Pre-Paid Calling Cards

Pre-paid calling cards usually come in denominations of ten, twenty, or even fifty dollars and you use them for international calls until the card value is exhausted. The advantage to this type of card is that it its normally significantly cheaper than the long distance rates you can get at a public phone, hotel, or even your home phone. The are also easy to order and delivered in minutes. However, you should keep the following in mind:

• Most cards carry a connection fee. This is a charge just to make the call. This might be bad if you make frequent, short calls. However, if your calls are long, then you may actually save money with a card that has a connection fee. The per-minute rates on cards with connection fees are usually a lot lower than those without a connection fee.
• Some cards offer a low rate, but may have a five minute minimum connection time. So, even if you talk for only 1 minute, you are still charged for five minutes. Read the small print.
• Billing Increments: This is how the company charges your time. They may round off to the next minute, or may charge in 6-second increments. They may also charge in 3 minute increments. So, if you talk for 4 minutes, you are charged for 6 minutes.
• Most prepaid calling cards expire after a certain period of time. Make sure to check how long a card is good for. If it expires in a month, and you know you will not use the card up in a month, then do not buy it.
• If you ever have a problem with a prepaid card, it is very important that you call the card's customer service number immediately. There is a lot of fraud associated with prepaid cards. Some consumers will use a card up, and then call up the company claiming they never got any minutes. This costs companies a lot of money, so prepaid card companies are very careful about issuing refunds. If you have a problem with a card, your chances of getting credit put back on the card will go up greatly if you call immediately when having a problem. If you have a problem with a card and continue using it, and then call weeks later demanding a refund, you will not get it. If you have a problem and immediately inform customer service of your problem, then you will likely get a credit.
• When you purchase prepaid calling cards online or in a store, you are likely buying them from a reseller of a reseller of a reseller. Keep this in mind if you ever have to speak with customer service.
• There are usually monthly surcharges on cards. Some cards may not even have an expiration date and just rely on these surcharges. For example, if you have a 20 dollar card, and the monthly surcharge is 2 dollars, your card will be used up in 10 months. Again, be careful.
• The Pre-paid Calling Industries biggest secret: Prepaid cards are huge money makers for long distance carriers. Besides the inexpensive billing systems involved, the companies also benefit from an average of 12% throw-away. This is the money left on a card when you throw it away. For example, if you have a card that has a 2 dollar connection charge for each call, and you only have $1.75 remaining on your card, then you can't use the card. And there is nothing you can do except throw it away! If it was a 20 dollar card, the company just made a free $1.75 . There is also a throw-away benefit with cards that do not have a connection fee. If you have a 5-minute minimum talk time, and it is 50 cents/min to call, then you need to have at least $2.50 left on your card to make a call. The only way to avoid "throw away" is to talk on the phone until the end of your card.

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