Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > The Academy > Tilted Life


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 12-03-2006, 11:13 AM   #1 (permalink)
immoral minority
 
ASU2003's Avatar
 
Location: Back in Ohio
Cheap ways to make international phone calls?

After seeing that it would cost $2.49 each minute to use a global phone from Verizon in the country I might be going to, I figure there must be a better way. With the global phone, I could see that someone wanted to call me since my number wouldn't change. But, if I answer, the charges start racking up.

I'm not sure if that $2.49/minute is for every phone call, or just phone calls back to the US. And I'm not sure if a person in the US calls my US phone when I am in a foreign country, will they get charged the $2.49 or will I get charged that because it is my phone that is on the GSM network? How would they know that I'm not in the US if they dial the same number?

Is it possible to buy a cheap prepaid wireless phone and make local calls to a calling card number that has cheap international rates? I guess it is a 1-800 number on the calling card, so it should be toll free for the people in the US that I call. Since it will appear as a 1-800 number on the phone bill instead of a international number.

Last edited by ASU2003; 12-03-2006 at 11:17 AM..
ASU2003 is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 02:30 PM   #2 (permalink)
Getting it.
 
Charlatan's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
I have been buying phone cards. For S$10 I can buy 500 minutes. All you need is a phone.

If you need to use a mobile phone, it is rarely difficult to buy local pay as you go sim cards. The only issue there is that you get a new phone number and the long distance is still expensive (mobile long distance is rarely cheap).
__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
Charlatan is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 07:15 PM   #3 (permalink)
Boy am I horny today
 
absorbentishe's Avatar
 
Location: T O L E D O, Toledo!!
If you can log on to a PC, skype.com is very cheap to call. $10.00 will last quite a while.
absorbentishe is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 07:20 PM   #4 (permalink)
Tilted Cat Head
 
Cynthetiq's Avatar
 
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
If you are here in the USA, look at Phone Gateways like FuturePhone.com

They have free international dialing for the cost of a long distance state to state call. You have free long distance on your cellphone? Great... free International suddenly is there...
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
Cynthetiq is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 07:20 PM   #5 (permalink)
Insane
 
pornclerk's Avatar
 
Location: Ontario, Canada
I go to this website called ID Phone Card. You can buy cheap long distance minutes. Basically you pay with a credit card and the minutes go right to your phone.
__________________
Who wants a twig when you can have the whole tree?
pornclerk is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 09:47 PM   #6 (permalink)
Inspired by the mind's eye.
 
mirevolver's Avatar
 
Location: Between the darkness and the light.
I have T-Mobile, and here's how my international plan goes.
Depending on the country, the rate falls into one of 6 price ranges.

$0.49 (Canada)
$0.99 (most european countries)
$1.49
$1.99
$2.99
$4.99

While in the country, the rate is applied anytime the phone is on an active call (Making a call, recieving a call, checking voicemail). It doesn't matter if the call is to someone in the building next to you, or to someone back in the US, it's the same rate.

T-Mobile does offer a way around that though if you plan on being in the country for an extended period of time. Say I was spending a year in Germany, I could pay $0.99/minute anytime I use my phone, or I could walk into a T-mobile store in Germany and get a SIM card for the local network (either a prepaid one or by signing up for a plan there). Then I would just swap out the US SIM card with the German SIM card and suddenly I have a local German cell phone with a local German number. (You do have to get your phone's release code before leaving the US to do that though.)

I don't know if Verizon phones use SIM cards, or if there is a way you can convert a verizon phone onto a country's local network. You would have to call their customer support to find out.

Otherwise the best thing to do is go into an internet cafe in the country you will be residing in and get an international phone card. And whatever you do, don't use the card on a payphone, I did that once and my 500 minute card lasted 10 minutes.
__________________
Aside from my great plans to become the future dictator of the moon, I have little interest in political discussions.
mirevolver is offline  
Old 12-03-2006, 10:43 PM   #7 (permalink)
Psycho: By Choice
 
dd3953's Avatar
 
Location: dd.land
Quote:
Originally Posted by absorbentishe
If you can log on to a PC, skype.com is very cheap to call. $10.00 will last quite a while.
yeah, i think their calls are like 0.09 a minute or something. and if the person you are calling uses it, then it's free, no matter where they are.
__________________
[Technically, I'm not possible, I'm made of exceptions. ]
dd3953 is offline  
Old 12-04-2006, 03:19 AM   #8 (permalink)
Searching for the perfect brew!
 
Brewmaniac's Avatar
 
With yahoo messenger you can pc to pc free or pc to phone for cheap minutes, I use it with US and $10 pre paid last me months. I'm not much of a phone talker though.

http://voice.yahoo.com/phone_calls.php
__________________
"That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son"
Brewmaniac is offline  
Old 12-16-2006, 09:00 AM   #9 (permalink)
Upright
 
Seconding the Skype option. This is free if the other person is using it, and $10 lasts me two months calling from Korea to Canada. I think it works out to 2 cents US a minute or something.
Mauser is offline  
Old 12-16-2006, 09:13 AM   #10 (permalink)
Addict
 
ktspktsp's Avatar
 
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
I use a service called onesuite.com, you basically buy minutes on the net and then use your phone for the calls. Of course rates vary a lot between different countries.
ktspktsp is offline  
Old 12-17-2006, 01:11 AM   #11 (permalink)
don't ignore this-->
 
bermuDa's Avatar
 
Location: CA
I use msn messenger to chat, talk, and have webcam conversation with folks back home for free. PC to PC calls are free on most services, I believe. Skype-type services that let you call actual phone lines are probably the cheapest services available. But if you both have computers, why pay?
__________________
I am the very model of a moderator gentleman.
bermuDa is offline  
Old 12-17-2006, 01:14 AM   #12 (permalink)
Artist of Life
 
Ch'i's Avatar
 
Buy two 24 oz. chile cans, and a 12,000 mile string.
Ch'i is offline  
Old 12-20-2006, 10:29 AM   #13 (permalink)
Coy, sultry and... naughty!
 
Sharon's Avatar
 
Location: Across the way
I also use Skype and find it both economical and convenient. You can also buy a phone number (say, a US or UK number), so that people in those countries pay a national call charge and you get the calls delivered to your computer. Awesome!
Sharon is offline  
Old 08-06-2008, 12:12 AM   #14 (permalink)
Currently sour but formerly Dlishs
 
dlish's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: Australia/UAE
i have an ISP back home that ive set up an account with. they gave me an IP phone and i brought it back here.

i call back home for 10 cents aussie..... unlimted time restrictions. anyone with an IP phone from that isp i can call for free.

rarely costs me $10 aussie a month incl $7.95 service fee.
__________________
An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy
dlish is offline  
Old 08-07-2008, 02:04 AM   #15 (permalink)
Upright
 
I find Onesuite to be a good alternative to Skype and cheaper too. It's a prepaid phone card and voip service, like best of both worlds. I'm not in the mood for typing long today so just check their website at Cheap Prepaid International Calling Cards and Discount Long Distance Phone Service - OneSuite
Vinrej is offline  
 

Tags
calls, cheap, international, make, phone, ways

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 07:57 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360