Calling home Cheaply from London or UK: Part 1

Part 1: Calling Cards

If you tell your family and friends that you will go on a shoe-string travel, they will WORRY about you. So, cheap travel should not come with lazy calling home. The folks, especially will really worry. So, here are some CHEAP ways to call home!

If you want to call home to Asia, eg Singapore or Hong Kong, calling cards are the cheapest options for overseas call. The other options are special numbers (if you have access to a landline or a local sim card) and also using and “pay as you go” sim card.

Generally there are 3 ways to call:
A) Calling cards
B) Call through special discounted numbers
C) Buying a local SIM card

Lets starts with calling cards.

There are a few things to look out for when you buy calling cards.

1) Where do you buy them?

This can affect your calling cost by as much as half!

Usually, there is value in your card. Common denominations are £5,£10 and £20.

For a card worth £5, one shop may sell it for £5, another may sell it for £4, another for £3.50, or 3 for £10, and yet the cheapest I ever bought was £2.50- at a market stall.

The cheapest place to get it is in markets-look out for a small “table” with lots of cards displayed. These usually sell £5 cards for £3 or even less, usually £2.00.

Never ever pay full price, ie same amount as the printed card value. Usually there is discount. The exceptions are “Unitel” cards- I have not come across any discounts yet, and iPhone, usually will be priced more highly than other card. However, these two cards have decent call qualities.

2) Any surcharges for using a payphone number?

Beware when you buy the calling cards. Some of them charge you 20p just to get connected. It is small sum, but you might not get connected all the time or the person may not pick up your call! Some cards also have a surcharge of 1-2p/minutes when you use a payphone, so read the posters outside the shop for fine prints. Imagine, my most disappointing card only gave me two-10 minutes conversation to Singapore. (and I paid £3.50!!).

3) Expiry dates

Once you “activated” your card, there is an expiry date. This is usually 30 days or 45 days. iPhone gives you 90 days from first use.

4) Can you use them outside UK?

Look out for statements like “global freephone”. It means that you can call a 0800 number in UK from overseas. This is very useful when you are going to travel to other countries after UK, because you can still use them to call home!!

5) Calling the right number

Calling the right number when using a phone card is an acquired ART! I have wasted so much money doing a trial an error thing to get the cheapest was to call. They don’t give you these information when you buy it, and you can’t find it the information on the internet either, so consider what I am sharing as EXCLUSIVE!!

To read more >>>>>

If buying a calling card is not for you, then you can consider using some special numbers and also get a local sim card.

To read more (will post soon)>>>>>

BEWARE!!!
When you walk along a busy street, eg Oxford Street, a leaflet distributor may hand you “phone cards”, promising you free calls when you call a number. Never, ever use those numbers. When you call the numbers, they will immediately charge a huge sum to your bill!!! Read the fine prints!

Other calling options?

B)Call through special discounted numbers
C)Buying a local SIM card

Other related posts:

London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.

Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide

EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London.

SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon).