. Checking the payment stuff the last Skype free minutes I got was in Jun 2005. Enough already!

MisterNice

Not sure if that's some random luck or whatever. I just signed in my Skype account (5:45 CST) and see "24 Free Minutes" to call anywhere... right after I signed in. I thought it was a new Skypeout promo and clicked on it.......Guess what?

"Your gift will be delivered in the next 12 hours!..."

Just worked for me - thank you!

Just worked for me - thank you!

Me too! Thank you!

The 24 free minutes is for their Chinese New Year promotion. So, that's in addition to the 10 free that they previously offered. Got that as well. Cool. Can't complain about more free minutes.:D

http://www.skype.com/campaigns/chinesenewyear/

These free minutes are almost instantaneous.

The 24 free minutes is for their Chinese New Year promotion. So, that's in addition to the 10 free that they previously offered. Got that as well. Cool. Can't complain about more free minutes.:D

http://www.skype.com/campaigns/chinesenewyear/

These free minutes are almost instantaneous.

Thanks, Got em!

Bump -- it's happening again today:

https://secure.skype.com/store/myaccount/overview.html

Thanks! I've been periodically checking but not today.

If one wants to jump on the skype bandwagon, is it just as simple as signing up or is there a flyertalk savvy way to do it?

thanks for the tip, got my free minutes to china!

If one wants to jump on the skype bandwagon, is it just as simple as signing up or is there a flyertalk savvy way to do it?

Uh, I just signed up.

just got my free minutes to china. now i just nees somebody to call there...

Remember to sign in and claim your free 10 minutes! :)

Calls are limited to 200 minutes per computer during the offer period.

http://www.skype.com/campaigns/giftofgab/

1. Offer valid from May 13th 2007, 5.00 am (Eastern Time GMT-5.00) to May 14th 2007 4:59 am (Eastern Time GMT-5.00).

2. Offer reserved for residents of the US and Canada. During the offer, calls originating from the US and Canada placed to mobile and landline telephone numbers will be free.

(Complete) Terms of Use (http://www.skype.com/campaigns/giftofgab/terms.html)

8. If you're using any service, proxy or other devices preventing Skype from locating you (for example by allocating you an anonymous IP address), or if you otherwise abuse the offer or violate the applicable terms, Skype will charge its normal per minute rates and any other applicable fees (including, without limitation, the connection fee), regardless of the call origination point.

Can you call ANY landline and cell number? (i.e. in the US/Canada + overseas?!). The website's not very clear.

Calls are limited to 200 minutes per computer during the offer period.

http://www.skype.com/campaigns/giftofgab/

1. Offer valid from May 13th 2007, 5.00 am (Eastern Time GMT-5.00) to May 14th 2007 4:59 am (Eastern Time GMT-5.00).

2. Offer reserved for residents of the US and Canada. During the offer, calls originating from the US and Canada placed to mobile and landline telephone numbers will be free.

(Complete) Terms of Use (http://www.skype.com/campaigns/giftofgab/terms.html)

8. If you're using any service, proxy or other devices preventing Skype from locating you (for example by allocating you an anonymous IP address), or if you otherwise abuse the offer or violate the applicable terms, Skype will charge its normal per minute rates and any other applicable fees (including, without limitation, the connection fee), regardless of the call origination point.

According to the email I got from Skype, it says "free global calling day May 13th".

Check out the contents of the email from this link (http://www.skype.com/email/promo/gog_launch/).

So free global calling. Betcha it will be busy that day. Wonder if it'll be overloaded.

Very cool, thanks for the clarification!

According to the email I got from Skype, it says "free global calling day May 13th".

Check out the contents of the email from this link (http://www.skype.com/email/promo/gog_launch/).

So free global calling. Betcha it will be busy that day. Wonder if it'll be overloaded.