To be competitive in the market place phone card suppliers come up with all sorts of ways to make their phone cards look cheaper. Unsuspecting customers generally buy their phone cards based only on the per minute cost of the phone call.

Calling card suppliers know this and try to hide the cost of the phone call in charges other than the call rate. These charges all add up to make the cost of the phone call breakeven after an average length phone call.

Some of the more common ways of hiding calling costs are:
- surcharges
- peak rate call charges
- monthly charges and weekly or daily maintenance or service fees
- quick expiry
- automatic recharge
- frequent or timed disconnections
- large billing increments
- credit card transaction fees

The surcharges are not the same as a connection or flag-fall fee. A surcharge is generally related to the length of a call and charged at a set time interval after you start speaking, so for example after 5 or 10 minutes a fee of 40c may be charged. This is because not everybody's call is an average length and so the surcharge fee recovers the money for the cheaper call rate. This surcharge can vary depending on the destination you are calling.

If you buy a phone card based on off-peak rates it means it is only really the best card for you during the off-peak period. Most often these off-peak periods are the most inconvenient time of day like 3 am. They are cheaper because the phone card supplier can buy minutes cheaper when no one wants them. You should always buy your calling card based on comparing the peak call rates. That way you are buying the cheapest phone card for when you will actually be using it.

Some calling cards apply a daily, weekly or monthly service fee that eats away at your credit even when you are not using the phone card. With these phone cards it is better to buy the smaller denominations like $5 or $10 and use the whole phone card in one or two calls.

Phone cards have a life lasting from 1 to 12 months. After this they expire and any credit remaining unused on the phone card is lost. The average life of a phone card is 3 months. Any phone cards with a very short life of less than one month should be avoided.

You should be sure to check that your phone card is for a single purchase and that it doesn't automatically charge your credit card again when it is empty to top up or replenish the minutes on the phone card.

If your phone calls drop out after a certain time and this is at the same point each time it probably has a call duration limit. These are often set to 1 or 2 hours. If they frequently drop out at random times this is due to poor line quality. Limited call durations are not only inconvenient but can be very costly if a fixed call duration is combined with high connection fees. You keep getting disconnected and when you redial you are charged another connection fee.

Usually phone cards are billed in one minute increments. This means that if you talk for two and a half minutes you will be charged for 3 minutes. Your standard telecom landline service is generally billed in 1 or 6 sec increments. Some cards bill in 10 minutes increments which means you need to talk for 10, 20 or 30 minutes to get the best value from the card. If, for example, you talked for 13 minutes your call would be rounded up and you would still be charged for 20 minutes!

Make sure you are not charged a transaction fee when you buy your card using a credit card. Sometimes you only see this on your credit card statement a month later. It will generally be about an additional 2% fee to recover the merchant processing fees the bank charges the phone card supplier for using their processing facilities.

Another danger you must be aware of is that if you loose your phone card the company will not replace it. This is because someone else can find it and use the remaining balance. You should keep a record of the PIN number in a safe place in addition to details printed on the actual card.

With the introduction of calling cards, long distance calling has become very economical and simple. But choosing the right card has become a tough job. It is now believed that globally, calling cards are the most economical telephony option as tariffs are the lowest.

The card enables a customer to make local, STD or ISD calls even from an STD-barred telephone. Nearly every service operator has similar charges for the most-common destinations. The most important thing about picking your calling card is to sit down and figure out what types of calls you make on a daily basis, what time of day, what city and state, how many minutes per month, etc. Once you have this figured out, it is time to research plans. Then pick the best plan for the calls you make.

When purchasing a calling card, make sure the calling card company has a remarkable business reputation and also has the capabilities to stand behind its products. The best option to choose a calling card is to choose the one, which has no connection fee. Before buying a calling card, find out the average rate per minute after taking into account all the costs.

You should know about the service fee, maintenance fee, etc. Maintenance fee is the hidden fee, which gets charged either on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. If this fee is there, this card should be chosen only if you are going to exhaust the card before the specified period. The billing depends on whether you call a local access dial in number or a toll free number. It is advisable to call the local dial-in number as it works out cheaper compared to the toll free number.

Some phone cards charge a long talking fee if the call goes beyond a specified duration. This duration is usually around 20 minutes so it is better to know and reconnect around this period. One has to take care of the expiration date because you cannot use the card after the expiration date even if you have talk time left after that date.

As with mobile phones, the question "which card to choose" is complicated. The best card depends on where you travel and what sort of billing you prefer. For many overseas travelers, a calling card proves to be a wonderful choice.

Phone cards are an excellent way to stay in touch with family and friends without ending up with an astronomical phone bill at the end of the month. But before you choose the phone card that seems to be the cheapest available, be sure you know all the details of how that particular phone card works.

Some phone card companies have a service charge for each call you make using the card. That means that you will lose several minutes each time you use the card - typically anywhere from four minutes to eight or even ten. If you have a phone card company touting their "three-cent a minute" rates, be sure of their service charges. If you are also losing an additional ten minutes for every connection you make, the rates go up considerably.

One gimmick used by phone card companies is that they give you a price "per unit" instead of "per minute." The significance is that there are different costs for different phone calls. You may pay only a penny or two per unit, but you may find that you are being charged several units per minute. For example, if you pay two cents per unit and you are phone call costs ten units per minute, you're paying twenty cents a minute - significantly higher than the many reputable phone cards. Per unit cards may very well be a good deal, but find out how many units you can expect to pay for phone calls before you shell out the money for one of these cards.

Rechargeable phone cards are sometimes an excellent deal because the additional minutes you purchase are often cheaper than the original cost of the card. If you think about it, it's fairly easy to see why. Instead of buying another pieces of plastic, you're simply buying the service - less cost to the company.

Buying larger amounts is also typically a good way to get the best deal on a phone card. Companies typically offer a better price per minute if you purchase a card with two or more hours of calling time than for a card with only a half hour. Again, it's a simple matter of marketing and you can see that the cost of producing the plastic card is a factor in that cost.

There is no doubt that phone cards are a good way to stay in touch, especially in some situations. Taking time to choose a reliable company for your phone card purchase is an important step in being sure you make the best selection for your phone card company provider.

The convenience made by using prepaid phone cards has allowed it to become very popular in the United States. Prepaid calling cards can be bought almost anywhere, in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, bookstores etc. They’re even sometimes sold in fundraisers or charity events. It is estimated that from 250 to 300 million such cards are already in circulation.

A prepaid phone card allows the customer to call almost anywhere from almost any phone simply by dialing a toll-free access number, and entering your personal identification number (PIN), and dialing the number you want to reach. Some prepaid cards even allow you to speed dialing functions.

Since there two types of prepaid phone cards available in the market currently, you can buy more talk time in two ways. First, if your card is rechargeable, you can call a toll-free number to get the card recharged, by paying for the new time alloted by credit card. If the card is however, one you discard when you’ve used all the time on it, all you need to do is just buy a new one.

Prepaid phone cards have some clear advantages over credit calling cards. For example, credit calling cards may charge more for your long-distance call at certain times than others, whereas you usually pay a uniform price per minute if you use your prepaid phone card, at least for calls within the U.S.

On the other hand, prepaid phone cards, whose per-minute rates, according to one study, varied from 9 to 57 cents, are usually more expensive than making calls from home. Should you lose your prepaid card, you’ve lost only the value of the time remaining on it. With a credit calling card, you risk losing an undetermined amount, for the time your card may be used by someone else until you cancel it.

To be exactly sure that you’re getting adequate service from your chosen prepaid phone card, check the firm’s pay phone surcharges, if any. Find out also if there is a minimum calling time required, and inquire of the card uses the "rounding" technique, like a company could round calling times to the nearest minute, or the nearest three minutes. That is actually the most important factor in determining the how fast the minutes are deducted from your calling cards.

It is imperative to analyze and make comparisons before choosing a prepaid call card service. First, one must have a wider knowledge of how you are going to make full use of the phone, where will you make the calls,when and how long the calls would be made. It is important for a user to acquire pertinent call rates and charging information.

Prepaid phone cards with low per minute rates, or with high surcharges are typically great for making long calls within a 10-15 minute span or even quite longer. However, if the caller would be calling for less than 10 minutes, a prepaid calling card that has a higher per minute rate with low surcharges will be better.

If you are living abroad or working abroad, you certainly need a way to communicate with family and friends. Using prepaid international phone card is a good choice when in terms to finding convenient way to communicate.

There are lots of prepaid international calling cards that you can choose from and all of these cards have their own rates, features and services. In prepaid international calling cards, you can find a lot of different features and benefits that you can have such as pin-less dialing, no hidden charges, speed dialing and recharge and auto recharge. Certainly these are the features that users would want in a prepaid international calling card. As a customer, you have to know exactly the features to look up in a prepaid international phone card.

You have to take a few minutes of your time and effort in looking for the features you need in a prepaid international phone card, in order to find the one that can give you convenience. One feature that you have to look up in a prepaid international calling card is that it is easy to use. It can be more appealing and convenient for you if it is easy to use. If the prepaid calling card that you are using is easy to operate and not complicated, it will be hassle-free on your part. Yes, there are prepaid calling cards that offer such feature; they eliminate the need of dialing the pin every time you make a call. All you need to do is register.

Another feature you can look up is that the prepaid international calling card does not have extra fees and charges just to get the service. And there will be no penalty when you decide to cancel the service. This is a feature that can be appealing on your part, since it will not cost you a lot in getting the service you want and need. You also have to find a prepaid calling card company that can provide you security. You should look for a company that can give great service regarding your account and account information, since your account information should be kept private and protected from other callers, especially if you are into online service.

Another great feature you need to have is a reliable and dependable customer care service. By having such service, you could manage your account and you can easily ask for assistance and help regarding your prepaid international calling card. These are the great features that you need to find in a prepaid international phone card. So all you need to need to do is allocate some time and effort in finding the best one that can suit your needs and wants.

Calling cards can help you talk your heart out and yet save money.

There was a time, before phone cards, when long distance and international calls, even to friends and relatives within the same state or country, required a good amount of preparations. Everyone making international calls had to back-calculate:

• How much money do I want to spend on this international call?
• How many minutes does it give me?
• And what do I need to talk for this many minutes?

Sound funny? Yes, it does in today's world, where phone cards are making long distance and international calls cheaper day by day. Phone cards were first introduced to make long distance calling easy and convenient. One could make long distance and international calls from any phone using these cards. Then came the price war between the long distance operators and the cost of calling using calling cards started coming down significantly compared to post-paid phone connections.

Phone cards offered today come with different facilities and operating modes:

• Some need a PIN to activate.
• Some need a call to be placed from pre-registered numbers.
• Some need a call to be placed on a toll-free number first to dial long distance, or
• A combination of two of more of the above. Modes of payment also differ from operator to operator:
• Some cards can be used only as pre-paid ones. Once the minutes allocated for the value of the card are over, the card is of no use.
• Some cards come with the facility of “filling in minutes” by paying an additional amount once the allocated minutes are consumed.
• Payments are generally accepted over the Internet or in collections centers in cash or via credit cards.

Phone cards have, no doubt, made international calls more accessible and cheaper. But still, differences in service and rates offered by various operators exist. Hence, it is advisable to shop around a little before buying a phone card. Some of the factors one needs to consider are:

• Reliability of the operator: Many fly-by-night operators also came in to the phone card business looking at the response rate and the market size. Avoid them.
• Service quality of the operator: Check if the calls can be connected at any time and if the line and voice quality is really clear.
• Rates: Rates offered by operators differ from state to state and country to country. They may also depend on the time when you call – higher at the time of peak traffic. Hence, check out where you are likely to call most and then decide on your operator.