Prepaid calling cards
 

Any recommendations for prepaid calling cards? I intend to make a modest number of domestic long distance calls from Chicago and DC hotels during the month of June. Rates for my cellphone would be too high.

The prepaid cards from Costco or WalMart have good rates. If I'm remembering correctly, the Costco one (MCI prepaid card) is 2.9 cents per minute for domestic long distance. I also noticed that Costco is now carrying an international prepaid card with rates like 6 cents per minute to Italy as an example. There is a slight charge for using the cards with a payphone 20+ cents, but no charge with land lines.

TF :cool:

One word, onesuite.

I've been using them for two years or more now, putting in the $10 every six months. That's been my total long distance costs since I've been using them. Incredibly inexpensive, charge them online, speed dials, etc. Never had a problem.

two point five cents per minute if accessed with a local number, two point nine if using a toll free. They have international to some countries for even less then that.

Definitely
 

Definitely Onesuite. Have been extremely happy. I use it as my primary service from my home phone. Well worth it.

If you have Vonage VOIP service, you can access it from hotels and other places with boradband connections through your laptop.

The only downsides with Onesuite are that the money expires if not used in 6 months, and they do not accept American Express. But overall, it has been excellent. There is a connection fee if you call from a payphone, but that's fairly standard.

Thanks for the info on onesuite! Looks like what I want!

one word one suite
 

Normally, I would say onesuite, I have used them for five years now, love it, and love the features and pricess. Especially calling to europe and domestic,

BUt, but

lately, the voice quality has been very very poor. Sometimes this has happened in the past, but it only lasted for a call, or a day. Lately, it has been every call and every day.

I've been using www.bigzoo.com for a few years now, and have been very happy. It's only 2.9 cents when using a local number. And there are local numbers all over the US, so it's a very good deal.

Oh, well, I've been using Net2phone but this morning, something is very wrong with their network - conversations seem truncated, making it impossible to use the service - at least today.

Need an alternative and it seems for what I do, BigZoo is the second one I'm giving a try.

Apparently there's a field for referrals - if anyone cares to inform whatever I might need to place on this field - then apparently you get some advantage... ;)

iconnecthere.com
 

www.iconnecthere.com. I've used this for both PC to phone calling, and phone card calling. They have an 800 number in the US, and local access in a couple of dozen countries. I've used them in England, Scotland, and Hong Kong, and regularly call those countries.

Extremely reliable, good sound quality, no monthly or connect fee, online access to call log, add funds, etc.

Advantages: See above + no taxes.

Disadvantages: Somewhat pricier than others, but note again no monthly fee and no per call charge. Also, no access number in China.

AT&T cards from Sam's Club
 

I'v been using the AT&T prepaid cards from Sam's Club. Rates are always competitive, you can recharge the same card (i.e., the same access #) over and over again. The minutes do not expire, last I checked.

And, in some states, you can but a new card/recharge existing card and pay no taxes. Considering that hard wired telecomunications services are severly taxed (Feds, State, and local, ... they're running out of names to use for the the taxes levied on these services), this is a huge plus, (a protest vote).

Calling Cards Home seems to be the best site that I found so far, providing calling cards and also long distance services.

They have several features that I like and that you can choose to use:
1) A long distance alternative - Enjoy Prepaid.It has the best rates on the market when calling long distance or worldwide.This is a product with a long series of enhancements: PIN free dialling, over 144 originations if you travel abroad, 24/7 customer service via phonecall or email support and many more. If you are interested, please check Enjoy Prepaid .

2) An alternative to Bigzoo - For all the former Bigzoo customers a new product was designed to suit their needs. Check out now the new Bigzoo alternative now!

3) A Best Rates section listing all the low rates offered to almoust every location in the world. Either you are calling your friend next door or across the globe you will find them excellent.

4) Free dialing instructions !

5) A complete and comprehensive FAQ - Calling Cards section that will help you choose the best option for you

Thank you!
Logan Xavier

It's pretty rare I use my Costco/MCI card at payphones, but last time I did the recorded voice said there was a 65 cent surcharge.