Anna travels every week to London or there abouts. A few years ago we found a good deal on a phone card at Costco. The Sprint card was a great rate of 3.1 cents for Domestic and 6.9 cents for certain International locations.
Then we spotted an International phone card at the Post Office and tried that one for awhile. Can’t remember the rate but we think it was better than the Costco rate. Finally, we found a great phone card at CVS drugs….a good International phone card with rates to the UK of 4 cents a minute. We couldn’t beat that price. This was a Sprint card with Germany for 5 cents a minute and France/Mexico for 6 cents. If you got the card recharged at CVS drugs you got an additional 10% added to the card. The card went for $20 bucks….with a recharge value of $22. It was all very cool.
Then came the aquisition. A company called STI Prepaid aquired this Int’l Prepaid Phone Card. Aquiring your number seemed a little more cumbersome…but other than that….the service and the rates all remained the same……until last month. Suddenly, the advertised 4 cent rate to Italy, the UK and Canada….bounced to 22.5 cents a minute. We will explain why momentarily. Additionally, if you used your Mobile Phone to either call or receive or both on this card….the rate quickly moves to 80 cents a minute. By the way….if you mistakenly use this card for Domestic calls….it is going to cost you 13.5 cents a minute. “Surprise, surprise…Sergeant!”
The explanation was that in February, they decided to change the rates. The rumor is that Sprint and its various aquisition groups and companies were deeply invested in Toxic Assets, Sub-Prime Loans, Credit Default Swaps and the like. Who knows? One thing is very clear……if you have phone cards it might be the time to call and find out how many minutes you have left. When we asked how the FCC allowed them to arbitrarily change the rate as listed…..they responded: “On the card, it says that we can change rates at any time!” Our days with STI Prepaid and Sprint…are over!
We will be going back to Costco to check out what their cards are doing these days. In the meantime, if you hear of a good deal on International Phone Cards…..let us know!
Ron&Anna,
I crushed in and bought a Virgin phone (a prepaid model yet to catch on stateside) in Cambridge. The rates to US were VERY favorable, but my minutes quickly got swallowed in Sweeden and Germany.
I still like the idea of having a “hip side” phone, but only at a 10% premeium.
*duplojohn,
We agree….the prepaid phone deals are around
and are getting better. Anna has one she got
in London, but it costs about a buck a minute
when she calls from London to CDM. Normally,
she uses that one to give me the heads up so I
can call her back on the landline..with the lower
rate. There is probably a good card around still,
just that the CVS/Sprint/STI card has gone into the bottom of the barrel with rates shooting from 4 cents to 22.5 cents virtually overnight.
Try our phone cards shop _deltapin.com