What's the cheapest way to call America from the UK?

November 7, 2004 5:32 AM

What's the cheapest way to call America? I have 1000 off peak minutes a month on an Orange contract to play with..
posted by Mossy to Shopping (7 answers total)

Have you looked at services like FirstNumber? I don't know if they're compatible with Orange, but you can call a landline and have it redirected to the USA - at a rate of 3p per minute. Surely cheaper than calling direct from the mobile.
posted by skylar at 5:35 AM on November 7, 2004

Telesavers offer a good price/quality balance.
posted by the cuban at 6:47 AM on November 7, 2004

There are some carriers that let you call overseas for the same price as if you were dialing an Orange mobile. I believe this works because they have just diverted calls on an Orange mobile to their landline. I don't have Orange so I don't pay attention to this, but you will find a lot of tips in the uk.telecom newsgroup.
posted by grouse at 7:48 AM on November 7, 2004

telediscount calls come out of free minutes on my O2 contract - you'd have to check/test for Orange, but you might be in luck.
posted by cell at 12:07 PM on November 7, 2004

I use Telediscount and O2--which is great. I essentially get 500 free minutes to call the U.S. with my contract. I am pretty sure this does not work with Orange.
posted by grouse at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2004

Response by poster: Yeah, it doesn't, got stung for that despite being on an O2 OVP package.. Isn't it still 2p per minute as per telediscounts pricing?
posted by Mossy at 2:12 PM on November 7, 2004

Forget about "minutes", "bills", etc..
My suggestion: Internet telephony like Skype
Download it & get your US friend to download it.

Internet telephony is fantastic.
1) it's free.
2) voice quality is awesome (if used with a headphone. But I use the microphone in my laptop, and it's fine)
3) it's in legal limbo, so jump on the bandwagon before it gets regulated (read: taxed)
4) did I mention it's free? Leave the thing on all day, all week, whatever..
posted by ruelle at 2:23 AM on November 8, 2004