All About Prepaid Calling Cards

Tired of feeding change into payphones? A prepaid calling card may be the solution to one of your telecommunications needs. Prepaid enables you to control your spending with a prepaid phone card. Because each card is prepaid, you decide how much you want to spend on your calling.

Phone cards are a prepaid method of making a long distance (domestic or international) call. In using a phone card you save money on your long distance phone bill. There are no monthly bills, and no detailed statements. Rather, you simply pay for the calling time in advance and reduce the prepaid balance as you make calls.

There are many reasons why you should use a phone card. Here are a few:

• They are often much cheaper than long distance providers.
  
• They are cheaper than your local phone company.
  
• They are cheaper than collect calls and operator assisted calls
  
• You can budget your long distance calling costs.
  
• You can bypass hotel and educational institution systems with the resultant savings. (Dialing phone card toll free access numbers allows you to bypass the system.)
  
• There are no monthly bills, and no detailed statements. Rather, you simply pay for the calling time in advance and reduce the prepaid balance as you make calls.

Is a prepaid calling card the same as a calling card provided by your local or long distance phone company?

No. With a prepaid calling card, you pay before you make any calls. With a calling card, you pay after you make a call.

How do prepaid calling cards work?

You purchase a prepaid calling card for a specific dollar amount of long distance phone service, such as $10 worth of phone time. You’ll get a toll-free access phone number and a personal identification number (PIN). If you buy the card online, you might not get a card at all. You might get just the access phone number and the PIN.

To make a long distance call, you enter the toll-free access number. When requested, you enter the PIN then the phone number you want to call.

Are the rates competitive?

That depends on the card and how much you usually pay for long distance calls. The rates are almost always better than those you’d pay using a regular calling card provided by your local or long distance phone company. Many prepaid calling cards also have a cheaper international rate than you get with a basic rate long distance plan.

However, there’s usually a tradeoff between per-call charges and per-minute charges. The higher the per-call charge is, the lower the per-minute charge usually is. If you make a lot of long calls, go with the higher per-call rate. If you make short calls, the higher per-minute cards are probably better for you.

Why would I want one?

Prepaid calling cards make sense for travelers. You don’t need change for payphones to make long distance calls, and you don't have to pay high hotel phone rates. The cards work well as gifts, too. Many people also buy them so they know upfront how much they’ll be paying for long distance calls.