Prepaid Phone Cards In US

[nepean]

Has anyone used the prepaid long distance cards that you see in Walmart, Target etc. to call home from Florida? How do they work and is it cheaper than using my Bell Canada calling card?

Thanks

Nepean

 

[lisaviolet]

Has anyone used the prepaid long distance cards that you see in Walmart, Target etc. to call home from Florida? How do they work and is it cheaper than using my Bell Canada calling card?

Thanks

Nepean

I don't if they sell this one in Walmart. They sell it at Petro Canada. It's called "Cici". It used to be a card now they are going to a receipt with all the necessary information. I had a $ 20 card and I talked and talked and talked from WDW (solo trip!??!?). And my partner used it for business on another trip. It was almost impossible to use all of it. No exageration...it gave so much time. But I think there are $5 and $10. The only downside is that it expires in six months. Better value than BCCC? Don't have the numbers. I'd say yes. Plus, I had a CC stolen once, well before it even was delivered to me or from my mailbox, and I didn't have to pay but it was a hassle to go through.

 

[ottawa-newbie]

Hi from Barrhaven!

We used a $10 prepaid long distance card from President''s Choice bought at the local Loblaws store with no problems whatsoever.

DH called home every night to check up on his son and mom (She was housesitting/babysitting) and we only used about $4 on a 7 night trip

Hope this helps

 

[nepean]

Has anyone bought the cards at Walmart in the US? Are they better or less expensive.

Thanks

 

[pampam]

When you used the cards, cici, or pc, or whatever, were you calling from a phone booth? Very often they use more minutes when the call is placed from the phone booth. Or did you use a cell phone? I seems to me if you use the phone in your room, isn't there an extra charge on your room account?

 

[ottawa-newbie]

When you used the cards, cici, or pc, or whatever, were you calling from a phone booth? Very often they use more minutes when the call is placed from the phone booth. Or did you use a cell phone? I seems to me if you use the phone in your room, isn't there an extra charge on your room account?

We called from phone booths, as there was a charge to our room to use the room phone. There were many phone booths around

 

[riu girl]

On my bell card I pay .20 Canadian per minute to call from the US to Canada.
So I just use that instead of having to buy a phone card.

 

[ottawa-newbie]

On my bell card I pay .20 Canadian per minute to call from the US to Canada.
So I just use that instead of having to buy a phone card.

The rate on the prebought calling card from President's Choice was 4.3 cents a minute to call Canada from US.... may be a better deal if you are calling home every nite to check up on teenage son, as we were

 

[lisaviolet]

When you used the cards, cici, or pc, or whatever, were you calling from a phone booth? Very often they use more minutes when the call is placed from the phone booth. Or did you use a cell phone? I seems to me if you use the phone in your room, isn't there an extra charge on your room account?

Okay, here is some good news. I walked out to a pay phone to phone home and one night I said, "forget it I am going to use the room phone". I haven't touched it in years because those WDW phones are the spawn of the devil. You know what I mean if you've ever had a phone bill from WDW. Anyway, I used it from the room the rest of the trip thinking it was .75 each time. I didn't have any charges at checkout and I actually started to argue with the CM saying, "no there has to be a charge"!!!!!!

There were no charges using prepaid phone cards from your room. At first I thought it might be a DVC perk but they told me on the DVC boards that it is that way for all.

Enjoy. By the way my partner barely used $2 off the card to make many many calls. And I didn't notice any difference between using it at a pay phone and room.

Also, do not buy those prepaid cards from the machines at WDW. They are gone in an instant. Take off $2 (to Canada anyway) every time you use it upfront before regular charges.

 

[Tiger926]

The best deal by far is the new President's Choice phone card. There is no charge to call from a pay phone as with CiCi and many others, plus they have the cheapest rate of 4.3 per minute - it is actually Bell telephone, so thank God for this card as I just cancelled by .20 per minute Bell calling card! A great savings indeed!

Tiger

 

[disneyred]

The best deal by far is the new President's Choice phone card. There is no charge to call from a pay phone as with CiCi and many others, plus they have the cheapest rate of 4.3 per minute - it is actually Bell telephone, so thank God for this card as I just cancelled by .20 per minute Bell calling card! A great savings indeed!

Tiger

Can you just buy these cards from Loblaws??? Any other store carries these cards ??

thanks.

 

[wee-haggis]

See more info here:
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/PCTelecom/QuestionsAndAnswers.aspx#1

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

I'm not sure about the per minute rate - I think it is about 3 or 4 cents for the US Walmart cards.

But I just looked on the back of my old ones and both say, "A surcharge of at least 15 minutes (subject to increase) applies to pay phone calls"

check your cards before leaving and check the hotel surcharges if any before using hotel phones.

 

[pampam]

See more info here:
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/PCTelecom/QuestionsAndAnswers.aspx#1

This info is worth bookmarking. Thanks.

 

[Tiger926]

Just to clarify as I mentioned regarding President's Choice cards - despite the fact that some of the cards are stamped on the back that an additional charge applies from US to Canada, it does not. I just called corporate office last week to verify this - they were able to negotiate a cancellation of the surcharge, so the same low rate applies from US to Canada - the best deal around! Tiger

 

[Tiger926]

I'm not sure why the OP would want to pay 8.9 per cents per minute when he will only pay 4.3 with President's Choice - I've already used in US and there are no hidden fees at all (expiry date like all phone cards have).

Tiger

 

[Steven]

Has anyone used the prepaid long distance cards that you see in Walmart, Target etc. to call home from Florida? How do they work and is it cheaper than using my Bell Canada calling card?

Thanks

Nepean

Hello

Bell Canada Calling Card is the most expensive to use.

Most Calling Cards have all kinds of hidden fees. A company that is truly reliable, and affordable with no Hidden fees. Search in google or MSN for telesmt
Happy Shopping

 

[almacdonald]

I have only ever used one type of phone card but here is my experience.

I was in Texas for a business trip. I had planned on text messaging my boyfriend but my cell phone (telus) had limited use in Texas. So, i bought a phone card at Target for $19.99 USD. The card said 360 minutes of US calling and in the fine print noted that there would be extra charges to use the card at a payphone or to call outside of the US. Anyway, it seems like calling canada used up 3 "minutes" of phone card per minute of phone call to Canada. So basically I got 2 hours of phone time (to Canada) for $20 USD (approx $23.60 CAD). This works out to about 20 cents CAD per minute (I think, my head hurts!) BTW, i was in Texas for 3 weeks and only used up half the card. I was planning on saving it to use when i went to WDW in the spring but endedup leaving it in the hotel room.

So, moral of the story. It's really not that great of a deal but you know up front what you're paying. You won't get a surprise bill at the end of it all. AND most hotels let you use calling cards from your room for no addtional charge.

 

[almacdonald]

oh yeah, and i forgot to add how much the hotel charges to make long distance calls from the room phone WITHOUT a calling card....

$5 to connect AND $2/minute .... and that's USD!!!!

 

[pxlbarrel]

I usually use Cici when I'm in Canada and plan on brining it with me to Orlando should I need to use it.

I stupidly used my Bell Canada Calling card when I was in Chicago in August. I had a big problem with my Paypal Mastercard (they had some weird security hold on it preventing me from getting money out of ATMs...and I was outta money!). Anyway, I had to call Paypal to get it all straightened out....so I was using my BCC card to call from Chicago to Denver using the hotel phone and a payphone. I got home and looked at my phone bill and nearly died. $40 for 2 phone calls. I felt positively ill. and

I love Cici...and I buy them at places where I get $2-3 off, ie, a $10 card will cost me $7.40.