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How to make phone calls back to the USA from Europe/Philippines

How to make phone calls back to the USA from Europe/Philippines

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out what's most economical for my european trip to make calls within europe AND to make calls back to my friends/family in the United States.

It seems to me there are 4 options:

1) PrePaid Calling Cards - These would have to be the international type, billed by the min. I could buy these here or maybe there? But I'd like to know what the cheaper route would be.

2) PrePaid SIM - I can bring an unlocked world phone (T39, P280, etc...) then use one of the vodaphone / orange prepaid sim cards and simply insert it into the phone.

3) PrePaid Phone - do they even have these over in Europe? Or do they only have PrePaid SIM's?

4) VS Phone - I could bring an unlocked world phone to europe, and use MY voicestream sim card. I have the world class restriction lifted, so it should work overthere. I believe roaming, however, is $2.99/min.

Which option is the most economical? Any one have any suggestions to share? Thank you so much in advance!

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I think the prepaid cards will be cheapest...

The rate to the US is normally real low...

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I would second pre-paid sims. The rates are often very good. I am not sure about Europe, but in the Philippines pre-paid sims for GSM phones are very easy to come by. I don't know about non-GSM network availability. Using your own phone with international roaming is almost sure to be quite expensive.

western europe's a mess as far as phone rates are concerned, but generally no matter which country you're in, it's expensive. Italy has shops (often internet cafes) which offer comparatively cheap callbacks. As for the Philippnes, no question, get prepaid cards. A call to anywhere in the world costs 40 cents a minute, and you can get cards with values of $5 and $10 almost anywhere in Manila.

(just talking about Europe, I don't know anything about Philipines)

A pre-paid SIM is a good choice if you want to use a mobile phone, but international calls from mobiles are much more expensive than from a fixed phone. If you don't have to use a mobile phone, get a prepaid calling card. Buy it in the US, because they're hard to come by in Europe, and you'll be able to take your time and compare before buying.

As for prepaid phones, that doesn't exist in Europe. You can get a pack with a prepaid SIM and a low-end phone (usually locked), but if you already have a multi-band GSM phone there's no point buying such a pack.

And if GSM roaming really costs you that much, then forget it. It sure is the easiest option, but it has to be the most expensive too...