Hello all. I am leaving for Ireland in a mere 8 days, and am busy tying up a few loose ends in preparation for my trip. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a decent phone card for calling home to North America ? ( Canada in my case). I know there are many companies that offer them in any variety of denominations, and I also know that some are better than others. I would appreciate any suggestion . I was thinking of a card that could be purchased in Ireland rather than here in Canada.
I don't know where you will be on your trip, but I found that most of the internet cafes have phones, too, and that is how I made my calls back to the States -- very reasonable. However, in very small towns that may not be an option.
Thanks to Marsha, Roy , and Joan for your input. I never thought about VOIP or Skype at the internet cafe's....thanks Marsha...definitely worth looking into. I suppose there are a great variety of options available, and I'll have to check around and see what works !
Most shops in Ireland (including the tourist offices at the airports) sell calling cards. I prefer to buy the ones with a toll-free number and a PIN #. Those you can use at any phone. If you use a pay phone you must insert 50 cent first but the money is returned to you at the end of the call. There are other phone cards that have a chip and only work in special public phones that are harder to find.
I have previously used the type of card that you describe (with the PIN number and a toll free number), but it seems to me that some of those cards, although of the same denomination ( 10 euro), seemed to give the caller twice as many minutes as others. I wish I had kept track of the brand at the time ! One week to go before I return to Ireland. I can hardly wait !