Buying prepaid long-distance calling cards is a way to save money on international phone calls. However customer needs to be aware of extra charges that add to the cost.

Last December, the Federal Competition Bureau said it was receiving many complaints about hidden fees, as well as higher rates and fewer minutes than advertised. The Competition Bureau has undertaken an initiative to ensure that consumers receive proper disclosure of any terms and conditions that affect the value and use of prepaid long distance telephone calling cards.

When deciding which type of prepaid calling card to purchase, consumers should be wary of “too good to be true” claims such as “the lowest rates” or “one cent per minute” as there may be hidden extra charges.

One way to protect yourself is to deal with a reputable phone cards providers and purchase calling cards with no hidden fees. Check out CiCi calling card (www.cicicallingcard.info). CiCi has one of the most completive rates in the industry with no connection fees or other hidden charges. You may found CiCi in many retail outlets ranging from convenience
stores (Mac’s and 7-Eleven) to gas stations (Shell and Petro Canada). Another card with good service and no hidden fees is First Choice calling card (www.firstchoicecallingcard.com).

You may purchase CiCi and First Choice calling cards online and receive your PIN number and calling instruction by email. You may find these and many other calling cards at Ontario Phone Cards (www.ontariophonecards.ca). This web site provides comprehensive information about different types of phone cards, accurate information on charges, reviews and recommendations.

One of the world’s biggest retailers of phone cards Company is Comfi.com.  They bear a big number of phone cards from all main vendors.  They supply huge variety of calling phone cards and allow users to call from 150 nations in all over the world. ComFi.com is the leading calling cards & phone cards online retailer. They carry wide selection of prepaid calling cards that satisfy any consumer and meet every calling need.  ComFi prepaid calling services evolved into much more than just phone cards. We provide high quality and cheap rate in worldwide calling cards that offer good rates for worldwide calling, long distance and domestic calling. It’s a great offer to student in US or in the short term residing in United States, because low rate 3 percent cash back prepaid calling phone cards will provide without doubt you with lowest rates and great discount currently available in phone card industry and special package offer for India calling card. So, you do not have to nervous about expensive international rates at any time you call home.

An easy quick guide to choosing the right prepaid calling card.

Figuring out how to select the right calling card in an over
saturated market can be daunting task. It seems like there are so many
options. Googleing the keywords “prepaid calling cards” will bring more
then 12,000,000 different responses. Many people simply search for the
card that will provide them the lowest rates. However, often don’t
realize that these cards are actually the most expensive.

In three easy steps learn how to pick the right calling card for
your needs. This will save you money and put you on the right track.

1. Identifying your needs.
2. Understanding your options.
3. Making a Selection.

Identifying Your Needs

With so many different cards to choose from its important to
identify exactly what your needs are. This will assist when trying to
decipher between cards.

Important things to consider when identifying your needs:

• Destination – Where are you calling?
  
• Duration – How long do you think your calls will be? Under 30 minutes or over an hour?
  
• Frequency – Is it a one time thing where you need to make an international call, or do you frequently make international calls?
  
• Connection Quality – do you need high connection quality, or are you simply looking for the cheapest way to place a call?
  
• Traveling – Do you need a calling card for when you travel, or is it for use in the United States?
  
• Business Use – Do you plan to use the card for business or personal use?
  
• Recharge – Are you looking for a phone card that can be recharged?

Understanding Your Options

It is extremely import to never underestimate how much calling time
a dollar can by you. Call to places like Europe, Parts of Asia, South
America and Australia for 40 minutes on just 1 dollar.

Now that you have identified your needs, it is important to
understand your options. Make sure you read all of the details of the
calling card before you purchase it. Many companies are very sneaky and
add unforeseen fees. Resulting in a one time use from the card,
expiring the minutes.

Fees

Many prepaid phone cards have hidden fees. Companies have designed
all sorts of creative fees. Such as connection fees, maintenance fees,
termination fees, disconnection fees, etc. Almost all wholesale rates
to major destinations are the same universally. Calling cards
displaying low rates tend to have that have fees associated with them
as way to make up for the low rates.

Depending on your needs, fees might not necessarily be bad. If you
have identified yourself, as someone who infrequently uses a calling
card, however have purchased one to make an international call, you
should be solely motivated by rates. This is true especially for people
who only plan to use the calling card once or twice then, no longer
need it. Purchasing a card with biweekly maintenance fee is beneficial
because in two weeks, the user will no longer need the card. However,
if you are someone who frequently makes international calls and
regularly uses a card, then selecting a card with no fees would provide
great benefit. While the rates may be higher, you won’t have to pay a
connection fee or almost a dollar in maintenance fees.

Minute rounding is another tactic calling card companies have
designed to seek the most amount of money from their customers. Most
calling card use 1 minute rounding. However, there is a large selection
of cards that use 2, 3 and 4-minute rounding. Minute rounding is how
your calls are charged.

For example a call lasting 33 seconds will charge minutes like this:

Obviously 1-minute rounding will save you most amount of money,
however, cards with higher minute rounding will provide low rates per
minute.

Almost all calling cards intended for use from the United States
provide toll free access numbers. Many calling cards also provide local
access numbers that will supple lower rates per minute. Generally, if
there is a local access number it will behoove you to use it. Even if
the number is not local to you many people have nationwide calling
plans on their cell phone. Meaning it won’t cost anything extra to call
a local access number in a different area code.

If you plan to purchase a prepaid calling card to make calls while
traveling, then you must make sure that the calling card you have
selected has access numbers in the country your are traveling to. In
addition you should check to see if it is a toll free or local access
number in that country. Like in the United States, a local access
number in a country will provide lower rates then the toll free number.

Calling cards are a great way for small business and home business
to reduce their international long distance spending. Many calling
cards on the market today also offer advanced features. Often these
types of calling cards are referred to as dial around long distance
services.

Common advanced dial around features include:

• PIN-less dialing
• Speed Dial
• Call Back
• International Access numbers
• Detailed calling records
• Automatic account recharge
• No fees associated
• Rechargeable

Generally, dial around long distance calling cards can be recharged,
however most traditional calling ards do not offer this option.
Recharges are great for people frequently using their card. It
eliminates the hassle of having purchase a new card. Turn the auto
account recharge feature on for your card, never have to bother with
adding funds to your account. It can be done automatically.

Searching on the Internet or even in stores you will find there is
wide variety of cards to choose from. There are the name brand cards.
These are calling cards released from major carriers such as AT&T,
MCI, IDT, Verizon, etc. Because they are name brand cards does not mean
they the best. Often name brand cards offer more expensive rates per
minute because you are paying a premium for the name. Calling cards
offered from smaller carriers are often better alternatives to name
brand cards. Having a smaller advertising budget allows them lower
their rates. Large companies like AT&T must regain several million
spent in advertising costs over the year and as a result pass expensive
rates to their customers.

Selecting the right calling card for your needs should be a low
involvement decision, however should require some thought to make sure
you are getting an adequate product. The best way to find out about a
good product is from someone that can give a testimony of its service.

Garrett Friedman is a well-known and respected published author of numerous telecom articles. Read about prepaid calling cards, prepaid phone cards, prepaid mobile phones and other telecom products from Long Distance Post, LLC. Your number one telecom provider.

You can always be in touch with you family, children and co-workers plus you don’t have to pay for high phone bills at the end of the month if you use a phone card. Many customers who have made long distance calls with a help of phone cards vote for them. You can use phone cards for:
To keep your Children and Co-workers in constant touch with You

If it is necessary for you to give phone cards to your children and co-workers so that they might be always in touch with you, you should be aware of the fact that the cards have been acquired from a reliable company. Some phone companies cannot satisfy your needs because whenever you use a phone card you always hear busy signals. It means that, any time you make a call, a recording on the other side of the line informs you of the circuits being engaged at that moment and you will have to make another call some time later. You will find it very irritable, especially if your call is of prime importance and there is no other opportunity to contact your partners.
In case you are worried about your child and you want to supervise him or her even when you are away, but the problem arises that children may not remember the number of the phone card? This problem is the one that can be solved quite easily. Just retain their phone cards and put some money on the account from time to time and you will enjoy your child’s voice any time. If your child always uses the same phone card, all he or she must do is to memorize only one contact number. But when you decide on following this procedure, you should be aware of the phone card company that provides you with phone cards. The company should be reliable at its utmost and be at hand at any time you want to prolong the validity of the phone card.
For travel
While you are traveling you can enjoy the advantages of using phone cards. You won’t have to pay high bills after using the hotel telephones. You can connect your office or relatives at home or any person you want to speak to while you are traveling. Whenever you have an overseas journey, you will find phone cards are extremely reliable and useful.

For students
Students who study abroad and far away from their homes can make long distance calls home from their hostels. It is convenient if you don’t have a long-distance provider. With phone cards you can minimize the use of phone during the month. And many people prefer phone cards to long distance service providers for this reason.

For home use
In case it is difficult for you to find a good long distance phone service at a good price, then phone cards are the only way out. You may need them for different reasons and you do find them profitable and advisable. You won’t have to pay huge sums of money at the end of the month as in the case with the long distance phone provider. If you use phone cards and charge your distant calls, you have to pay only for basic service. You will need some patience to dial first the phone card number before you can make a call.
You can come across another drawback when you are using phone cards - your partners won’t have your home number on their caller ID. Sometimes people do not answer the phone if they do not know who the caller is. The solution to the problem is to tell them that you are making calls with a help of phone cards.