Can you tell me if I can purchase a calling card here in the USA for the purpose of calling the USA from Europe in case of emergency.
We were out of the country on 911 and had no way to call home.
Can you tell me if I can purchase a calling card here in the USA for the purpose of calling the USA from Europe in case of emergency.
We were out of the country on 911 and had no way to call home. Our hotel could not get me the country codes needed. We were in Ukraine (Crimea,specifically). I had an MCI International calling card and could not use it. Can not call MCI from Ukraine which I did not know then. We will be in the Baltics this trip and I want to be prepared. CAn you give me a simple card to use?
Buy one there when you get there. That way, it should work. You can buy them for 5 or 10 dollars. It costs more per minute that way, but if all you want is to check in once in a while, they work fine. Otherwise, I would reccomend using an internet shop and email everyone. Look in your local phone book and write down the country codes you will need and take them with you. John B.
We have bought a phone card in almost every country we have been in. They cost about 5 Euros for about 200 minutes, but since we call home at least once a week, it is a good deal for us. Much cheaper than using our cell phone, which we had "changed" to work in Europe. And indispensable if you have a problem and need to call your bank or other US numbers.
Some cards even have English instructions. Be sure, like John says, to know your country codes.
Dont waist money on a phone card they have calling centers all over europe it is very cheap and convient to call to the states. If your going to get a phone card you can get a at&T one that is international from your hotel room just dial 800 callatt and you will be able to call home but trust me on the calling centers.
Definitely buy a phone card once you arrive in your country of destination. Rates to the U.S. from most of Europe are now less than 1 cent a minute using a local card, whereas most of the American cards advertise rates of 20 or 30 cents a minutes as though that were a bargain!
Kerouac: I'm going to Pisa/Livorno for several weeks and I want to know what the name of the phone card is you are talking about (any particular brand) - or is it a generic European phone card - hopefully in English where I can understand it. I'll need to buy one when I get there.
Most every tobacco / tabacchi shop and newsstand in Italy will sell them to you, they are very common. On the Italian Frommer's board there were some mentions of actual brand names a while back if you wish to go digging a bit.
After 9 11 all phone lines between Europe and the USA were busy. I was waiting for days.
Like Michael #6 says, cards are widely available across Europe. Checkout a recommended Brand as some have awful quality due to the audio being "compressed". (like a bad MP3)
Check the cost of Hotel phone lines are they are usually very expensive- even with your card.
The country code for USA is 001
Unless its Urgent try sending emails from an Internet "Cafe"- they are commonplace across Europe and cost a few dollars for 15 minutes.
Actually, the country code for the US, Canada and a lot of the Caribbean is "1". "00" is the universal international access code in the EU (a most of the world).
I will be traveling in Spain and would like to know what specific vendor phone cards I should look for to make calls to the USA as well as within Spain. Is Telefonica the only option? Does anyone have any thoughful recommendations?
Patrick, you will probably get more responses to your question if you post a new thread in the Spain forum. You are piggybacking here on a very old thread.
