Buying International Prepaid Calling Cards

You can buy calling cards in the country you'll be visiting to make international calls while traveling, or you can buy international calling cards before you leave home. Two types of international calling cards exist -- prepaid or billed monthly. With most carriers, you'll simply call a toll-free number to connect. Calling cards are a good solution for emergencies, but check out carriers carefully -- Telestial charges seventeen cents per minute for an Australia-US call using a prepaid card; AT&T's rate is 10 cents per minute for the same call house-to-house, but twenty eight cents per minute to a mobile phone (2008 rates).

• Prepaid phone card advantages:
  • You'll never run out of minutes.

  • You may use cards on a public payphone.

• Disadvantages:
  • You'll probably pay a monthly fee (anywhere from $1USD to $5USD).

  • Surcharges may apply when using a public payphone.

  • Paying the bill when far from home may be difficult unless someone back home will pay it for you (some carriers will allow you to bill it to a credit card, however).

Prepaid phone card resources:

• www.telestial.com 1-858-274-2686
  
• www.usa.att.com - 1-800-222-0300

Please go on to the next page to learn why your cell phone is so expensive to use overseas, and how to avoid that with an unlocked GSM phone and SIM card.

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