Phone Cards???

[plowgirl]

Hi:

I am sorry in advance for asking this again because I know I read it here somewhere a little while ago. But I can't find it.

I am wondering about a phone card - where's the best place to get one.

We live in Ontario and are driving down to Florida and we need to phone home both on the road going down and coming back and while we are down there too. I thought I read that some of you liked the President's Choice phone card ... or maybe I was mistaken.

Any help is greatly appricated

Thanks

 

[Kurby]

i did a bunch of research on this and come to the conclusion that buying a trackphone at walmart is the best deal. you can't have it shipped up here (so we were going to buy it the next time we were down there) but it comes with a free "double your minutes" card which on their website (trackphone.com i think) sells for about $50

then you buy a 60 minute card (which becomes 120minutes) for about 15 - 20 bucks.

calling anywhere in the US or Canada is minute per minute so calling back home is equal.

the great thing about this over calling cards is that you don't get hit with a 75 cent charge at any payphone plus the added bonus of being able to call while driving (not that i advocate that )

 

[Kurby]

here's the link if you're interested

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8031801

 

[tribus121]

`The PC phone cards are great for calling home 4c per min no connection fees $10 did us for the entire 10 day trip with lots left ( it does expire 6 months after first use )there is no extra charge for use at most pay phones and they can be bought in Canada at most stores that carry presidents choice products

 

[Kurby]

do you have a link for that?

 

[wee-haggis]

Another vote for the PC Card.
I've used one twice and each $10 card got me several local,Canadian and UK calls with ample minutes left over for my next trip (valid for 6 months after activating). Very convenient and easy to use. The hotels I stayed at had no charge for 1-866 numbers and at the WDW on-site hotels just use the lobby phone.

http://www.presidentschoice.ca/PCTelecom/QuestionsAndAnswers.aspx

 

[Tiger926]

PC Cards are the best deal - better than going through the work of getting a Tracphone (although having it in car is convenient, but we have On Star or our regular cells for that). They are the cheapest because of no surcharges - you may see cheaper per minute cards, but they all have surcharges/fees, especially for using pay phones. You can also get auto top-ups, add minutes & check balance by computer, and add remaining minutes to a 2nd card. With 2 cards, you'll n ever have your minutes expire!

Bell is the official carrier and network of President's Choice cards.

Tiger

 

[CanadianGuy]

I use PINGO for calling card stuff when I need one..

They offer lots of 'bonus time' and the rates.. 1.8c per minute in North America. NO connect charge.

They do have a monthly account service charge of around 95c. That's the only down side. But if you end up using most of the card in your trip.. no biggie.

www.pingo.com

No 'card' necessary.. just sign up at their website, you can pick your own calling card number etc.

Knox

 

[me_minnie_me]

Hi there

I actually work for No Frills (which carries the PC Long Distant Cards) and they have a new international long distant card that just came out. they come in $5, $10, and $20 denominations... like their regular long distant cards. there is no connection fee and i believe that it is $0.04 a minute to call anywhere in canada and the states. you can registar the card online and would be able to top off the card if your balance is low. the only draw back is that the balance does expire after 6 months from the first time that you use the card. if you're in the toronto area, i believe there is a promotion on this weekend were there is 10-20% off the new PC international phone cards, with the flyer they are handing out in stores. there maybe a coupon in the toronto star as well, for this promotion. hope this helps

 

[Tiger926]

I use PINGO for calling card stuff when I need one..

They offer lots of 'bonus time' and the rates.. 1.8c per minute in North America. NO connect charge.

They do have a monthly account service charge of around 95c. That's the only down side. But if you end up using most of the card in your trip.. no biggie.

www.pingo.com

No 'card' necessary.. just sign up at their website, you can pick your own calling card number etc.

Knox

I just checked from your link and here is what I found:

1. Must sign up using a credit card (no need to do that with PC cards)

2. .65 fee each time you call from a payphone (no charge with PC)

3. .98/USD monthly fee

Can't do the math right now as I have a massive headache, but these fees are going to put the cost of phone calls (especially the .65 fee as I make most of my calls while at WDW on pay phones), astronomically more than PC cards. Don't like the per month fee either - cheap per minute, but then they get you with fees!

Tiger

 

[CanadianGuy]

Thanks for doing that research.. I never use them from a payphone so.. that's never been an issue.



Knox

 

[brighteyes]

I just bought a phone card at WDW for 10.00 and did me. I wouldn't recommend that since I didn't get very many minutes for that. But it was an 1 800 call and there was NO charge to the room for direct dialing 1 800 numbers.

I forgot to run to zehrs before our trip.

Stephanie

 

[Kurby]

i just got off the phone with the PC card company and was told that not all pay phones accept 1-866 numbers (which is the number you have to call to get your number) which is no big deal if you can find the ones that do accept it but she was telling me that she was in Hawaii last month and tried all the phones in the hotel with no luck and actually had to leave the hotel and go down the beach to find a phone that would accept the 1866 number.

and as an added bonus - if you are going to use it in the hotel room she suggest that you call the front desk first to find out what if any the charge for you calling the 1866 number from your room - she said some hotels charge you their regular per minute rate because they don't recognize it as a toll free number - so not only would you be paying your 4 cents per minute but the hotels $1, 2 or 3 per minute rate per minute as well.

i'm now trying to figure out what is the better option.

it may be as simple as buying one of those $12 phones with double minutes and a small amount minute card and us it if we can't get a pay phone that is convenient or the hotels charge for the toll free number. and the only problem with that track phone is that they don't deliver to canada and i haven't found 1 walmart that carries it so we'd have to figure out how to get it. wonder if they'd deliver it to a hotel in Niagara Falls - then we could just stay one night and receive the phone??? hummm

 

[wee-haggis]

i just got off the phone with the PC card company and was told that not all pay phones accept 1-866 numbers (which is the number you have to call to get your number) which is no big deal if you can find the ones that do accept it but she was telling me that she was in Hawaii last month and tried all the phones in the hotel with no luck and actually had to leave the hotel and go down the beach to find a phone that would accept the 1866 number.

and as an added bonus - if you are going to use it in the hotel room she suggest that you call the front desk first to find out what if any the charge for you calling the 1866 number from your room - she said some hotels charge you their regular per minute rate because they don't recognize it as a toll free number - so not only would you be paying your 4 cents per minute but the hotels $1, 2 or 3 per minute rate per minute as well.

i'm now trying to figure out what is the better option.

it may be as simple as buying one of those $12 phones with double minutes and a small amount minute card and us it if we can't get a pay phone that is convenient or the hotels charge for the toll free number. and the only problem with that track phone is that they don't deliver to canada and i haven't found 1 walmart that carries it so we'd have to figure out how to get it. wonder if they'd deliver it to a hotel in Niagara Falls - then we could just stay one night and receive the phone??? hummm

As far as I know,all WDW hotels will have a charge from the room but the 1-866 will work in their lobby's I I;m guessing it didn't work in Hawaii because it will only work on the continental US and Canada.

 

[me_minnie_me]

I used the Pc Long Distance card during my trip to WDW and POP did not ding me with any charges when I dialed the 1-866 number. Also all of the payphones that I used on the WDW accepted the 1-866 number as well. There may be restiction to the locations that you want to call though. One must read the fine print on everything these days.

 

[dancin Disney style]

it may be as simple as buying one of those $12 phones with double minutes and a small amount minute card and us it if we can't get a pay phone that is convenient or the hotels charge for the toll free number. and the only problem with that track phone is that they don't deliver to canada and i haven't found 1 walmart that carries it so we'd have to figure out how to get it. wonder if they'd deliver it to a hotel in Niagara Falls - then we could just stay one night and receive the phone??? hummm

I have a Tracfone that I purchased at the Wal-mart just after the Queenston-Lewiston bridge (Porter-Packard exit). They are also available at Target.

You will not be able to purchase the phone or minutes on-line because they can't process Canadian credit cards.

 

[CanadianGuy]

You will not be able to purchase the phone or minutes on-line because they can't process Canadian credit cards.

Is that true?

I thought lots of Canadians had ordered them online and sent them to their resort.. ??

Knox

 

[dancin Disney style]

I keep my phone active...we travel to the US about every 6 weeks.

I have tried many times to add minute on-line with my CC and each time it cancels the transaction and tells me to call customer service. I then call customer service and they tell me they can not process a Canadian CC. Then they ask me to use my American card.... because I don't have one.

Also, when I activated the phone and set up my account I had to use an American state and zip code. Their site does not allow for anything other than that. So, on my account profile is my Canadian street address and city with NY and the zipcode for the Buffalo airport.

 

[Kurby]

so then how do you get minutes on your phone?

that's so stupid if they don't accept canadian cc's gaud talk about short sited - they'll be loosing a lot of customers/money by doing that.

 

[dancin Disney style]

so then how do you get minutes on your phone?

that's so stupid if they don't accept canadian cc's gaud talk about short sited - they'll be loosing a lot of customers/money by doing that.

I buy a card while I'm in the US. I need one now but I'm not going over for a while so I asked my mom to get one....she's over shopping today. Between myself, my mom and a bunch of friends someone is always going over to shop.