How to Choose a Prepaid Phone Card
Prepaid phone cards provide a great way to keep in touch with
loved ones, cheaply and efficiently. They offer the following
benefits:
1. Low, low rates
2. Call from anywhere to anywhere
3. Free sign up
4. Easy to use
5. Use while abroad, on business or on vacation
6. Use from home or office landline
7. Reliability
8. Convenience
Some factors to take into account when choosing a prepaid phone
card are:
Connection Fee. This is also known as a "bong" fee,
because the charge occurs when you hear a "bong" on the line.
It's essentially a hidden charge... an excuse to add an extra
fee over and above the charge per minute. I recommend that you
choose only cards with no connection fee unless you plan
to make very long phone calls and the card has a very low
per-minute rate.
Maintenance Fee. This is another one of those hidden
charges. Some companies charge a daily, weekly, or monthly fee,
for the life of the card, so you could actually use up all of
the time you've paid for without ever making a single phone
call. Unless you plan to use up the time very quickly, avoid
this type of card. However, these cards usually have a very low
per-minute rate, often as low as 1 cent, or even less, so they
can be very cost-effective if you're going to make a lot of
calls in a week or so.
Multiple Minute Rounding Another hidden fee found on some
prepaid phone cards is multiple minute rounding, where the time
of a call is rounded up to the next higher minute or even five
minutes. In the latter case, a call that lasted 5 minutes and
thirty seconds, would be charged as ten minutes. This type of
card should also be avoided unless you plan to make mostly very
long phone calls.
For example, you would still usually save a lot of money on a
call that lasted 65 minutes and 10 seconds, even though you
would be charged for 70 minutes. But you would be charged for 5
minutes on a call that only lasted 30 seconds, so a 60-minute
card would only give you 6 minutes of actual talk time -- even
less if there's a connection fee or maintenance fee -- if you
made 12 30-second calls.
Pay phone surcharge Most, if not all, companies offering
prepaid phone cards have a surcharge, usually about 50 cents, on
every call made from a pay telephone.
Per-minute rates While not normally thought of as a
hidden charge, many prepaid phone cards, especially those
sold at airports and hotels, fail to disclose the per- minute
rate. Although many prepaid phone cards with hidden charges,
such as maintenance fees, connection fees, and minute rounding,
have very low rates, sometimes a penny or less per minute,
prepaid phone cards without hidden fees, often have a rate of 5
to 15 cents a minute.
Prepaid phone cards sold in vending machines at hotels and
airports, however, typically have a per-minute rate of 50 cents
per minute. If you plan to travel and wish to get a prepaid
phone card to use on your trip, be sure to purchase it
before you leave home.
Rechargeability Many prepaid phone cards can be
recharged, meaning that you can add more time after purchase, by
calling a toll-free number or going to a website and giving your
credit/debit card information. The additional time is usually
added instantly.
There are three easy steps in buying a prepaid phone card:
select the best card for your needs, securely order online, and
receive your card online instantly, then make immediate calls
using the prepaid phone card. Prepaid phone cards can be
delivered online, since you don't actually need a physical card
to make phone calls; you just need a toll-free access number and
a PIN number. These are either revealed on the website after you
pay for the card or sent to you via email, usually within
seconds of your purchase.
If you choose the prepaid phone card that's best suited to your
personal needs, you can save a great deal of money.
For more information, visit www.cheapcalls.com.