CHEAP ways to make calls
 

im a fan of noblecom.com they have a referral program, im part of it, pm me if youd like.

grb

Anyone tried Skype yet? It's gotten alot of hype with Ebay's recent aquisition of the software, but the price ($0.023/min) is pretty amazing.

Skype is indeed great. But if you (like I) find yourself without a laptop to use calling cards are often a great way to phone abroad, can usually be done from the hotel room as well.

Deleted post was against ToS
 

OP's message was basically a commercial post, which is against FlyerTalk's ToS.

As such, I notified OP and deleted the message.

I feel that the thread may offer good information about communicating while traveling, so I will let the thread stand.

Thanks for your understanding!

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

skype to skype is free and great at 35000 feet

ive never used skype and not real sure what its all about. is it like VoiP? through your computer?

My friend used to find calling cards to Africa dirt cheap... like .10/min...

the OP was probably a commerical post but nonetheless, there are sites where you pay online and they email you the ph# and the access code to use for the CC.

Not sure what sites they would be offhand but different calling cards are better for different regions, ie India, China, AFrica etc.

Exactly.

A friend with Skype called me from the Philippines, and it sounded pretty good on my landline in Texas. I understand those calls actually cost some, though not much, money, while Skype to Skype is supposed to be free.

Of course you have to have the earphone / mike ....

EmailKid

Skype advances
 

I am a fan of Skype for its free PC-PC calls. On the whole, great quality and combined with a camera thru an IM program it's great for calling home. However the need to have a PC has always been a restriction.

Now if you have a PDA with WiFi you can make calls at an increasing number of spots with Skype Zones for a low monthly fee or a one-off charge. So you then have a mobile phone which connects cheaply to another Skype user or at low rates to the regular phone network.

When you don't have the equipment, or when you need to use a payphone:
 

From the UK, I’ve been using www.telediscount.com for a while now (it was recommended to me on FT) to call Japan. I pay the cost of a local call - period. No need to purchase a card. I’ve found that the following number works for most places I’d want to call: 0845 2442442 – I just enter the full number I’m calling (preceeded by 00) and finish off with a # to get connection.

Note:
The website will give you other access numbers to use – but I’m uncomfortable recommending any access numbers that begin with 09 – I have found that the prices advertised in Telediscount for places such as India don’t always match with the prices given for the same premium number in BT’s website.
You can cross check the price of calling any number at: http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/homepage.htm

Bear in mind that mobile companies can charge what they like!

Telediscount beware
 

Although this service offers reasonable rates there' a tiny scam hidden in there. You pay the call charges from the moment you are connected to Telediscount - not the called party. There's also no customer service number for complaints

If you are using the 0845 number for places such as the USA, Japan, Germany etc.. this shouldn't put you off.

It isn't a scam as there is no possible way around this.
You don't pre-pay, you pay for a local call (less than 2p a minute on weekends) and the best thing you can do is dial your number quickly AND PRESS THE # BUTTON IMMEDIATELY - if you get a dodgy line (rare in my experience), hang up and try again.

There are cards where you pre pay and then dial a 'free' 0800 number and only pay from the moment you're connected - but it costs the company 4 to 8p a minute to accept your call and this will be reflected in the prices (look at the small print and most of the fabulous rates advertised are only available to those who connect to a regular telephone number - which is at least the cost of the local call - so you're paying the same as the TeleDiscount number I mantioned PLUS the cost of the card. The prices with 'free' connection will be a lot more).

If they were out to scam their clients, they wouldn't advertise the # facility and get their clients to hold on for longer than they had to before connecting them - I pay for approximately 3 seconds of 'non-use' per call.

As I stressed before, this is a very different matter if you are paying for your call with a premium number. So be careful! And I'm only recommending the 0845 number here.

Please PM me if anyone wants details or help with cheap calls from the UK - I am not affiliated with any company, but I did used to work in this field. And I make lots and lots of calls to Japan and Europe. The 0845 number has saved me hundreds of pounds (thousands if I'd been silly enough to use BT directly).

It's also a great way to call abroad from a British cell phone!

I've used budgetcom and alpha telecom.

Budgetcom is great if you're at home. Calls work out at 1 penny a minute + a 5p connection charge. As it's an 0845 number it's not idea to use it from a payphone as you'll pay about 10p a minute, or a British cellphone where you'll pay about the same.

Alpha telecom has an 0800 number which is great for payphones as (as I recall) still allow free 0800 calls and cellphones if you have a plan with lots of free minutes through it 020 number. The lines are always crystal clear and there is a decent customer service line. With their pre-paid US card it works out at about 3 pence a minute and for the line clarity it's an extra couple of pennie well spent.

I looked through the alphatelecom.com website and couldn't find ANYTHING mentioning 0800 (freephone) access. You either dial 020 (London) or 0845 (local rate) AND THEN pay for the call on top of that.
Why do this when you use the 0845 number I've posted and pay nothing on top of this? It works out at half the price, and there's certainly no connection charge!.
I was using a similar system to AlphaTelecom until someone at FT told me about TD - why not try it first and have AT as a back up?

.Here's the FT thread where I got the advice:

You're right, it might have changed since I last used it, there is no 0800 number. I was using free plan minutes on my cellphone and the using the 3p a minute calling card.

I use budgetcom now anyway, it's a penny a minute from my home landline and the line quality is about good enough.