Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
As my son is about to leave for 8 weeks in London, this thread has been very helpful. I found this page about ATT calling cards (which you can get from Target also). This page gives you the phone number to dial from abroad to use your ATT card to pay http://www.usa.att.com/traveler/index.jsp Sue To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
Hi! My husband I are planning a short trip overseas next month ... to Germany or perhaps to Switzerland. In any event, it is important for me to have a telephone calling card that will let me call my elderly father to check on him while I am away. When my husband worked in either Italy or Germany a few years ago, he had purchased a calling card but he was unable to use it in pay phones or with his hotel room phone. Does anyone know of a calling card I could purchase that would allow me to call the US from a pay phone or hotel room phone in Germany or Switzerland? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Blessings, Shirlee To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
When I travel now, I call the provider for my cell phone, which is compatible with European technology, and have them put on a international package for the duration of the visit. As I recall it was quite cheap, $5 or $10 dollars. The calls were more expensive, possibly $1.99/minute to the US, less within Europe. (Memory is poor for the exact details.) But actually, you don't tend to make many phone calls because you don't have to keep calling home to find out if something bad is happening, since they can call you when something bad is happening. Before I had this phone, when I rented a car overseas from Auto Europe, they offered cell phone rental as well. The rental of the phone itself was negligible, as I recall, practically a give away. The calls were priced similarly to the cost of calls that I am now able to make and receive on my own cell phone. The odd thing was that the phone was sent to you in the mail before you left, then you sent it back when you returned, and its pricing was conducted as though in England. So, if you were in Germany and calling with in Germany, it was priced as though you were calling England to Germany. At the time, I had investigated some other companies that provided cell phones for rent and they all operated as though out of England, and mailed the phone. My theory that you could rent a phone at the airport when you arrived in Europe did not pan out. There seemed to be no alternative to having it sent to you before the trip. This was a few years ago, of course. The advantages I see from renting a phone, or getting the international package, is that people in the US can call you easily. (In fact I received a phone call, while touring the Beguinage in Bruges from my hamster's veternarian, who was boarding her, to tell me that the hamster had developed persistant head tilt and that they had changed her medication.) Also, when you are circling a walled city with no idea how to find your hotel within the walled city, you can call the hotel and they can direct you. If you are traveling with other people, you can use it to meet up, after separating. I got the international package on my phone and my daughter's phone, which is actually one service plan, and then she was able to go off to flea markets while her father and I toured museums, knowing we would be able to contact each other. Don't know if any of this is helpful. Devon **Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut000507) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
Devon ... I actually checked with my cell phone provider regarding making calls from Europe to the US. I was told in no uncertain terms that it is not possible for me to do so that if I even tried to make such a call then my service with them would be immediately cancelled. I was quite taken aback as you can imagine. That is why I'm looking into telephone calling cards. My father, who is 90 years old, suffers from a variety of ailments including slight dementia. It is important for him to stick to a routine. I have been calling him every day at 4:00 p.m. for the past 3 years. It would cause him immense anxiety to not get his phone call each day. My husband had received a rented cell phone while he was in Italy but it was all in Italian which was of no help to him whatsoever. I actually had to call him at a prearranged time each day in order to talk with him. I have found some companies offering phone cards for sale on the internet which indicate they can be used for calling from Europe to the US. However, along with these search engine results I also received warnings about purchasing calling cards from companies who may not be on the up up. And again, my husband purchased a calling card while working in either Italy or Germany was unable to use it at pay phones or his hotel phone. I am just hoping that someone can tell me this card will work anywhere then my problems will be solved : ) Blessings, Shirlee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When I travel now, I call the provider for my cell phone, which is compatible with European technology, and have them put on a international package for the duration of the visit. As I recall it was quite cheap, $5 or $10 dollars. The calls were more expensive, possibly $1.99/minute to the US, less within Europe. (Memory is poor for the exact details.) But actually, you don't tend to make many phone calls because you don't have to keep calling home to find out if something bad is happening, since they can call you when something bad is happening. Before I had this phone, when I rented a car overseas from Auto Europe, they offered cell phone rental as well. The rental of the phone itself was negligible, as I recall, practically a give away. The calls were priced similarly to the cost of calls that I am now able to make and receive on my own cell phone. The odd thing was that the phone was sent to you in the mail before you left, then you sent it back when you returned, and its pricing was conducted as though in England. So, if you were in Germany and calling with in Germany, it was priced as though you were calling England to Germany. At the time, I had investigated some other companies that provided cell phones for rent and they all operated as though out of England, and mailed the phone. My theory that you could rent a phone at the airport when you arrived in Europe did not pan out. There seemed to be no alternative to having it sent to you before the trip. This was a few years ago, of course. The advantages I see from renting a phone, or getting the international package, is that people in the US can call you easily. (In fact I received a phone call, while touring the Beguinage in Bruges from my hamster's veternarian, who was boarding her, to tell me that the hamster had developed persistant head tilt and that they had changed her medication.) Also, when you are circling a walled city with no idea how to find your hotel within the walled city, you can call the hotel and they can direct you. If you are traveling with other people, you can use it to meet up, after separating. I got the international package on my phone and my daughter's phone, which is actually one service plan, and then she was able to go off to flea markets while her father and I toured museums, knowing we would be able to contact each other. Don't know if any of this is helpful. Devon - Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
For what its worth, my phone is one from ATT wireless and they have been more than happy to sell me European compatible phones and to reap profit from international calls. If I did not put on the international package, my phone would simply not be able to call the US, so there is no need to threaten a loss of service by my provider if I try to call from Europe. I have found that when setting up the service, it is sometimes necessary to speak to different people at ATT since some of them may hide their ignorance by denying that what you want is possible. Also, different descriptions of the billing by different persons is not unusual. Sometimes, too, there seems to be a prejudice on the part of the persons with whom you are speaking, to the effect that they think you are trying to rip them off, rather than legitimately buy a service, and it may take some patience to get to someone sophisticated enough on their side to set up the service. Most of the people I spoke to at ATT admitted they had never traveled outside the country, and never considered the question before, and were quick to tell me that my phone wouldn't work there, as though the conversation could be terminated with that bit of information. But, a long patient talk with them would bring out a supervisor or someone who handled overseas communication. . I never had any trouble with the rental phone acquired in the US and designed specifically to provide service for Americans traveling abroad. Maybe there is a reason why they run it through England, unlike the Italian rental phone. As for the phone cards, I don' t know. I have never had particularly good luck with them, myself, because, even if not fraudulent, you are trying to follow instructions on a foreign phone written in another language. Typically, I come home with virtually all my minutes on the card and it is then useless. Meanwhile, I have had to have the hotel place my calls which is especially expensive. I know we used to have a telephone calling card through our home phone which allowed you to call into a particular number and then place calls that way, but this is going back about 20 years. Good luck with the phone card, hopefully someone more clever than myself can give you the answer you seek. Devon **Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut000507) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
Devon ... This is the most confusing thing I have ever had to deal with. My phone does indeed sell an overseas package but it is for calling from here to overseas, not the other way around. I felt like I was going to have the CIA monitoring me after receiving the response I did from the phone company regarding making calls from Europe to the US! Someone has mentioned unlocked cell phones so I will look into that. I did have a phone card when I visited my husband in Germany two years ago had no problems using it. However, we were staying in someone's home at the time so I used their private line didn't have to worry about hotel or pay phones. Anyway, thank you again for your help your thoughts. Blessings, Shirlee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For what its worth, my phone is one from ATT wireless and they have been more than happy to sell me European compatible phones and to reap profit from international calls. If I did not put on the international package, my phone would simply not be able to call the US, so there is no need to threaten a loss of service by my provider if I try to call from Europe. I have found that when setting up the service, it is sometimes necessary to speak to different people at ATT since some of them may hide their ignorance by denying that what you want is possible. Also, different descriptions of the billing by different persons is not unusual. Sometimes, too, there seems to be a prejudice on the part of the persons with whom you are speaking, to the effect that they think you are trying to rip them off, rather than legitimately buy a service, and it may take some patience to get to someone sophisticated enough on their side to set up the service. Most of the people I spoke to at ATT admitted they had never traveled outside the country, and never considered the question before, and were quick to tell me that my phone wouldn't work there, as though the conversation could be terminated with that bit of information. But, a long patient talk with them would bring out a supervisor or someone who handled overseas communication. . I never had any trouble with the rental phone acquired in the US and designed specifically to provide service for Americans traveling abroad. Maybe there is a reason why they run it through England, unlike the Italian rental phone. As for the phone cards, I don' t know. I have never had particularly good luck with them, myself, because, even if not fraudulent, you are trying to follow instructions on a foreign phone written in another language. Typically, I come home with virtually all my minutes on the card and it is then useless. Meanwhile, I have had to have the hotel place my calls which is especially expensive. I know we used to have a telephone calling card through our home phone which allowed you to call into a particular number and then place calls that way, but this is going back about 20 years. Good luck with the phone card, hopefully someone more clever than myself can give you the answer you seek. Devon - Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
Hello all, I was not able to use my telephone calling cards in Europe, and it's true that pay phones are not readily available over there, where I visited. Have you considered possibly using Skype?? If you have a laptop or access to a computer, and one of those Skype-compatible phones, you can make international calls for around 2 cents a minute. You would need a voltage adaptor if you take your laptop with you. The sound quality is not bad, though it is not as good as a regular phone. Just a thought - Best wishes, Ricki in Utah To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace-chat] European Telephone Calling Cards
My DH travels a lot. he has an ATT phone card available anywhere in the states. He got his from Walmart. He used that to phone home. His is for 1000 minutes in the US but overseas it uses up more minutes, it would be worth 100 minutes but you can add to it at anytime with a credit card in the US, not overseas. What you have to do is call ATT for the access code to call the US from the country you are going to be in before you leavem so that you can use it to call home. You cannot use 800 numbers outside the US. Janice Shirlee Hill [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Devon ... This is the most confusing thing I have ever had to deal with. My phone does indeed sell an overseas package but it is for calling from here to overseas, not the other way around. I felt like I was going to have the CIA monitoring me after receiving the response I did from the phone company regarding making calls from Europe to the US! Someone has mentioned unlocked cell phones so I will look into that. I did have a phone card when I visited my husband in Germany two years ago had no problems using it. However, we were staying in someone's home at the time so I used their private line didn't have to worry about hotel or pay phones. Anyway, thank you again for your help your thoughts. Blessings, Shirlee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For what its worth, my phone is one from ATT wireless and they have been more than happy to sell me European compatible phones and to reap profit from international calls. If I did not put on the international package, my phone would simply not be able to call the US, so there is no need to threaten a loss of service by my provider if I try to call from Europe. I have found that when setting up the service, it is sometimes necessary to speak to different people at ATT since some of them may hide their ignorance by denying that what you want is possible. Also, different descriptions of the billing by different persons is not unusual. Sometimes, too, there seems to be a prejudice on the part of the persons with whom you are speaking, to the effect that they think you are trying to rip them off, rather than legitimately buy a service, and it may take some patience to get to someone sophisticated enough on their side to set up the service. Most of the people I spoke to at ATT admitted they had never traveled outside the country, and never considered the question before, and were quick to tell me that my phone wouldn't work there, as though the conversation could be terminated with that bit of information. But, a long patient talk with them would bring out a supervisor or someone who handled overseas communication. . I never had any trouble with the rental phone acquired in the US and designed specifically to provide service for Americans traveling abroad. Maybe there is a reason why they run it through England, unlike the Italian rental phone. As for the phone cards, I don' t know. I have never had particularly good luck with them, myself, because, even if not fraudulent, you are trying to follow instructions on a foreign phone written in another language. Typically, I come home with virtually all my minutes on the card and it is then useless. Meanwhile, I have had to have the hotel place my calls which is especially expensive. I know we used to have a telephone calling card through our home phone which allowed you to call into a particular number and then place calls that way, but this is going back about 20 years. Good luck with the phone card, hopefully someone more clever than myself can give you the answer you seek. Devon - Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Janice Blair Crystal Lake, 50 miles northwest of Chicago, Illinois, USA www.jblace.com http://www.lacemakersofillinois.org/ www.landoflincolnlacemakers.com Check for class spaces, many are full. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
