Phone cards for calls to Afghanistan?

[DizRotus]

Our son is in the U.S. Army stationed in Afghanistan. We're looking for suggestions regarding phone cards to use to make calls to Afghanistan from the U.S.

A Google search produces a plethora of potential candidates. Any recommendations from personal experience would be very much appreciated. What cards are good and what cards are to be avoided?

[Marvel]

Neil,

I use a service that you can get set up online. It allows you to have up to three phones automatically be recognized as using the service with an active acount, so you don't have to put in a long account code. I use it to call my gf in China and when she is home in the Philippines. The rate to China is only $.022 a minute.

If you don't have a local access number, you dial an 800 number and the rate is slightly higher. Rates are different for all countries. I checked their rate for Afghanistan, and it is $.48 minute. I hope you can find a lower rate somewhere else, but you might check into this. I add minutes online, or by a phone call, using a credit card.

They also have a soft phone, allowing you to use your computer to call. You can pick the area code you want the call to originate from, can recieve voice mail, etc. It is a flat rate per month. There is no contract, just sign up, buy some minutes and start using it. You aren't buying for a particular country, which means that your son could be on leave in Italy and you could also use it to call him there ($.03 a minute to a land line, $.25 for Italy Mobile).

Still lose the connection on occasion, but you still go through some awful phone networks to get there (Philippines is awful, while China has been great).

http://www.onesuite.com

Bruce

looked up other rates:

Netherlands (Timmikid for example) $.026 a minute

Greece (MaxG) $.05, $.19 for mobile

[DizRotus]

Thanks Bruce. That's just the kind of info I'm looking for.

I got a shock today when I saw $98.71 for international calling on my Verizon bill. Customer service informed me that the two Verizon reps who told me that for $3.99/month the rate to Afghanistan would be $0.22/minute were mistaken. The $0.22/minute rate applies to most of the civilized world but not Afghanistan, which is $2.35/minute.

On one level I'd like to think that hearing our son's voice from Afghanistan is priceless. On another level, it's not worth $2.35/minute to enable him to discuss with his brother how the Detroit Lions lost again.

I should add that Verizon volunteered to honor the $0.22/minute rate that I was misled into believing would apply. They credited more than $90 to my account. I cannot complain about the service and customer service I have enjoyed with Verizon.

Edited September 24, 2014 by DizRotus

[Marvel]

LOL, I just switched form Verizon to AT&T for my whole family. The main reason was I felt we had been mistreated on a contract. I also switched becasuse I wanted a GSM phone and not CDMA tecnology. I have an unlocked phone, so on my travels to the Philippines last Feb., I bought a SIM card, which gave me a local access number. All incoming calls are free, which meant that if they needed to, the family could call me and I wouldn't have the charge pulled off that phone card account. This is also why calling many different countries mobile numbers costs more per minute, as they get free incoming calls or text messages.

All the major companies will get you on something, and I have no great illusions about AT&T.

Bruce