Pre-paid Calling Card Question when using Pay Phones??

[violet13]

We are staying at the Tropical Palms Fun Suites and there is NO phones in the Suites, you have to use the pay phone, wanted to get one of those Pre-paid calling cards you see everywhere in the stores, but heard when you use them at a pay phone, there is extra charges or something. Can ANyone explain this to me? This is our only option as we have no cell phone and are leaving in 2 days! Is some pre-paid cards better than others, how does this work? Thanks!

 

[skeezixspud]

The per-minute fees on the card are noted as face value; best deal that I know of is Sam's Club or Wal-Mart; under $.04/minute US domestic. If you are worried about the payphones being rigged, get a card w/ lots of minutes, you can always use them on your home phone later; they don't expire.

The problem w/ pay phones depends on who owns the phone. If it is owned by a Bell company or GTE, you probably won't get hit with a nasty fee when you dial the card's 800 number. If it is owned by some no-name communications company, then watch out, you could get hit w/ a large surcharge to call long distance. There should be a little placard somewhere on the phone that tells you who owns it.

 

[Meagansmom]

We just purchased an AT&T calling card at Walmart. Before I bought it, I called AT&T to actually see what all of the charges would be and any hidden charges. So many hotels charge to use their room phones. We are going to use the card at a pay phone. The only charge for the card is 9 minutes everytime you use it at a pay phone. Which is cheaper than 75cents every time you use the hotel room phone. This charge is for any pay phone.

Ex: If I use the pay phone 5 times, which is the amount of times I plan to call home, it will deduct 45 minutes from the card. I bought the 120 minute card for $10.00. This will give me 75 minutes to talk, which is more than plenty. You can also check the amount of minutes used on the card.

There is a card for $5.00 for 60 minutes. Plus they sell some with more minutes. We are going over Mother's Day, so I thought I better have plenty minutes.

Sure we could take our cell phone, or use other options but we found this to be the cheapest. I have heard horror stories of some getting the hotel phone bill and well you know! Scream!This is what we have always done on each of our trips.

Hope this helps!

 

[violet13]

Now I know exactly what to do, I am also getting this same card. It helps to hear all these fine details to understand what is really going on.

 

[tkd lisa]

I have used these when on business travel. I believe that there is often a charge to use a pre-paid calling card at a pay phone. They tell you what it is before they charge you. The recording goes something like "Thank you for using your Wal-Mart AT&T phone card. Due to ..... regulation there is a charge of one minute to utilize this card at a pay phone. Do you still wish to continue?" The charge comes after a little delay, so the amount may vary depending on the type of payphone, etc. Either way, it does tell you what the charge is. The downside is that the charge is charged regardless of whether anyone answers the phone or not. I still agree that this is a good way to go for occasional calls back home.