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Melodie

Hello all you travellers! The boss is travelling to Italy next week and may need to make a few phone calls home (unfortunately :roll: )...he's looking for the best way to accomplish that - when he was in Paris last month and called the office, it cost him $35 on his credit card! Complete waste of money...

Anyone have any suggestions I can pass along?

GRAZIE!!

LaSignoraMusica · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 274 Location: The Netherlands

You mean that he was calling from the hotel? I guess there always will be hotel-exploiters who take advantage of it. You can make international calls also from the public phones in Italy, and use your credit card. Or buy a special phonecard. but I don't know what it costs to the US. Maybe he can inform with his cell-phone company, if it's possible to make international calls. I know people who can do that, and not even at high costs. And Andrea calls his mother always after a concert, no matter where he is. By cellphone of course. And I know that he is quite economical...
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Melodie · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 1:46 pm Post subject:

No, he wasn't calling from his hotel...he used a public pay phone and used his credit card - that was their charge.

I've suggested to him that he buy a prepaid calling card, because you can call domestic or international with them. But since he only listens to me AFTER I prove my point, I brought this question here...his concern is that the telephone company/companies in Italy wouldn't recognize the access code of the calling card...

Winnie · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 133

Hi--I had good luck last summer with the international phone cards sold in tobacco shops. I used cards costing 5 and 10 Euros, which each lasted for several calls. In fact, I called home from Italy every other day for three weeks, often talking more than a half hour. All my calls combined totaled just under 25 Euros!

The year before, I made the terrible mistake of using the 800 number posted on public telephones in Rome. Two fairly short calls totaled over $150!

Winnie

Melodie · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 1:59 pm Post subject:

Winnie, are those cards purchased here or there...I know that the calling cards I've bought at COSTCO have codes for International calls - but the question would be: can those calls be made FROM other countries.

Sorry, just trying to get answers to all the questions he's going to ask me. :?

Winnie · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 133

Hi--They're purchased in Italy (in tobacco shops--the same places where local bus tickets are sold).

Winnie

Big Fan Sue · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 191 Location: New York, USA

If your boss is not making many phones calls, the phone cards in the tobacco shops that Winnie mention are the best.
However, if he/she needs to make many calls back home renting an international cell phone is the best.
I forgot the name of the one with the best rate. One place (for example) is
www.abroad-phone-rental.com
You pay something like $9.99 and up for a package depending how long you are keeping the phone.
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Annalisa · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 7

The suggestion made about purchasing a phone card in the country you're visiting is a very good one. Although "international" cards are available in the US, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, so always wait to buy a card when you arrive at your destination. The cell phone idea sounds good too. I'll have to check that out. :D

guest · Guest

The best place to make phone calls in Italy to the US is from the POST OFFICE. They have 'metered booths' - at least in all the bigger cities and towns.

SB · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 57 Location: Massachusetts USA

Hi Melodie, I have use phone cards in Italy that are purchased there. Usually the ones purchased in the US don't work. All cards purchased there are not all alike. Some can only be used in a pay phone. Others can be use anywhere. also the amount of time you get can vary widely. I purchased one for 5 euro and only got 5 minutes . another card gave me 2 hours for 10 euros. It is best to ask a local. They will steer you in the right direction. ciao :lol:

guest · Guest

AGAIN, all phone calls made in Italy are made at the metered phones in the POST OFFICE. Phone cards or not, this is where you make your phone calls.

Nellie · Guest

guest · Guest

No, it is not a regulation; it is a fact. The cheapest place to make a phone call in Italy is at the Post Office. They have someone who assigns you a phone in a booth that has a meter telling you the time and at some the amount. You pay the teller when you finish the call. I am not sure if you can use a phone card at the PO.

Martha · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Texas Hill Country

I have used a pre-paid global card (IDT), which I bought through my long distance carrier here. It works just great from hotel rooms, if the phone is not a pulse phone. The rate is about 20 cents a minute for mine. I also used it in Arezzo at a public phone, but that requires a local Italian phone card (purchased in a tobaccho shop for about $5) in order to access a phone line.

In Siena, my local phone card wouldn't work at pay phones so I bought a long distance phone card at a tobaccho shop. I think those are about 10-15 cents a minute, and you get so many minutes with them, depending on which one you purchase. Those, however, only work with pay phones, at least in my experience.

It just depends on what the phoning times and needs are, and where you are. Personally, I carry both with me now, so that there is some flexibility, especially with the time differences and people's schedules in the different time zones.

Good luck, it is always such an adventure over there to figure it all out!!! :lol:

Martha

June Morrow · Guest

If your boss is going to travel to Europe and beyond more and more often, it just might be better to purchase a cell phone that has the ability to call internationally. My people travel globally a lot and that's what we use. It is less expensive in the long run.