Phone Cards to U.S. from Japan, China, Korea

[Walt Bilofsky]

Are inexpensive phone cards to call the U.S. readily available in
Japan, China and/or Korea (with instructions in English)?

Can they be used from pay phones?

Or, is there a decent card we can get in the U.S.? We would accept
somewhat higher rates for the convenience of not having to buy cards
in all three countries.

Last year we got a $20 MCI international card from Costco. It worked
great all over Europe, which was convenient because we went to a lot
of different countries. But now Costco is selling $30 Verizon cards
marked "95 cent payphone charge", which would eat up the card pretty
fast.

[Alfred Molon[_4_]]

In article >,
says...
> Are inexpensive phone cards to call the U.S. readily available in
> Japan, China and/or Korea (with instructions in English)?
>
> Can they be used from pay phones?
>
> Or, is there a decent card we can get in the U.S.? We would accept
> somewhat higher rates for the convenience of not having to buy cards
> in all three countries.
>
> Last year we got a $20 MCI international card from Costco. It worked
> great all over Europe, which was convenient because we went to a lot
> of different countries. But now Costco is selling $30 Verizon cards
> marked "95 cent payphone charge", which would eat up the card pretty
> fast.

For what concerns China, if you have a GSM phone, you can buy a prepaid
SIM card and use that for phone calls. In Japan and Korea you will need
a UMTS phone, or you could use a dual mode GSM-UMTS phone. This will
also give you a local phone number and you will be able to receive calls
while travelling.

Alternatively, if you travel with a notebook computer, use Skype to make
calls. It's easy to find hotels with fast DSL lines in China or Korea
(and probably also in Japan).
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

[Walt Bilofsky]

Alfred Molon > wrote:

>In article >,
says...
>> Are inexpensive phone cards to call the U.S. readily available in
>> Japan, China and/or Korea (with instructions in English)?
>>
>> Can they be used from pay phones?
>>
>> Or, is there a decent card we can get in the U.S.? We would accept
>> somewhat higher rates for the convenience of not having to buy cards
>> in all three countries.
>>
>> Last year we got a $20 MCI international card from Costco. It worked
>> great all over Europe, which was convenient because we went to a lot
>> of different countries. But now Costco is selling $30 Verizon cards
>> marked "95 cent payphone charge", which would eat up the card pretty
>> fast.
>
>For what concerns China, if you have a GSM phone, you can buy a prepaid
>SIM card and use that for phone calls. In Japan and Korea you will need
>a UMTS phone, or you could use a dual mode GSM-UMTS phone. This will
>also give you a local phone number and you will be able to receive calls
>while travelling.
>
>Alternatively, if you travel with a notebook computer, use Skype to make
>calls. It's easy to find hotels with fast DSL lines in China or Korea
>(and probably also in Japan).

Thanks, Alfred, but I am looking for the plastic phone cards that can
be used to make occasional calls from telephone booths.

The one sold on the MCI web site in the U.S. says it doesn't work from
pay phones in Japan.

[SMS]

Walt Bilofsky wrote:
> Are inexpensive phone cards to call the U.S. readily available in
> Japan, China and/or Korea (with instructions in English)?
>
> Can they be used from pay phones?
>
> Or, is there a decent card we can get in the U.S.? We would accept
> somewhat higher rates for the convenience of not having to buy cards
> in all three countries.
>
> Last year we got a $20 MCI international card from Costco. It worked
> great all over Europe, which was convenient because we went to a lot
> of different countries. But now Costco is selling $30 Verizon cards
> marked "95 cent payphone charge", which would eat up the card pretty
> fast.

You could use OneSuite from Japan to the U.S. (31¢) and Korea to the
U.S. (14¢), but they don't have access in all of China (28¢).

You don't need a card, you call a toll free number for access (except in
China, it's a local number in the southern provinces).

See "http://onesuite.com/access_international.asp"

I don't think that the payphone charge applies in all countries, but
you're right, that would eat the card value up pretty fast.

You might look into a callback service. The initial minute is high
because you have to call an international number, but then they call you
back at whatever number you indicate, and then you enter the number you
want to call. It's very cheap. China is 11¢/minute, Japan is 14¢/minute,
South Korea is 13¢/minute. See
"http://hiusa.ekit.com/ekit/About/MakingPhonecardCalls"

I.e., get an AT&T international calling card, and pay the 99¢/minute for
the first minute, but just call the callback number.

The question is whether or not you can receive an incoming call on a pay
phone in the countries in question. In the U.S. most non-private pay
phones will accept incoming calls.

[SMS]

Walt Bilofsky wrote:
> Are inexpensive phone cards to call the U.S. readily available in
> Japan, China and/or Korea (with instructions in English)?
>
> Can they be used from pay phones?
>
> Or, is there a decent card we can get in the U.S.? We would accept
> somewhat higher rates for the convenience of not having to buy cards
> in all three countries.
>
> Last year we got a $20 MCI international card from Costco. It worked
> great all over Europe, which was convenient because we went to a lot
> of different countries. But now Costco is selling $30 Verizon cards
> marked "95 cent payphone charge", which would eat up the card pretty
> fast.

Try "http://www.pingo.com/en/home.do"

I'm not vouching for them, but they appear to do what you need.