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International mobile phones have become very popular with international travelers especially business travelers who can now take their office with them wherever they travel. However, it is a very costly way to make international phone calls while on a trip. International cell phone carriers typical charge for incoming as well as outgoing calls and rates can be anywhere from $1 to several US dollars per minute. Therefore, international cell phones are a convenient option for making international calls but it is not an affordable option for most travelers.

With summer travel season near many people are planning trips. Some are planning international trips and are likely thinking about how they might stay in touch while on vacation. International cell phones are a very good option for emergency use while on an overseas trip. Friends, family and business associates can easily make contact in the event of an emergency at home and it is very convenient means of keeping in touch. There are companies that offer international cell phone rentals and it is possible to rent mobile phones at many international destinations. Most rental companies charge a nominal daily fee for renting a phone even if no calls are made. However, they charge a pretty hefty rate for incoming as well as outgoing calls. Most people do not want to spend several hundred dollars on communication services while on vacation so, for these people, an international cell phone is great for emergency use but their cheaper options for making calls home to chat.

The cheapest option for making international calls while traveling are international phone cards. These offer convenience and low cost. Prepaid phone cards can be purchased before leaving home and they can be used to budget communication expenses while on a trip. They can typically be used from almost any telephone and rates on calls are only a few cents per minute versus up to a few dollars per minute for international cell phones. Phone cards are not as convenient as an international cell phone but who wants to waste time talking on the phone while on vacation.

If you make international business trips and carry a laptop computer than PC-to-Phone service is a great way to stay connected while on the road. As long as you have an INTERNET connection, you can make cheap international calls from any location to other computers or to any phone in the world. Calls to other computers using the same PC-to-Phone software are often Free while there is a charge for placing calls to phones (landlines or cell phones). The rates vary depending on the country and the type of phone called but rates are much lower than those charged by international hotels or long distance carriers. PC-to-Phone service is also popular with students, expats and people who operate small businesses with an international focus.

PC-to-Phone service providers continue to add new features that make their product more flexible and convenient to use. For example, Skype, one of the most popular PC-to-Phone service providers, offers free calls to other Skype users and the following added features.

• Low rates on calls to landlines and cell phones.
• An online phone number so people can reach you on Skype from any phone.
• The ability to send text messages from Skype.
• A built in Voice Mail feature so calls are never missed.
• Call forwarding that forwards incoming calls to a regular phone when the user is off-line.
• Mobile applications so Skype can be used from Mobile Phones.

Skype has continued to innovate and add features in order to broaden the appeal of their service.

We think Skype is a great option for people who want to make free calls to other Skype users. However, Skype’s international rates on calls to landlines and cell phones are not as low as other cheap international calling options. In addition to a per-minute charge for each call, Skype also charges a connection fee for each call made to a land-line or cell phone. In order to evaluate the relative cost of making international calls to landlines or cell phones with Skype, we compared the international rates charged by Skype to those charged by Tel3Advantage for the same call from the USA. Tel3Advantage was selected for this comparison since it is a high quality prepaid calling plan that can be used to make low cost domestic or international long distance calls from any phone without changing companies and it is very popular with those who make frequent international calls from the USA or Canada.

We compared Skype published rates (excluding their connection fee) to those charged by Tel3Advantage to the following popular destinations.

In many cases, the rates charged on international calls to mobile phones are substantially higher than the rate charged for the same call to a land-line. Therefore, when making international calls, callers should take care and read the fine print so they fully understand the rate charged for making a call to the type of phone they plan to call or they may receive an unpleasant surprise. In most cases, rates on international calls to mobile phones are higher than they are for calls to landlines but this is not always the case. The rate difference varies between countries and service providers so it is best to shop around in order to find the lowest cost product for making calls to the country and type of phone you wish to call.

We did some research on this topic by comparing the rates charged by Tel3Advantage, a popular prepaid calling plan, on international calls to mobile phones and landlines in various countries. We found there were some regional patterns to the data but no consistent rules. The following is a summary of our key observations.

• The rate charged on calls to mobile phones is substantially higher than they would be for the same call to a land-line. This seemed to be a typical pattern. Especially for international calls made to countries located in Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. However, there were exceptions so callers should check the countries they wish to call before making any conclusions. Some popular locations where the rates charged on international calls to mobile phones are significantly higher than they are to landlines: Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico and the UK. For example, a call to a mobile phone in Italy from the USA costs 14.7 cents per-minute while a call to a land-line costs 1.8 cents per-minute.

• In some cases, the rate charged on calls to mobile phones were the same as those charged to landlines. Many of these locations were in Asia but there were many exceptions. We discovered the following popular destinations: Bermuda, China, India and Thailand.

• We also found cases where international calls to mobile phones where cheaper than calls to landlines. This is true on calls to the following popular destinations: Cuba, Egypt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Syria and Uzbekistan. In most cases, the difference in cost is small. For example, the rate charged for an international call to a mobile phone in Egypt is 9.4 cents per-minute while the charge for the same call to a land-line is 9.8 cents.

International callers should shop around for the best deal when deciding on a product to use for making cheap international calls. They should recognize that rates can vary significantly between countries and the type of phone they wish to call. It may be prudent to use one product for making calls to cell phones and another product to make calls to landlines. There are a wide selection of phone cards and other prepaid calling products to choose from so most callers can find substantial savings by shopping for the product that best fits their needs.

Tel3Advantage offers some of the cheapest rates on international calls to Costa Rica. The rate is only 2.8 cents per-minute for the first 30 days if a new customer signs up under the Tel3Advantage Triple Promo. This rate includes all fees and taxes. The same low rate applies to calls to cell phones or land-lines and there are no restrictions. In addition, new customers get up to 321 Free Minutes as a bonus when they open a new account.

Tel3Advantage prepaid long distance is also a safe option since it offers one of the most popular international calling plans in North America. They have been in business for over 15 years and have more than 100,000 active customers. The also have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. It can be used to make cheap long distance (domestic or international) from any phone in Canada or the USA without changing phone companies. It is simple to use since there is no need to dial account numbers or PIN codes when making a call. There are no long term contracts or maintenance fees. Simply use the service as much or as little as you like and only pay for the minutes used. Tel3Advatage also provides customers with a free on-line account where they can make changes to their account and monitor account activity. Up to 10 phones can be linked to one account so the same account can be used with your home, cell or business phones.

Tel3Advantage offers the lowest rates to Costa Rica and other popular destinations.

If you make international calls to China from the USA or Canada than this may be of interest to you. Tel3Advantage announced recently that they have lowered their rates for international calls to China from North America from 1.7 to 1.32 cents-per-minute. This rate includes all fees and taxes if the caller uses a local access number when placing the call. A 1 cent-per-minute surcharge is added if the caller uses the Tel3Advantage toll free access number to make the call. It is not hard to avoid the surcharge since Tel3 has a wide network of local access numbers. Calls can be made from any kind of telephone, including mobile phones and hotel or business phones. Tel3Advantage now has the lowest rates on international calls to China from North America.

It is possible to get a lower rate on international calls for the first 30 days if a new customer opens an account using the Tel3Advantage Triple Promo offer. The rate on calls to China for the first 30 days using this offer is only 1 cent-per-minute and the new customer can also get up to 900 free minutes as a sign-up bonus. Visit Tel3Advantage Triple Promo for details or call 800 441 0321.

A phone card purchase represents prepaid long distance phone time. It is paid in advance and can be used over a period of time. It can be used to make one phone call or it can be used to make multiple calls to more than one destination. Each phone card has a unique number or PIN code so a computer can track the usage and deduct the charge for each call from the starting value or “face value” of the phone card. Some phone cards expire if not used by a certain period of time while other phone cards have no expiration date.

A Phone Card is used by dialing a special phone number which is referred to as an access number. Some phone cards have one access number and others have multiple numbers. Access numbers can be local or they can be toll free. In any case, a phone card is used by dialing an access number and following the prompts in order to place a call. In some cases, one of the prompts will request the user to enter a PIN code to identify the phone card being used. Some phone cards do not require the user to enter a PIN code. These PIN-Free phone cards require the user to register the phone number or numbers where they plan to make calls from and the computer can track their usage with caller ID technology. PIN-Free phone cards a much easier to use since the caller does not need to enter a special code whenever they want to place a call. PIN-Free dialing is a common feature found with high quality virtual phone cards that are purchased from on-line merchants.

Phone cards are purchased in denominations that range from $2 to $100 or more. It is usually best to purchase the smallest denomination first and try using the card before making a large purchase. Prepaid phone cards can be purchased from newsstands, convenience stores, retail stores and from INTERNET merchants. Since prepaid phone cards can have a variety of added costs and hidden fees it is best to study the details and fine print of a phone card before making a purchase. Some phone cards also have limited usage. For example, they can only be used to make domestic long distance calls or to make international long distance calls to specific countries. Be sure to understand the limits of a phone card before making a purchase.

On-line phone cards can typically be purchased using a major credit card or Pay Pal account. Many on-line phone card merchants provide buyers with a user account where the details of the users phone cards are stored. This can be a handy feature for people who make frequent calls and want to track usage. Virtual phone cards like Tel3Advantage come with a variety of features including on-line account management, PIN Free Dialing, call history and speed dial which makes the product very convenient to use.

Many people find prepaid phone cards to be a convenient, money saving product. Prepaid phone cards are convenient since they can be used to make calls from any kind of telephone. They can also save consumers money since the rates are typically cheaper than those offered by phone companies and, since payment is made in advance, they can be used to budget and control phone expense. Phone cards are typically used by people who regularly call overseas, travelers, students and those who do not have regular long-distance phone service.

The 2009 Tel3Advantage Christmas phone card promotion is in progress. During this promotion new customers who sign-up for the Tel3Advantage Flex Plan will get twice the normal sign-up bonus. It is free to open an account and all a new customer needs to do to qualify for the bonus is make an initial deposit. The amount of the bonus depends on the amount deposited but it ranges from $2 to $18. The bonus can be used to make free domestic and international calls to any location in the world. If you plan to make any international calls from North America this holiday season than you should sign-up for Tel3, get their holiday bonus and try one of the best quality prepaid long distance services in North America. Find out why Tel3 has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and more than 100,000 satisfied customers. Visit Tel3Advantage for details or call 800 441 0321 and ask for the Christmas promo.

The UK is one of the most popular calling destinations from the USA and Canada. It is also one of the lowest cost destinataions. It is relatively easy to find an international prepaid calling plan or high quality phone card with rates of 1 or 2 cents per-minute on calls from North America to UK land-lines but cell phones are another mater. Typical rates on calls to UK cell phones range from 10 cents per-minute to 25 cents per-minute or more. Even Vonage World, which boasts free calls to the UK, lists a 28 cent per-minute rate on calls to UK cell phones. Not exactly free, especially when one adds in taxes and other fees.

We have done some research and found that there are some options for making cheap calls to UK cell phones. It appears that the best options involve the use of prepaid phone cards or other prepaid calling products. One option is Tel3Advantage which charges only 10.5 cents per-minute (triple promo rate) on calls from the USA or Canada to cell phones in the UK. Tel3advantage does not charge added fees or taxes so this is an all inclusive rate if a local access number is used to place the call. Another good option is the Simply international phone card. It lists a rate of 11.4 cents per-minute but it does charge service and maintenance fees so all costs should be taken into account when making a decision.

These are both good options for making cheap calls to UK cell phones which could save callers a significant amount of money over the holiday season.

With the Holiday Season fast approaching, a perfect gift for a friend or loved one who is far away may be the gift of a phone card. A phone card gift card can be delivered to any location in the world instantly via e-mail and there is no tax, duty or delivery fee. A phone card gift card is very easy to purchase and is a useful gift, even for the person who has everything.

A gift card can be purchased in any amount (from $5 to $100) and the recipient can trade it in for any phone card they want. So they can choose the best phone card for their needs from a vast range of phone cards including those with a global reach and a full range of special features.

Purchasing a gift card is easy. Once you complete a gift card purchase you will receive an email containing a PIN number and a link – all that is needed for a phone card to be selected and activated. Just send this information to your friend or loved one and they can choose the phone card they want. It is that easy.

Visit Phone Cards International to review a full range of international phone cards and choose the gift card option if you would like to send a special gift to a friend or loved one this holiday season.

Making international phone calls from France or other European countries to the USA has never been easier or cheaper. As consumer prices continue to climb the cost of making international phone calls continue to drop. This is the result of increased competition and advances in technology. It is now possible to make free international calls using PC-to-Phone service or other INTERNET based technologies like VoIP phone service from nearly any location in the world.

The advent of the INTERNET has no doubt had an impact on international calling rates but, even without competition from the INTERNET, the cost of making international phone calls has been dropping. This has been partially due to improvements in technology but a major factor has been industry deregulation which has dramatically increased competition by allowing new companies to enter the market. There is now a wide variety of international phone cards that can be used to make cheap calls from home, business or cell phones in more than 230 countries. The quality and convenience of these prepaid products have continued to improve as the cost continues to decline.

Another interesting product that can be used to make cheap international calls from nearly any location in the world is international callback. By using international callback phone service, cheap international calls can be made from any country by routing the phone call through a low cost third country. This can save international callers in some countries a lot of money. Especially those countries that keep artificially high international rates by not allowing competition. There are still many countries that route international calls through local, monopoly phone companies and international rates from these countries can be extremely high. International callback is a great way to save money when making calls from these countries.

Making cheap calls from France and the rest of Europe is easy because the market is mostly deregulated and there are many products to choose from. We especially like prepaid phone cards because they offer good value and ultimate convenience. They can be used while traveling to make calls from land-lines or cell phones and can be used to make cheap calls from hotels. Another option is PC-to-Phone service if a high speed INTERNET connection is available. There are many options for making cheap international calls these days, the best and cheapest option typically depends on the technology available to the user and the location where the caller expects to use the products.