Author	Message
luckless666 Member	# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 21:40:43 Hey all, at the end of the month I'll be heading out on a 3 and a half month journey through thailand to singapore then onto new zealand and oz. However, I'm gonna try and keep in regular contact with the girlfriend at home. Firstly, does anyone know of any decent phonecards that you can use in these respective countries that are cheap or relatively inexpensive to contact a mobile in the UK? (Australia and New Zealand are the most important, hence i posted in here) And what kind of catches are there (Ive heard from a variety of sites that you have to pay surcharges to payphone operators even though its a freephone number. what kind of prices are they?) i know this is an extremely broad area and there are many alternatives, pointing a way in the right direction to a website or something would be helpful. Chris

JaMeZ Moderator Amsterdam	# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 22:14:25 · Edited by: JaMeZ Hi Chris, While I was in Australia I used to phone home using a card as well. For AUD 10 you get a card with AUD 10 credit, and with that card you can dial a free number through which you can reach home (you'll first have to go through a menu and enter your card's PIN and alike). The rates to home are ridiculously low, I believe it was something like AUD 0.03 a minute (to The Netherlands) which will then be deducted from your credit. To some countries it's even cheaper. You can buy those cards in 7-11's and stores alike. I expect that New Zealand will have a similar phone card system in place, but I haven't been there (yet) so I can't be sure. While I was in Thailand I used Skype from internet cafes (just about every internet cafe in SE Asia has headsets and Skype installed). You'll only have to register at their website (free) and then buy a bit of Skype Out Money, which will allow you to call to most landlines for 0.016 Euro a minute. And if your girlfriend has Skype installed as well, it'll be completely free. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip! James "It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear." - Douglas Adams
luckless666 Member	# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 22:36:38 Brilliant thats very helpful. was there much of a price hike to call mobile/cell phones. most phone cards i look at say 20-30 pence, which i can afford. is this the reality? also, i've heard that if you use a payphone to make the call they charge you a surcharge to call the free number, or is this rare in aus? I'm already a user of skype and glad to hear its in extensive use as my girlfriend also uses it. this is great news. thanks again.
JaMeZ Moderator Amsterdam	# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 22:49:12 Wouldn't know about charges for mobile phones. 20-30 pence sounds about right, I'd say. Now that you mention it, if you use payphones, you always have to toss in AUD 0.50 which is the standard connection fee. You can call for hours an hours after that though without the machine eatin up any more coins "It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear." - Douglas Adams
luckless666 Member	# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 23:24:31 thanks, sounds very affordable to me. cheers for setting my mind at ease.