Englishmaple

I'm going to buy a pay as you go phone when I get to the UK this weekend(ulp!). Just wondering what is the cheapest way of making an international call using this type of phone (to make a call to Canada from the UK?

In Canada I use CICI cards which give very cheap rates for phoning to the UK.

Does the UK have any similar system? I won't need to make a lot of calls to Canada but probably 1 or 2 and I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it as I'm not sure whether I'll have any access to a landline.

Any info appreciated. Thx

lf1

Will you have access to a tablet/laptop/pc and wifi? If so, Skype is a great option and it is free. I use it everyday to call and receive calls from Canada.

Editha

Yes, I use Skype for international calls UK/Canada/Austria. Much cheaper than a phone.

Pulaski

Or a smart phone, my mother Skypes me on my phone.

Englishmaple

I will not have access to Skype for a while - and I know I won't have a smart phone.

It's to make calls to my Canadian bank - it will only be 1 or 2 calls (so just a very occasional thing) and I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it.

I might ask my landlord whether I can use his landline and then pay him. The bank have also said they can call me back but I'll need to make the initial call to them - and that's why I was wondering the cheapest way to do it?

So do they have cheap international call phone cards in the UK like CICI?

Englishmaple

Okay I've just found the answer! Tesco do international calling cards:

http://phone-shop.tesco.com/internat...d_icc-homepage

-rate to Canada is 2p a minute on a mobile which will be fine for me - and then I'll get the bank to call back on my landlords landline!

Pulaski

Planet Talk is half that, at 1p/minute UK to Canada, whether a "card", or "prepaid"! (not sure what the difference is)

http://www.planet-talk.co.uk/account/rates.aspx

I used that myself, my mother still does. Phone in on a free number (I think) so your landlord hopefully won't have a problem with you using his landline.

Englishmaple

Thanks! That's helpful

Dashie

I got cards from the Post Office too, they're around. However, check the different rates and options with your phone provider. Last time, I was able to add the option of cheaper rate international calls and texts, which was a huge bonus. Not quite as cheap as the cards, but the cards expire too, so worked out better in the long run. So it would likely be worth checking the different networks and seeing if anyone has anything like that still.

formula

Or this firm http://www.18185.co.uk/mobilerates.php

I used them for years for my landline.

CDNtoUK

Our mobiles are with Tesco and we've used their international link for overseas calls a few times as above. EnglishMaple, incoming calls on UK mobiles are free so no need to have them call your landlord's landline.

Pulaski

Incoming calls on a UK cell phone might be "free" for the cellphone owner, but they have a massive premium for the caller from outside the UK, which might be a problem for the bank (calls could even be blocked). IME All British 08___ numbers attract premium rates even local 0845 numbers. I am not certain about 0800 numbers, but I think even they do.

Dashie

Yes, they do. Someone in the bank will be able to call an overseas mobile number. Although at 1p or 2p a minute, I would likely just make the call and not worry about it. Assuming that the call to connect to the phone card company isn't costing you.

Englishmaple

Interesting info. Thx for this.

What's been more of a shock for me is the rates for pay as you go phones. The guy at the Car phone warehouse who sold me my phone told me that all the companies had vastly increased the cost per minute to encourage people to go with a contract as opposed to buying a pay as you go phone.

So the cheapest pay as you go phone I could get (with the sim card) cost me about 5 UK pounds - I then loaded on 20 pounds of call costs. But the rate they charge per call is 35pence a minute!!! Which is outrageous (even the sales guy said that).

Unfortunately to get a contract phone you need to have had a UK bank account for 3 months - so I'm stuck with the expensive pay as you go call rate at the moment - but it will do - I'll just be careful using it.

There is a UK company called Three which sells pay as you go phones at 3p a minute but you have to buy the phone first - which costs about 29 pounds for a basic nokia phone and then you load up the card for call costs.

However when I spoke to Three staff they looked up reception in the area I am going to live in and it's not that great - so with the Three network I would have probably had to pick up my calls from outside the house where I will be living.

When I went back to carphone warehouse and asked the guy to look at the network coverage for orange (and other phones in the area I'm going to live) he said it looked patchy - some good areas, some not so good areas for reception. But no one could offer a comparison between Three reception coverage and Orange reception coverage - so, for me, it seemed to make sense to go with Orange as it was cheaper overall for the phone even though the calls per minute (when I make calls) are expensive. At least people will have a number they can reach me on (once I've figured out completely how to use the phone!).

CDNtoUK

We can't get over how cheap mobile service is in the UK compared to Canada. Our monthly bill for 2 sim-only monthly plans is £22. We paid over $175/month or roughly £100 for similar service in Canada. We're using Tesco.