Phoning home on the cheap??

[Wazzo]

Hello!!

What is the cheapest way to call Ontario from Disney?? Direct from room, calling card etc....

Thank you!

 

[Scratch42]

Don't use the Hotel Room!

There are extra costs associated with using their phones!

Buying a Phone Card would be easiest!

janet

 

[Amberle3]

Go ahead and use the hotel phone if you're using a calling card (especially a pre-paid calling card). I bought one at Target about a year ago for something like $25 and I've used it on roughly 6 trips across the line - there's still plenty of time left on it. Make sure you read the fine print on the cards because most of them add a surcharge for calling from payphones.

ETA: Before you use the hotel phone though check the rules for it too. Some of hotels will apply a per-call charge regardless of where you're calling (like in Vegas for instance). Some of them will give you the first 30 minutes with no charge and then will start tacking on additional fees (I stayed at a hotel around Disneyland that did that). But for heaven's sake do NOT charge long distance to the hotel room! Some of my husband's staff did that on the first conference they went to, and were surprised when the 20-30 minute phone calls were billed at more than $60 each!

 

[tmli]

I believe the resorts charge .75 per call whether it is calling card, toll free or collect. So keep that in mind when using a calling card etc. DO NOT direct dial long distance, it is very pricey.

Last visit all of my calls to Ontario and all the calls made to me were free. Just took my laptop, VOIP modem, mickey phone and hooked up to the high speed internet and voila!!! All of my calls were local to my home number.

 

[dsneygirl]

If you have a calling card use a pay phone. They are all over the parks and in the resort lobbies.

 

[SnowWhite]

Whatever you do don't call collect form a pay telephone!!! We had been using our cell phone to call home (because our roof started to leak the day before we left! ) but we had left it in the room and needed to call home so we just called my parents collect on a pay phone and boy were we shocked when we got home to find that our very static 90 second phone call was $17!!! We used the cell several times to call home and ended up paying maybe $20 for the whole 2 weeks. Not to bad in my opinion.

 

[moesgal]

On our last trip, we called Bell Mobility before we left and were able to call home "unlimited" for the 2 weeks we were there (on our cell phone) for about $20.00. We are definitely going to do this next time as well. I think you are adding "roaming" to your account for a specified period.

 

[tricia]

I agree with moesgal. Call your service provider to see what kind of deals they have for calling in the US. Bell has the USA Connect and FLA Connect plans that give you so many free minutes, and a set price/ minute for long distance. ($.25 I think) The other providers probably have something similar. My parents spend at least a month in Florida every year and they always get one of these plans.

 

[iluveeyore]

Yes, don't use the hotel phone. They must get a lot of complaints, because everytime we check into a DVC resort, they warn us the phone fees are high from the room. We use our cell phone, and last year my sister used a pay phone from the lobby but called COLLECT, and that wasn't too bad either. Cell phone is probably best though if needed. We only call back home if it's absolutely necessary - no calls is cheapest!!!

 

[bgula]

After several years of trying to find the best method of doing just this, we got the greatest advice from these boards. Buy a Presidents Choice (PC) long distance phone card. There are no service fees and the rate is 4.3 cents per minute. A $5 card (the cheapest) gives you 116 minutes of talk time. I'm even using them now in my home instead of Bell's First Rate program which at its cheapest is 10 cents per minute in Canada and 20 cents to the States.

The cards are good for 6 months after activation and any left over time can be transferred to a new card.

Don't call from the hotel room - 75 cent charge by Disney - use a payphone.

 

[hockey mom]

We used our Bell calling card from WL hotel pay phone. My DD's 16 minute call was $66.

We went with the advice here and got the PC phone card at Loblaws for her Tournament in Michagin last weekend. Only way to go from now on.

 

[Wazzo]

Are the PC Loblaws cards just in the checkout line?

 

[hockey mom]

I got mine at the film/returns/ counter.

 

[sammi]

I just picked up our $20.00 PC calling vard for our trip next week. And it looks like we're also headed BACK to Orlando this November for possibly 2 more weeks so I'll just buy another card and transfer any time left over to the new card .

 

[impulse]

Last visit all of my calls to Ontario and all the calls made to me were free. Just took my laptop, VOIP modem, mickey phone and hooked up to the high speed internet and voila!!! All of my calls were local to my home number.

Can you elaborate on the set-up? As well, wouldn't there be a charge on the high speed internet?

 

[tmli]

There is a charge for the high speed internet but I had it any way for work so i don't count that in my case.

My home phone is from Primus thru high speed on a VOIP (voice over IP). All of my calls in North America are covered in my my monthly cost...29.95 i think. Also your number is over the internet so doesn't have to be attached to the wall at my residence...therefore anywhere I call is from my modems number and anyone calling me calls that same number. My city is set to be it's "local" so anywhere I would call from home is still local from Orlando and vice versa. If I call anywhere in Orlando it is also free because I have unlimited long distance.

I do a terrible time of explaining it but it is a great setup, saves me money monthly and I don't miss any important calls from ds's Doctors etc when I am away on vacation.

 

[sammi]

Tracey we've been talking about VOIP for a while now but really don't understand too much about it. When you hook up to your modem can you have multiple phones throughout youir house....extensons? Also do you always get good reception? I'm so fed up with Bell and there isn't any other service providers out where I live so I'm stuck with Bell but we'd really like to look into VOIP as an alternative.

 

[Amberle3]

I've got VOIP and I love it. If you get those cordless phones with multiple handsets then you can put phones anywhere in the house you want as long as there's a regular electrical outlet. Reception on it has been great. I checked out Vonage and Primus and chose Primus - it was cheaper and Vonage has a disconnection fee which Primus does not have. When I travel I can take my VOIP with me and use it anywhere as long as there's a regular highspeed internet connection.

 

[tmli]

I love it, the only time I have a problem is when my Hi Speed is down...other than that great signal.

The mutliple phone thing is tricky because you are not just plugging into the wall. I have gone with cordless to eliminate that issue. I did have to go with 5.8 Ghz on the cordless so it didn't interfere with my wifi.

 

[disneyred]

After several years of trying to find the best method of doing just this, we got the greatest advice from these boards. Buy a Presidents Choice (PC) long distance phone card. There are no service fees and the rate is 4.3 cents per minute. A $5 card (the cheapest) gives you 116 minutes of talk time. I'm even using them now in my home instead of Bell's First Rate program which at its cheapest is 10 cents per minute in Canada and 20 cents to the States.

The cards are good for 6 months after activation and any left over time can be transferred to a new card.

Don't call from the hotel room - 75 cent charge by Disney - use a payphone.

Can these PC cards be bought in any loblaws throughout Canada ??