Calling Cards

[dmaddox74]

Okay, I have a Chopin Calling Card and I'm charged 3.85 cents a minute to call China. I don't pay any maintence fee, no tax, and the card last 3 months.

 

What do you use?

[keelec]

www.onesuite.com and www.bigzoo.com are consistantly are rated highly. They do have minimal maintenance fees, (Bigzoo is 75 cents / month, I assume that Onesuite is similar). You pay in advance by credit cards and they just add it to your account indefinately.

 

Bigzoo - 2.3 cents a minute - local access

3.9 cents a minute - 1-800 access

 

Onesuite - 2.4 cents a minute - local access

4.0 cents a minute - 1-800 access

 

One of the services is supposed to allow a call to be initiated via internet/computers to allow someone living internationally to initiate the call.

[dmaddox74]

I forgot to add, that Chopin rolls over by the second and not the minute.

 

You can compare and contrast at:

 

http://www.masterbell.com/phone-cards/China

[Kaige]

We use both Big Zoo and One Suite but it is easier to use only one, I don't use, wife does. Big Zoo is favorite.

[dmaddox74]

THanks Kaige,

 

Could you please give details about the card?

[otter5535]

If you have a local Chinese grocery, they will have cheap phone cards.

 

I pay $10 (straight, no tax) and get about 8 hours of talk time. Time is charged per minute but that's it... no connection fee, etc.

 

Does anyone do math here??? I think it's about 2 cents a minute which is great!

[Jim - Portland, USA]

I pay 1.7 cents per minute to call my honey in China. That rate is to both Chinese homes and Chinese cell phones. I buy 'em from a local Chinese grocery store. The card has a local access number (in the Portland, Oregon area for me). There is no connection fee, no maintenance fee, no fees of any kind actually. So a $10 dollar card gets me 588 minutes. But they do round to the nearest 3-minutes. But at 1.7 cents per minute, I don't care. The card expries 180 days after first use. And the sound quality is excellent. The reliability of getting a call through is close to 100%, but any problems there are usually associated with the internal Chinese telecom state of affairs. I talk to my honey for at least 2 hours everyday, and I think these cards are hard to beat in terms of cost and quality (for a non-broadband environment).

 

The name of the card is "Uni". It is offered by Locus Telecommunications. I think maybe perhaps you might be able to get similar cards at www.icallplus.com, but I think the "Uni" cards they offer online there charge 2.1 cents per minute. A bit more expensive, but still not bad!

 

The only downside is that no records are kept of calls made with these cards. And that is good evidence to have at the interview. So, every once in awhile I'll call my honey with my regular long distance (8 cents per minute (Pioneer Long Distance)), just to put it on record

[LiuXia's Husband]

Thanks for the tips. I have been using nobelcom.com, but they have $20 minimum, expires after 90 days. It works out to about 4 cents aminute, but I wont use all the hours before expiry. Call quality is good. Can be used for US calls also, but it actually costs more to call in US!

[warpedbored]

I pay 1.7 cents per minute to call my honey in China.  That rate is to both Chinese homes and Chinese cell phones.  I buy 'em from a local Chinese grocery store.  The card has a local access number (in the Portland, Oregon area for me).  There is no connection fee, no maintenance fee, no fees of any kind actually.  So a $10 dollar card gets me 588 minutes.  But they do round to the nearest 3-minutes.  But at 1.7 cents per minute, I don't care.  The card expries 180 days after first use.  And the sound quality is excellent.  The reliability of getting a call through is close to 100%, but any problems there are usually associated with the internal Chinese telecom state of affairs.  I talk to my honey for at least 2 hours everyday, and I think these cards are hard to beat in terms of cost and quality (for a non-broadband environment).

 

The name of the card is "Uni".  It is offered by Locus Telecommunications.  I think maybe perhaps you might be able to get similar cards at www.icallplus.com, but I think the "Uni" cards they offer online there charge 2.1 cents per minute.  A bit more expensive, but still not bad!

 

The only downside is that no records are kept of calls made with these cards.  And that is good evidence to have at the interview.  So, every once in awhile I'll call my honey with my regular long distance (8 cents per minute (Pioneer Long Distance)), just to put it on record 

what store do you buy it at? Bing will be here soon and want to be calling home a lot.

[Dean Hall]

I have the best card. It's called Dusty Card, because now that my love is here, it's mainly collecting dust!!!

[jkobman]

I use MasterBell and Onesuite - about .02/minute. I have unlimited long distance in the US, so I call access #'s in California from the East Coast. the 800# is about .04. I always get through. Having 2 card companies helps - sometimes one line is down.

 

I am able to get printouts of phone calls for documentation purposes - Onesuite has them available online and MasterBell will EMail them upon request. The quality of the phone line seems a bit better on Onesuite. Both have 800#'s and both use pin#'s

 

The phone calls mean a lot to me - I know they mean a lot to you all ("y'all" here in Virginia!)

[dmaddox74]

Hey Jeff,

 

Which card do you use at Mastebell, there are many cards to choose from and that is where I got the Chopin card?

[Phil & Ningning]

I actually use two different cards. Recently I have begun using BigZoo.com for the printouts and great rates. Ever since I met Ningning though, I have used one called 'Destiny" from phonecardsonsale.com. The rate is the same as BigZoo, there is no maintenence fee or connection fee, and they have a point system where you can earn a free card if you buy enough. $19.75 for 850 minuutes by local access and the sound quality is much better than BigZoo. I would say about 95% reliability as far as connection quality, sometimes it is not so good. No problem, just hang up and try again. It is nearly impossible to get through on holidays, though. I always use the destiny card if I think we may discuss intimate issues.

Phil

[AZwolfman]

check out1st phone card

[Jim - Portland, USA]

I pay 1.7 cents per minute to call my honey in China.  That rate is to both Chinese homes and Chinese cell phones.  I buy 'em from a local Chinese grocery store.  The card has a local access number (in the Portland, Oregon area for me).  There is no connection fee, no maintenance fee, no fees of any kind actually.  So a $10 dollar card gets me 588 minutes.  But they do round to the nearest 3-minutes.  But at 1.7 cents per minute, I don't care.  The card expries 180 days after first use.  And the sound quality is excellent.  The reliability of getting a call through is close to 100%, but any problems there are usually associated with the internal Chinese telecom state of affairs.  I talk to my honey for at least 2 hours everyday, and I think these cards are hard to beat in terms of cost and quality (for a non-broadband environment).

 

The name of the card is "Uni".  It is offered by Locus Telecommunications.  I think maybe perhaps you might be able to get similar cards at www.icallplus.com, but I think the "Uni" cards they offer online there charge 2.1 cents per minute.  A bit more expensive, but still not bad!

 

The only downside is that no records are kept of calls made with these cards.  And that is good evidence to have at the interview.  So, every once in awhile I'll call my honey with my regular long distance (8 cents per minute (Pioneer Long Distance)), just to put it on record  

what store do you buy it at? Bing will be here soon and want to be calling home a lot.

Carl,

 

The think the place is called China Wind Company, and it is just a tiny little hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown. Actually, it does have an address ... 109 NW 4th. It's about half way between House of Louie and the China Gate (on the east side of 4th).

 

Be sure to ask for "Uni-Asia" and not "Uni-Oregon". Uni-Oregon are good cards too, but about 2.1 cents per mintute.

 

Oh, a correction from my post above. A $10 dollar card gets you 608 minutes, which comes to 1.65 cents per minute, better than before