International Calls
International calls can be dialed direct from private or (more expensively) public phones. Most expensive of all is dialing direct from your hotel room, which often gets billed at the highest rate and then has a surcharge of up to forty percent slapped on top - so avoid doing this if at all possible. You can get assistance from the international operator (tel 00) , who may also interrupt every three minutes asking for more money. The lowest rates for international calls to Europe are between 6pm and 7am, when the rate is about $5 for the first three minutes. One of the most convenient ways of phoning home from abroad is via a telephone charge card . Using access codes for the particular country you are in and a PIN number, you can make calls from most hotel, public and private phones that will be charged to your own account. While rates are always cheaper from a residential phone at off-peak rates, that's normally not an option when you're traveling. If you do use a calling card in conjunction with a residential phone, when you're staying as a guest, for instance, you will be paying the calling card company's rates, which will usually be more expensive than the local operator's. You may be able to use it to minimize hotel phone surcharges, but don't depend on it. However, the benefit of calling cards is mainly one of convenience, as rates aren't necessarily cheaper than calling from a public phone while abroad and can't compete with discounted off-peak times many local phone companies offer. But because most major charge cards are free to obtain, it's certainly worth getting one at least for emergencies; inquire first though whether your destination is covered. If you like to chat on the phone for a long time, consider the city-specific cards on sale at delis and corner stores in most major urban areas. They come in denominations of $5, $10 and $20 and allow bargain overseas rates - calls to the UK work out around 3c/minute. In the USA and Canada , AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Canada Direct and other North American long-distance companies all enable their customers to make credit-card calls while overseas. Call your company's customer service line to find out if they provide service from the US, and, if so, what the toll-free access code is. Calls made from overseas will automatically be billed to your home number. In the UK and Ireland , British Telecom (tel 0800/345144) will issue free to all BT customers the BT Charge Card, which can be used in 116 countries; AT&T (Dial 0800/890 011, then 888 641 6123 when you hear the AT&T prompt to be transferred to the Florida Call Center, free 24 hours) has the Global Calling Card. NTL (tel 0500/100 505) issues its own Global Calling Card, which can be used in more than sixty countries abroad, though the fees cannot be charged to a normal phone bill. To call Australia and New Zealand from overseas, telephone charge cards such as Telstra Telecard or Optus Calling Card in Australia, and Telecom NZ's Calling Card can be used. Fees are charged back to a domestic account or credit card. Apply to Telstra (tel 1800/038 000), Optus (tel 1300/300 937) or Telecom NZ (tel 04/801 9000).
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