Phone plans

[Robert S.]

I noticed where somebody mentioned that they keep AT&T as a backup in case there was a need to call China and he did not want to use a phone card at that time. AT&T has an international calling plan that you can subscribe to where your calls will be less than 20 cents per minute. Of course this is a good bit more than using a phone card but it is handy to have this as a backup.

 

MCI has an international calling plan where it is 17 cents per minute to China. The reason I especially like MCI is that they have a feature where China can call you collect for the SAME amount as when you call direct. This has been good for me to know that my wife can call me any time whether she has a phone card or not.

 

[Disclaimer: I do not work for either of these companies and will not receive anything for posting this information. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Do not spill hot coffee in your lap.]

 

This might be too obvious of information to even bother posting but I am hoping it will be useful to some newbies. I ran up a $300 phone bill the first month I came back from China because I did not know about these plans.

[Eric&Yuhui]

MCI has an international calling plan where it is 17 cents per minute to China.  The reason I especially like MCI is that they have a feature where China can call you collect for the SAME amount as when you call direct.

Very true. I have exactly that.

[Guest ttt]

Big Zoo .com costs are 3.9 to 5.9 cents per minute I believe. Very good. Few problems. TT

[manhattanmoon]

I use onesuite.com actually someone posted on Candle a while ago, and the rate is 3.9c/m with exellent quality. I chat with my sweetie for 2 hours for the price of a bigMac meal!

[Calvin]

I too, use onesuite.com. It's by far the best and cheapest of all the calling cards/plans, and you get to see your bill online. You also get free faxing if you use over $20 per month. No minimum charge either.

[Robert S.]

These phone cards are fine. I like www.happycalling.com because the sound quality is just like calling next door.

 

But you have to dial so many numbers to use a phone card and I just want to be sure that no one is ever paying the gigantic amount charged if you do not have one of the international calling plans on your regular long distance provider. Even if you have a phone card sometimes you want to just quickly dial direct.

[Calvin]

Onesuite.com calling plan allows you to set up your phone access on their website so that you only have to press four or five buttons to complete your call to China. For me, three buttons to access my last dial number and one for the phone number. No need to dial the PIN or phone number. Darn, I feel like a salesman for Onesuite.com now!

[danswayne]

I have never ued onesuite, but it sounds very similar to bigzoo.

I know you can set it up so you can skip the pin numbers, and I think you can set up speed dial. Also on bigzoo they have a feature where I can call America from China using the bigzoo card for the same amount as using the toll free number in the states. I have used it a few times, and it worked great, only problem is it hasn't worked too good for a week or two.

Anyway it works like this: I log onto the webpage and cllick on bigtalk, and then I put our cellphone number in the right place, and then I put the number I want to call in the states. One thing you have to make sure you do though is use the international calling rules for the China number and just use the 1-000-000-0000 type number in the destination number. I am not sure if I can recommend it too highly because it has not worked right for a while but it might be worth a try.

[manhattanmoon]

For me, three buttons to access my last dial number and one for the phone number.    No need to dial the PIN or phone number.    Darn, I feel like a salesman for Onesuite.com now!

Well, you actually need to dial two digit for the phone number (btw 10-60) , so that makes up dialing total of 5 buttons for me!

[randxuej]

WE USE A SITE CALLED NOBLECOM.COM. RIGHT NOW THE PRICE IS 3.4 CENTS A MINUTE. I HAVE SEEN IT AS LOW AS .0040 CENTS A MINUTE. WE ALSO HAVE USED PHONE CARDS FROM SPEEDYPIN. COM.

HAVE TO FIND THE CHEAP ONE'S.

[Eric&Yuhui]

. I HAVE SEEN IT AS LOW AS .0040 CENTS A MINUTE.

ahem.. are you sure the decimal point is at the right place? Either that, or the unit is dollars....or these guys are out of business or shortly will be...

[tonado]

I still have a noble card. The quality is terrible.

[Eric&Yuhui]

. I HAVE SEEN IT AS LOW AS .0040 CENTS A MINUTE.

ahem.. are you sure the decimal point is at the right place? Either that, or the unit is dollars....or these guys are out of business or shortly will be...

So, that's about 5,326,487,662 Turkish Lira per minute?

LOL.... naaaaah, a tad less than that..

[Emery]

>>MCI has an international calling plan where it is 17 cents per minute to China. The reason I especially like MCI is that they have a feature where China can call you collect for the SAME amount as when you call direct. This has been good for me to know that my wife can call me any time whether she has a phone card or not.<<

 

I use MCI too. Is this an automatic feature, or do you have to call MCI to activate it? Also, are there local MCI access numbers in China she has to use to call collect, or does she just dial the local operator?

 

Thanks!

 

-Emery

[Robert S.]

Emery, you have to call up MCI customer service and subscribe to the international calling plan. They will mail you a list of the local access numbers. It is automatic if you subscribe to the plan but I would check with customer service after you have been notified that the plan has kicked in just to make sure that your account is set up right for this cool feature. I love it knowing that she can call me any time.