Travel Technology - International prepaid phone card

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Have a friend whose daughter will be traveling in Europe this summer with a youth group. The group will be traveling to Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland and France. Naturally, the mother is concerned and would like her daughter to be able to call home "just to check-in periodically". The mother was wondering about a prepaid international phone card, but I have no experience with this as I travel with an unlocked GSM phone and appropriate sim card(s). I also mentioned staying in touch via internet cafes but the mom seems more interested in hearing her daughter's voice. Daughter will not be taking laptop on trip so voice over internet is not an option.
1) Can someone recommend a reliable prepaid international phone card that can be bought here in the US prior to departure.
2) Any other recommendations?

Take a look at this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551380)

Cut to the chase - the easiest thing for occasional "I'm OK" calls is a prepaid AT&T long distance card from some place like Sam's Club. I think BJs sells an equivalent card from MCI. With a little research beforehand you'll know the number to call within any particular country to reach the automated AT&T operator (just like when you call 1-800-CALL-ATT from the US). Here (http://www.usa.att.com/traveler/tools/wallet.jsp)'s a link to downloadable wallet cards with USA-Direct numbers.

There are cheaper methods per-minute but this is easy. I think you end up spending $15 or $20 for the smallest card Sams sells.

Thanks for your info so far. I did see the thread cited by tom911. I didn't know that Sams and Costco offered such cards, but placed a question to fellow FT nonetheless for the opinions on ease of use and reliability of such cards. I will certainly pass along this helpful info to the mom.

Thanks for your info so far. I did see the thread cited by tom911. I didn't know that Sams and Costco offered such cards, but placed a question to fellow FT nonetheless for the opinions on ease of use and reliability of such cards. I will certainly pass along this helpful info to the mom.
I have used my Sam's Club ATT&T card for ten years in places like:Japan,Europe, Mexico with no problem and great rates. I keep it charged to 3000 minutes(the max).before I leave the states.

Cut to the chase - the easiest thing for occasional "I'm OK" calls is a prepaid AT&T long distance card from some place like Sam's Club. I think BJs sells an equivalent card from MCI. With a little research beforehand you'll know the number to call within any particular country to reach the automated AT&T operator (just like when you call 1-800-CALL-ATT from the US). Here (http://www.usa.att.com/traveler/tools/wallet.jsp)'s a link to downloadable wallet cards with USA-Direct numbers.

There are cheaper methods per-minute but this is easy. I think you end up spending $15 or $20 for the smallest card Sams sells.

This is SO true. But prepare a cheatsheat with EACH COUNTRY'S ACCESS NUMBER and the card's numbers (1-800 and then the PIN) for the user. Send 2 or 3 copies in case the first one is displaced or goes through the laundry.

In France, for example, I use my Sam's Club AT&T card as follows:

From a pay phone on the street (there are many), I dial:

(no coin is needed in France, but IS often required in other countries)
0800-99-00-11 (AT&T's FRANCE access number)
at prompt, dial:
1-800-803-7806 (MY card's US access number)
at prompt, dial the prepaid PIN:
nnnn-nnnn-nnnn
at prompt, dial the desired number:
1-nnn-nnn-nnnn


From my hotel room, I dial:

00800-99-00-11 (AT&T's FRANCE access number with a preceeding 0 for outside line access)
at prompt, dial:
1-800-803-7806 (MY card's US access number)
at prompt, dial the prepaid PIN:
nnnn-nnnn-nnnn
at prompt, dial the desired number:
1-nnn-nnn-nnnn

Many hotels allow this toll-free number for FREE! Still others charge steeply for it and still others BLOCK the number! But the payphones always work for me.

Note that calls FROM France to the USA cost 7 units per minute (~US$0.21 per minute).

There are different prepaid phone card services available, but the one I personally use is Onesuite. The main reason I use them is that they have local access numbers. Each company has a few different countires they cover, but here's the one for One Suite. There are others that have been mentioned by FT.

OneSuite Access numbers (http://onesuite.com/access_international.asp)

Please note- I have no affiliation with this company except as a client.

Anyone know what the cost per minute is on ATT calling card calls from Western Europe to the USA?

Anyone know what the cost per minute is on ATT calling card calls from Western Europe to the USA?

I assume that you mean the AT&T PREPAID card from Sam's Club. If you mean AT&T with a Visa card or even collect, it could be US$5-8 just for the first minute!

Each country has a different rate. Call the customer service number on the AT&T card for a quote from each country.

Regarding calls from France, I posted, "calls FROM France to the USA cost 7 units per minute (~US$0.21 per minute)."

Germany and Austria are US$0.24 per minute.
Italy is US$0.27 per minute.

BTW, a straight call without a prepaid card from a hotel phone might cost US$20-50 for a 10 minute call!

What's the difference between an ATT calling card from Sam's Club vs. the one you can get at WalMart?

What's the difference between an ATT calling card from Sam's Club vs. the one you can get at WalMart?

I know for a fact that the per unit pricing is less at Sam's Club.

I do not know if they both use the same number of units per international minute.

I like nobelcom.com for calling cards when I'm out of the country. I use onesuite for all my home long distance, and find them very reliable, never used them for international calls though to the states, that's a fairly new thing for them.

No matter what you choose, make sure to weigh the entire cost. A higher per minute rate may be a better choice if the lower one has all kinds of weird fees and restrictions.

What's the difference between an ATT calling card from Sam's Club vs. the one you can get at WalMart?

The card from Sam's (or the MCI card from Costco that I have) are about 3 cents a minute for domestic. If you look at the cards at Walmart, or any other retail outlet, the domestic minutes are going to be higher. A card for 500 domestic minutes on the Walmart web site works out to 6 cents a domestic minute, so twice the price of the Costco or Sam's phone card.

My advice for people who making calls from US or Canada I use well known company Tel3Advantage (http://www.telthreeadvantage.com) No fee,tax,PIN. Bonus ^

Can anyone confirm this is still the number you call while in France?

This is SO true. But prepare a cheatsheat with EACH COUNTRY'S ACCESS NUMBER and the card's numbers (1-800 and then the PIN) for the user. Send 2 or 3 copies in case the first one is displaced or goes through the laundry.

In France, for example, I use my Sam's Club AT&T card as follows:

From a pay phone on the street (there are many), I dial:

(no coin is needed in France, but IS often required in other countries)
0800-99-00-11 (AT&T's FRANCE access number)
at prompt, dial:
1-800-803-7806 (MY card's US access number)
at prompt, dial the prepaid PIN:
nnnn-nnnn-nnnn
at prompt, dial the desired number:
1-nnn-nnn-nnnn


From my hotel room, I dial:

00800-99-00-11 (AT&T's FRANCE access number with a preceeding 0 for outside line access)
at prompt, dial:
1-800-803-7806 (MY card's US access number)
at prompt, dial the prepaid PIN:
nnnn-nnnn-nnnn
at prompt, dial the desired number:
1-nnn-nnn-nnnn

Many hotels allow this toll-free number for FREE! Still others charge steeply for it and still others BLOCK the number! But the payphones always work for me.

Note that calls FROM France to the USA cost 7 units per minute (~US$0.21 per minute).

Yes, all the numbers across the world are available on this page

http://www.usa.att.com/traveler/index.jsp

These numbers are also handy if you need to call your credit card company collect while abroad (usually because they blocked your card :mad:). It's much easier than dealing with a foreign operator.