Calling Home for a Few Quid

Starting a new life in a foreign country is never easy. You'll face difficulties for sure. But don't pay thousands of pounds for an encouraging word. Find the cheapest call rates.

Obviously, there isn't a universal phone card that would suite all of us. The call rate depends on the country you wish to call, but I will try to show you how to find the best solution by sharing my experience.

I made the mistake of applying for a job without any English recommendation letters. (I wasn't used to the importance of references.) Fortunately, I still got the job on the condition that I will hand in my reference list within a couple of days. So I had to make a few calls real quick. But I simply couldn't afford to pay a fortune for these calls. And I thought, thank God for Skype. It is FREE. I was so proud of myself that I managed to work this out but then I realized … Oh, b****y hell, I don't know my ex-boss' skype ID. So I had to come up with something else. I surfed a bit on the internet and my conclusion was that the lowest cost calls can be made with international calling cards. But before I could have pat myself on shoulder I noticed that I have to be very careful when choosing a calling card because there are several pitfalls.

First of all, as I have said, the calling rates depend on which country you plan to call AND the network you are calling from AND you'd better read the small print as well to avoid surcharges.

My favourite site where you can check all these information is Digi Calling Cards. Here, after choosing the destination,

you see a list with the recommended calling cards (with the best rates) but the list is quite comprehensive including all the available cards in case you want to double check that the recommended one is the most suitable for your needs.

I'd advice to check all of them because the numbers can be deceiving. For instance here:

'LOCAL' means – if you are calling from London you will have 2000 minutes for £5 but only 909 minutes if you call the 'FREE' access number.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that service providers can change the rates without notice. So, it is a good idea to call the provided card customer service number before you make the first call – or even before buying the card. This way you can also double check, if it matters from which network you call or not and when the card expires.

Another extra on this site is the live online support. I like to double check everything but sometimes you are in a hurry and then a little guidance is more than welcomed. ;)

How about you? Are you also using a calling card to phone your friends and family?