I've got a Sprint PCS phone and its fine for voice calls, but I'd have to buy that special data connection kit for data calls and pay extra (since I was told data calls don't come out of my voice allotment)..

My other question is -- do data calls over cell phones have the same quality as landline phones? IE can I get a high speed (40kbps or better) connection over a cell phone?

Unless they have changed very recently, data calls on sprint are limited to 14.4 and I beleive cost .39 per minute.

If speed is an issue, then you should probably look into a service like rochocet or something.

I love my PCS phone - use it on the road all the time for both free LD and Wireless Web. WW is very limited...small amounts of text at a slow rate...but it's better than nothing. I've never attempted to hook it to my laptop with the data kit, but I've heard that it's somewhat slow.

Outrageous phone charges are one of the many reasons I left Marriott in favor of HHonors (gross Courtyards and massive amounts of HHonors points were among the others).

Unfortunately, HHonors hotels aren't consistent with their phone policies across the group or even within individual brands either. I can live with 60-minute toll-free calls (I just set an auto-disconnect on 59 minutes through my modem, then redial). Only frustrating thing is that different properties actually charge toll on local calls, and you never know what the rate will be. You have to ask up front.

Also - as strange as it sounds - the lower-end HHonors properties (Hampton, Doubletree) sometimes give you FREE local calls, whereas the high-end places where you are already dropping a couple bills a night in room rate NEVER give you free local calls.

All "unexpected" charges greatly offend me. Resort fees and energy surcharges are the worst. Last time I checked, electricity came with the room rate.

Newbie to FT here, be gentle. I'm going to DTW 6/29-7/1 for a conf and will be staying at the Marriott Renaissance Center Downtown. How much is a cab ride from DTW to my location? Does anybody have exp with this property? Are they really renovating? In addition, does anybody have any upgrades available? I have a Starwood 50% off cert to trade.

Thx,

Glynn

[This message has been edited by mr1hotrod (edited 06-21-2001).]

The data minutes come out of your regular voice minutes allotment if you turn on a $10/month option for that purpose -- I forget what that option is called.

When I connect, it shows my connect speed as 19.2Kbps, which probably means an actual connect speed of about 14.4Kbps. This may be slow to some, but I remember the days of 300bps modems, so 19.2K ain't so bad. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Another nice thing about using Sprint PCS for your dialup is that if you have a local (non-national) ISP, you can call them from anywhere in PCS land without incurring long distance charges.

Pitflyer, yup, you have to shell out for the data connection kit, about $3 worth of wire sold for $50. If you're technically inclined (I am not), lots of folks on Usenet can tell you how to make your own and save the $50. By the way, the "software" that comes with the data connection kit is worthless -- just tell your computer you have a "standard 19.2K modem."

If you want high-speed connections, try Ricochet, www.ricochet.net. Only works in select markets (and many airports), and like $75/month, but goes 128Kbps, unlimited minutes. I used to have this service, and was pretty satisfied with it.

I've been using prepaid phonecards for about six years - and now use them excusively. I don't even use long distance on my home telephone - except that I do switch carriers every 6 months to get the miles. Anyway, The Costco and Sam's Club cards CANNOT be beat. At approx. 4.2 cents a minute, with NO
surcharge, rounding and monthly fees, a one minute call is really 4 cents. As for payphone, an FCC rule that went into effect a couple of years ago allows prepaid phonecards to charge a surcharge. The surcharge is usually about 25 cents (Sam's Club and Costco) - but the onesuite.com payphone surcharge is 55 cents. I use onesuite.com (2.9 cents/minute) from home or from a non-payphone and the Sam's Club/Costco cards from a payphone.

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TucsonSam

Stayed at the Orlando Doubletree Castle and they had a $2.00 a day room charge for unlimited local calls and 800 numbers. Also for the room safe, which was pretty neat.

There was another thread here about a month ago where ex VoiceNet customers talked about the best alternatives. If you liked VoiceNet, you'll like TTI National. TTI is 0.13 a minute instead of 0.19 as it was with VoiceNet. And it is conveniently billed to your credit card every month. And there are no hidden fees.

Of course, 0.13 a minute doesn't come close to PrePaid deals, but I prefer calling cards since you don't have to worry about hidden fees, expiration dates, buying more minutes than you're going to use, buying enough minutes for your next call, etc.

Check the thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/004562.html to see the discussion of former Voicenet users, with links to TTI.


[This message has been edited by anthonyanthony (edited 07-01-2001).]

Stayed at the Westchester Marriott this week. They charged $1 per 800 call for terrible line conditions and a fast 14.4k connection.

I left a note with the manager saying I won't be back ... I paid nearly a $1000 for my room ovr the week an I do not appreciate being nickel and dimed.

I got hit with this phone charge during a stay last week at the Fremont Marriott (Bay Area). I contacted Marriott Customer Service and was informed that effective 6/11 the policy at ALL Marriott Properties was that the first 20 minutes of a toll-free call is free and each minute thereafter is 10-cents per minute.

My need for 800 calls from hotels is not for online access. It is to call home, my answering service, clients, etc. The tti national calling card is a good alternative to voicenet. It was cheaper and to eveyrone who has one, make sure you ask for their cheapest rate.(call customer service at 800-893-5094) You can also get a toll free number attached to any number - home, office at no monthly fee. The Sam's club card is great and I use whenever there is no charge for toll free numbers, even from home. It does NOT expire and get be renewed by phone by charging to a Diners Club card and all other CC for 200 minutes for $8.32. Can't be beat for in US calls. They charge 6 unites from a payphone. I just called Marriot Courtyard because I am staying in one in Foster City, CA. If you are a courtyeard member (I will join when I am done with this) there is no charge for local calls (otherwise 50 cents) and they do not charge for toll free numbers. I would suggest calling a hotel BEFORE you show up to know if you want to stay in a particular hotel, but certainly AT LEAST at check-in. I always do, because I don't like surprises. I had some of my toll free numbers (to home and office) with a company that didn't charge the payphone charge, but they just notified my that they are going out of business as of the end of July so I will have to move them to tti -I think their payphone charge is 26 cents.

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DtG

FWIW, Courtyard Club does no longer exist. Also, see this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum63/HTML/000869.html

I can only vouch for the Motel 6 in Albany NY but I feel it's a great value. This particular one is clean, inexpensive ($50 when the others are $70 to $200 in the same area), decent counter workspace (room for a laptop and printer at the same time) instead of a small desk that barely fits a laptop and free local calls when only a few others in town, of over 30 hotels, have free local calls. Just looking from the outside the Motel 6 looks better than the Quality Inn across the street that's $30 a night higher.

It's not as well decorated or extravagant as a Hilton or Sheraton but I haven't seen a roach yet (maybe they need to put a few plastic ones out to continue the legend) or even found anything fault with the rooms.

Yes, when I called again I found out that the courtyard club no longer exists and you need to be "gold" I think to have local calls waived. But they do NOT charge for toll free numbers - I'll just use my Sam;s club calling card and asked to be called back if they call will be of any length.

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DtG

FWIW, Metricom, the operator of Ricochet, is in bankruptcy. They built out too fast and didn't have the subscribers to support their high fixed costs.

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...093592,00.html