buying calling cards to call overseas

[MommyDOK]

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience in calling overseas.  It is  over $1/minute for me to call my mom, which is too much for me.    The country she lives in blocks skype, so we can't use that.  I see ads for calling middle east for cents a minutes and I am just wondering what your experience recommends.  thanks

[ashleyhaugh]

i would check the rates on the cheapo calling cards they sell at gas stations. my family is in houston, and theyre packed with 500 minutes for $5 in the US or mexico cards, but when i was in germany, they still got fairly decent rates. i wanna say it was 5 cents a minute or so... we got a good amount of talk time out of those $5 cards

[Poddi]

I use a calling card that I buy online.  It's cheap and quite reliable.  Which country does your mom live in?  Most countries are pretty cheap now but there are ones that  seem to have limited access.  Still the most expensive rates I've seen for those calling cards to any country is like 25 cents per minute.

[cappuccinosmom]

We have called to Ethiopia, since that is where dh is from.

Honestly, we found cards to be a pain in the tuckus, but useful for infrequent calling.  When he was there for 18 months, we got a VOIP service that had decent rates for calling there.  Even with weekly calls to Ethiopia, our total phone bill was about $70/mo (which is less than a lot of people pay for incountry calling plans).

[SleeplessMommy]

Have you checked out google phone? They have some intl calling options.

[choli]

1877 Penny25.

They have an app you can use from your phone that uses your existing contact list, and you can dial them direct through the app. Calls are about 2c a minute, though it costs more to call to a cell phone.

Very convenient, bills to your credit card.

[MommyDOK]

Thanks for your suggestions.  I'm calling Oman.  I would probably call my mom once a month, so don't need convenience or a lot of minutes.  I stopped by 7-11 and they had a bunch of cards, but none listed Oman on the back, which I understand, so wanted to check online before I purchased.  I see a lot of apps to call overseas, but nervous bc some of the reviews say they don't work. 

[MommyDOK]

what brand do you buy??  Thanks
 

Originally Posted by Poddi 

I use a calling card that I buy online.  It's cheap and quite reliable.  Which country does your mom live in?  Most countries are pretty cheap now but there are ones that  seem to have limited access.  Still the most expensive rates I've seen for those calling cards to any country is like 25 cents per minute.

[choli]

Oman		$0.170
	Mobile	$0.390

Those are the rates for Oman on Pennytalk (1877Penny25). More expensive than Europe, but better than a dollar an hour.

[MommyDOK]

I see pennytalk.com   Is that the same thing/?

Originally Posted by choli 

Oman		$0.170
	Mobile	$0.390

Those are the rates for Oman on Pennytalk (1877Penny25). More expensive than Europe, but better than a dollar an hour.

[choli]

Yes.thY is the same one.

[CelloMomCars]

We been very happy with OneSuite prepaid.  Most of Europe under 5c/min, Oman 33c/min from the US.  They also have access numbers in a bunch of other countries, bailed us out a few times when on vacation.  I have a virtual fax number with them as well, they Email you a jpg file (but you can't send).