Best way to make short calls abroad on an irregular basis

March 25, 2019 1:27 PM

I am in the USA and make short calls on an irregular basis on my iPhone to foreign telephone numbers using Skype credit that I bought years ago. Now that that Skype credit is almost used up, should I repurchase it or is there a better option?

My calls are typically 3-4 minutes long but usually no more than 15 minutes at the absolute longest. I'd say I average maybe 3-4 calls a month, but the cadence is really irregular, i.e. I might make 5 calls in two days and then none for two months.

I am most frequently calling France or other places in Western Europe and almost always calling a landline; the context is usually that I'm calling a hotel, restaurant or other business with a short question or booking in preparation for travel. (Hence the irregularity, as I don't make these calls if I don't have a trip planned.)

I'm using an iPhone 8, latest OS, on Verizon in the USA. Verizon's options don't work for me -- the unlimited world plan is $15/month and the pay per minute rate is $2/minute. Given that Skype charges $0.023/minute to call a French landline and my small and irregular call volume, neither option makes sense.

Skype credit has worked well because:
- The rates are generally cheap
- The credit doesn't expire; it can go inactive, but I've never had problems re-activating

I'm happy to top-up again, but before I buy more credit I just want to make sure there's not a better option out there that's emerged in the years since. I do want it to be a smartphone option that doesn't require my computer.

posted by andrewesque to Technology (6 answers total)

I have two ATT phone cards that I bought 10 years ago that each have 1000 minutes on them. I checked them last month and they still have those minutes ready to use. They can be used domestically and internationally and I'm pretty sure those rates can be found at the website. And, I still see them for sale in Fred Meyer, Target and anyplace with those gift card trees. Have you tried the old school, boring but reliable phone card?
posted by CollectiveMind at 1:33 PM on March 25, 2019

This is a, if not the, core use case for Skype. There are other VOIP options, but they are all a few pennies a minute. If Skype works, I would stick with it. Skype is also owned by Microsoft, which of the big tech companies, seems to be less evil these days...
posted by rockindata at 1:42 PM on March 25, 2019

Google voice charges 1c/minute to French landlines.
posted by alexei at 2:20 PM on March 25, 2019

I think Skype is the best option. I recently switched to a monthly plan, but only because I have to make so many calls that it made sense- in your case, it wouldn't. I would just note that it's best to let it auto-recharge because otherwise it will cut your calls short with no warning when your credit runs out.
posted by pinochiette at 2:23 PM on March 25, 2019

I suggest OneSuite ( onesuite.com ) which I've used for about 12 years. Their rates are similar to Skype's but they have a couple nice features which make them my choice :

ZipDial - lets you whiteflag your own smartphone number so that you don't need to enter a pin.
RapidDial - lets you assign 2 digit codes to contacts.

This lets me make an international call by calling onesuite (from my phone's contact list) and entering the appropriate 2 digit RapidDial code. In practice, I will often assign a code to numbers that I only expect to call one time. This lets me review the number before I call it, edit it if I get it wrong, and redial it if it turns out that I actually need to call the same number more than once.

It's been a long time since I looked at long distance calling options and it may be that now these features (or something similar) are offered by many providers but I can say from personal experience that OneSuite works well.
posted by metadave at 2:25 PM on March 25, 2019

With what you're talking about, the per-minute rate doesn't really matter as long as you're using some sort of reasonable plan. International long distance to landlines has gotten way cheaper than domestic long distance ever was 20 years ago, whether you use a VoIP plan or a calling card. I have a OneSuite account which only takes $10 to set up and costs $.02 cents a minute to France. I like the fact that I can use it from a landline, even overseas, just by looking up a local access number, so if your phone is dead or you can't get data for whatever reason you can call the country access number. If you don't recharge or make a call within 6 months, the credit will expire, but if you use it it never does.
posted by wnissen at 10:31 AM on March 26, 2019