Phone cards?

[Apk1]

... in response to Why calling cards?, posted by Apk1 on Jun 14, 2002

OOPS! I misquoted...19.9 cents/min. to Ukraine
                   14.9 cents/min. to Russia (in general)
                   7.9 cents/min to Moscow
                   8.9 cents/min to St. Pete

[snowwego]

... in response to Phone cards?, posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

I get 8.2cents a min. with a card called euro calling card, put out by worldcom

[juio99]

... in response to Phone cards?, posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

Ken, I posted some about this a few weeks ago.  To update, I have been using cards from www.masterbell.com

I am on my third $20 card now, and have not had any problems.  The various cards allow calls to Russia for 9 to 10 cents per minute, 5 cents to SPb, and 4 cents to Moscow.

No connect fees and no monthly fees.  I have not found anything better or cheaper.  

And I don't think it is true that ATT, etc. have better connections.  I think these card outfits buy time from ATT and other major carriers, so you get just as good, or bad, quality from the card outfits as from the more expensive.  

I usually call around noon here on weekdays which is 8 PM in Russia.  Time of day or night and particualar days is what seems to cause problems for many of the guys.

JR

[RickM]

... in response to Phone cards?, posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

Hey Ken!
We did the same as you some time back but a few months ago we went "back" to nobel.Can't beat 9 cents a minute...
The only time we have experienced problems now with nobel is Sundays so we either call real early or real late.We use the "Russiatalk" card.
Stay outta them tremors )
Rick

[SteveM]

... in response to Re: Phone cards?, posted by RickM on Jun 13, 2002

Be very careful with nobelcom, and don't buy a lot of cards in advance.  We were using the Russia Talk cards, enjoying the 9 cents/minute, when they stopped working one day several months ago.  We are out $48, and have got nothing but rudeness from Nobelcom.

[Richard]

... in response to Phone cards?, posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

Has been deteriorating too when calling  Kiev Ukraine.  It has reached the point where they fail to connect a call most of the time. It's gotten to the point I'm looking for another vendor also.

For the record, I have called their customer service line: conditions improved for a short while, then deteriorated again.  IF you are with Net2Phone I would suggest calling them as the phone service is decent.  Don't bother with email when you have a phone card with Net2Phone because the email support assumes you are using your pc to place the calls rather than a POTS line.

RIchard

(POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service)

[BrianN]

... in response to Phone cards?, posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

Yeah this thing was hashed out a month ago or so I think... when somebody comes up with any kind of phone card that calls Russia proper... IE outside of Moscow, St Pete, or Vlad.. for less than .16 a minute please make a post about it.

fwiw, 1010220 works great - never a problem.  

[Oscar]

... in response to Re: Phone cards?, posted by BrianN on Jun 13, 2002

.

[KenC]

... in response to 17 cents a minute with the 1015335 dial ..., posted by Oscar on Jun 13, 2002

n/t

[Oscar]

... in response to Thanks but I get 18 cents/min via AT&..., posted by KenC on Jun 13, 2002

How are you getting 18 cents??  I think it is likely the phone line quality would be beter with AT&T than some dial-arounds but I can't find anything lower with AT&T than 23 cents with a $2.95 monthly fee..
 
That dial-around I posted has no monthly fee or anything but it has a 10 minute minimum (which you would always use of course) but sometimes you can get cut off after just a few minutes etc.. and have to pay for the whole 10 minutes.