Steve M

That's a pretty loose term. First of all, you mentioned a "mobile phone call." You're not going to be able to call collect from a mobile phone in most cases, and even if you could, it would not cover the mobile roaming fees and just the international long distance fees (which are typically included in the mobile roaming fee anyway).

For your and any future traveler's reference, in addition to using a landline phone in this situation (such as a payphone or hotel courtesy phone), you should not try to use the local "international operator" but rather something like the AT&T USA Direct phone number. AT&T has a local phone number in almost every country. Look it up on the web before you go, or any hotel front desk just about anywhere should know what it is. You dial it as a local call (or toll free where available, so no coins at a payphone in many cases), and you are connected to an AT&T operator in the US. You tell them you want to call the "for international calls, dial..." number on the back of your Amex card, collect. In many cases, you just do this all from a menu without having to talk to an actual operator, and the Amex numbers are already on file as accepting int'l collect calls. Don't bother dealing with the local "international operator," who may be difficult and may not speak English.

These days, Skype is going to be easier than the above in most cases. But if Skype isn't available, the above would be my fallback.