Choosing The Right Phone Card

Here’s the fun part, choosing the right card. Now that you know all of the fees that prepaid phone cards can have, you can choose the phone card that’s right for you.

Here are some scenarios that will help select the best card:

How often will you use the phone card?

If you use the card regularly (everyday or every other day) until it is used up, you can choose a card with a low rate and a maintenance fee. This is because you will most likely use up the card before you will have to pay any fees.

How long will you talk on the phone for each call?

If you are making long calls (over 20 mins per call) but infrequently (once a week), you can buy a phone card that has a connection fee in conjunction with a low per minute rate. This way you will spread out the cost of the connection charge over many minutes that you talk on each call. However if you make a call and no one answers or you get an answering machine you will still be charged the connection fee. You don’t want to buy a card with a maintenance fee with this scenario because you will be charged a fee for not using the card very often and this will eat away at your phone cards balance.

How long will it take to use up the phone card?

If you plan on having a card for a while, don’t buy one with a maintenance fee. If you plan on using the card infrequently, think about buying one with a smaller amount on it so you will use it quicker. Remember you can always buy another one. You don’t want to be charged a fee. Also beware of the expiry date on the card from when you activated it. Be sure you can use the entire card up before it expires as any money left on the card once it expires will be gone.

In order to buy the best card and to maximize your calling time, you want a card that is going to give you the cheapest total calling time for all calls that you make and not just a low per minute cost. You need to look at all charges to determine which phone card is best depending on how you will use it.

Prepaid Phone Card Tip:
If in doubt buy a smaller denomination card and only spend $10 to test out a card. Keep track of all calls to see how long the card lasts and if you are getting a good deal. Also to be on the safe side, buy a card with no maintenance fee and no connection fee. It may have a higher per minute rate but you will be saving money buy not being charged other fees.