US <-> Canada long distance tips needed (wireless and home phone)

[sleepnrain]

Hi all,

I'm moving to the US from Canada in about 3 weeks (ignore what my profile says, I really am from Canada! )

I need long distance solutions. Badly. For both directions.

What's the cheapest way for my best friend to call me from Canada? Do those phone cards work from cell phone to home phone, or will she end up having to pay long distance?

What about US cell phone plans? Has anyone found one that actually has a great rate? The best I've found is 10 cents/minute from the US to Canada, after paying a $4.00 monthly fee. There has to be something better than that!

I've found ATT home service with unlimited calls to Canada for $5.00/month, for home phone, that seems good.

Any advice would be great. I'm trying to save as much as I can here, but it's driving me :

[mrskennedy]

Phone card rates are getting worse all the time, IME. And anything that uses a cell phone will zap phone card minutes and cell minutes, no matter which way you do it. I think your best bet is the land line service. But you could also check out Skype credit. Skype itself is free, and you could each get a username and call PC to PC with a mic/headset, and not pay anything. Works best if you have a high-speed internet connection. Or one of you can purchase Skype credits and call land lines and/or cell phones. Check out:
www.skype.com

[ShaggyDaddy]

vonage has unlimited to canada as well (their 24.99 plan) but if your phone company is doing $5, that sounds like a good deal.

[sleepnrain]

Thanks for the responses! I'll look into both of those for home phones.

I guess I should have been more clear originally; I need both cell phone and home phone, so I'm looking for the best option for each. Home phone appears to be covered, either by what I originally found or one of the links above. But what about cell phone long distance? Any suggestions on cards? I'm sure I can get better than 9 cents/minute US-->Canada.. I hope!

Thanks again for the responses above, looking forward to more input!

[MCsMom]

We got Comcast VOIP phones and now have unlimited long distance anywhere in the US and from US to Canada.

[polyhymnia]

For cell phones what often works is to get a local calling card program (such as www.onesuite.com) with a local access number, then dial the local access number from a cell phone (uses cell phone minutes) and then dial the int'l number (uses calling card minutes). I don't know how canada is but I know in the UK it does not spend cell phone minutes to receive a call, but it costs something like 17c to call a UK cell from the US and only 4c to call a UK landline from the US.