Hey everyone,
This is only partially related to Study Abroad things, but I can’t find any other sub-forum that’s appropriate, so here we go:
I’m broke as a joke but still trying to put together a trip to England next month anyway so I can see some old friends from my study abroad days there. They’ll all be good about putting me up so I won’t have to worry about hotels, but of course there are meals and lots and lots of drinks we’ll be having together, so I’ve definitely got to save some cash. What specifically has me worried, beyond the plane tickets, is that my office needs me to call in to the weekly meetings — they say it’s such a busy time of year next month that everyone, even if they’re on vacation, needs to call in and participate in these $*&H% meetings, which can last up to three hours. And no, they’re not even reimbursing me for the call time (struggling small company and all). I can handle spending three hours per week on the phone, but I can’t handle paying for that when it comes to international cell phone charges. What to do, what to do? I thought I would come on here and see if anyone else has had to call The States on the cheap. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Dan
You might want to check out www.skype.com Free pc to pc calls anywhere in the world. Another option would be their skypeout service. Pc to any landline phone from the US to the UK and vice-versa. Current rate is $0.021 a minute. 3 hours would equal $3.78. Hope this helps. Good luck!
The calling from a PC thing might be OK, but you might not have that kind of laptop, or your friends might not have the software on their PCs, or they might resent you downloading said software, etc.
What you need is a good old-fashioned calling card. Since you’re calling your company you want something reliable and established that you know has good connections and clear sound, and of course you also want it cheap. The best I can think of that is both cheap and reliable would be onesuite cards. (Onesuite actually does have broadband calling now, too, in case you want to go that route.) I’ve used these often while traveling and they haven’t failed me yet. Have a good trip and tell us about it when you get back.
Tom