What is the best phone card to call from Beijing to the United States?
Jun 8, 2012, 4:50 pm
#2
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Why calling card?
I have used China Telecom's Long Distance Card which gives you good minutes at a reasonable per minute price but in this day and age, why not use Skype? Google Talk? MSN? QQ? or a whole slew of other options that would be much more convenient and cheaper.
I do keep my CT LD Card handy in my wallet because if I need to fax something and I am not near my office / hotel, it does come in handy but rarely.
I have used China Telecom's Long Distance Card which gives you good minutes at a reasonable per minute price but in this day and age, why not use Skype? Google Talk? MSN? QQ? or a whole slew of other options that would be much more convenient and cheaper.
I do keep my CT LD Card handy in my wallet because if I need to fax something and I am not near my office / hotel, it does come in handy but rarely.
Jun 8, 2012, 5:00 pm
#3
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As Taiwaned says, no need for a calling card. Skype and Google have free or near-free solutions, depending on who you're calling; a month of unlimited calls to US numbers on Skype is $2.99, for instance.
If you don't want to use a computer-based solution, China Mobile's 12593 or China Unicom's equivalent service both offer very low rates for calls to the US (around 0.5 RMB, or $0.07 per minute). You can pick up a SIM card for either service nearly anywhere and just pop it into any unlocked phone.
If you don't want to use a computer-based solution, China Mobile's 12593 or China Unicom's equivalent service both offer very low rates for calls to the US (around 0.5 RMB, or $0.07 per minute). You can pick up a SIM card for either service nearly anywhere and just pop it into any unlocked phone.
Last edited by Scifience; Jun 8, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Jun 9, 2012, 3:04 am
#5
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I thought paid skype calls were blocked unless you had access to a VPN? (I thought I read that somewhere?) Free skype calls were fine at least for me in March (calling toll free numbers in the USA for example).
But I agree with the cheap calling prices through china mobile. I was paying RMB1 per minute to AU.
But I agree with the cheap calling prices through china mobile. I was paying RMB1 per minute to AU.
Jun 9, 2012, 5:31 am
#6
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I thought paid skype calls were blocked unless you had access to a VPN? (I thought I read that somewhere?) Free skype calls were fine at least for me in March (calling toll free numbers in the USA for example).
But I agree with the cheap calling prices through china mobile. I was paying RMB1 per minute to AU.
But I agree with the cheap calling prices through china mobile. I was paying RMB1 per minute to AU.
If you don't want to faff with calling numbers etc, some sim cards are specifically tailored at the call overseas market, and are incredibly inexpensive to most countries. Usually, sim card sellers at the newstands preferentially sell these to foreigners (i.e. they assume that's what you want/need).
tb
Jun 9, 2012, 4:27 pm
#7
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You don't need vpn for skype, but best to download the programme before entering PRC.
If you don't want to faff with calling numbers etc, some sim cards are specifically tailored at the call overseas market, and are incredibly inexpensive to most countries. Usually, sim card sellers at the newstands preferentially sell these to foreigners (i.e. they assume that's what you want/need).
tb
If you don't want to faff with calling numbers etc, some sim cards are specifically tailored at the call overseas market, and are incredibly inexpensive to most countries. Usually, sim card sellers at the newstands preferentially sell these to foreigners (i.e. they assume that's what you want/need).
tb
China Mobile sim doesn't require any fussing arund. You have to 'register' to make international calls (and there is a charge per month for that), but once you have it you just direct dial. I got mine at the airport on arrival from a small customer service stand.
Jun 9, 2012, 6:38 pm
#8
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Jun 9, 2012, 10:10 pm
#9
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I would jump back and forth between Skype and GC to whatever quality was better.
Jun 10, 2012, 8:03 am
#10
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I think we're splitting hairs here. The fact of the matter is that GV (and, whatever other Google products are essentially the same animal) permit free calls to the US from anywhere in the world. I'm not sure how it works wrt to receiving calls, though I'm guessing this is what you were getting at.
Jun 10, 2012, 5:35 pm
#11
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I think we're splitting hairs here. The fact of the matter is that GV (and, whatever other Google products are essentially the same animal) permit free calls to the US from anywhere in the world. I'm not sure how it works wrt to receiving calls, though I'm guessing this is what you were getting at.
Jun 10, 2012, 8:53 pm
#12
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Jun 10, 2012, 10:00 pm
#13
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