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The summer travel season is fast approaching and many Americans will be heading to Europe for vacation despite the weak economy. If fact, there are some good deals to be had on air travel, hotels and rental cars because of the weak economy in most locations around the world. We were recently in Moscow and paid ½ the rate we paid 6 months ago for the same hotel room.

Most people will want to call home a few times during a trip abroad so it is a good idea to carry a phone card. We suggest purchasing a phone card before you leave home because you have more time to shop (on-line) and choose the right phone card for your trip. You will likely find a better quality card at a better price than if you wait and purchase one abroad at a hotel, airport or other location frequented by tourists. Most on-line international phone card merchants provide customers with an on-line account. This is a handy feature for travelers because they can access their account via the internet from any location in the world to find a local access number, add funds or make other changes to their account. Many on-line phone cards also include other handy features like Speed Dial, PIN free dialing and call history that make international calling much easier.

We have a couple of phone card recommendations for people who want to make cheap calls to the USA or other locations from Europe. The first phone card we would recommend is a new card called Solaris. It has high user ratings for quality and has a wide range of local and toll free access numbers in every European country. It can be used to make cheap international calls from over 100 countries so it has very wide coverage and is ideal for people who plan to visit several countries during a trip. It also has no maintenance or connection fee and some of the lowest rates on international calls. Another high quality phone card is Continental. It can be used to make cheap calls from over 60 countries. The continental card comes with several features like speed dial, call history and PIN free dialing which makes it very convenient to use. Smart Global Call Phone Cards International sells these and other high quality calling cards.

People who want to make cheap calls to Europe have a wider range of options. Rates are generally cheaper on international calls from the USA or Canada to Europe than they are from Europe to the USA or Canada. Therefore, it is cheaper to make calls that originate in North America if possible. This is not always possible so a high quality phone card is the next best option.

There are a variety of options for making low cost international phone calls between North America and Europe. Some people make cheap or even free international calls over the Internet using PC-to-Phone or VoIP services while others use phone cards or other prepaid options. Internet based options are a good low cost choice for some people but call quality is often poor and special equipment and an INTERNET connection are required to make calls so they are not as convenient as using a cell phone or land-line. Prepaid options like phone cards have remained a popular choice because they can be used with any phone so they offer convenience, flexibility and low cost. Phone Cards are also ideal for short-term use since they can be purchased in small increments and they do not require a contract or other long term obligation. However, there are many phone cards on the market and selecting a phone card featuring both good call quality and honest rates can be a challenge.

To avoid these pitfalls some people choose premium phone cards like those offered by AT&T, MCI or Sprint. These tend to have high call quality, wide coverage and they advertise honest rates with almost no hidden fees or taxes. However, the rates they charge are astronomical when compared to other, lesser known, premium phone cards. For example, a call to Western Europe from the USA using an AT&T phone card will cost from 20 to 45 cents per minute depending on the country called. The AT&T card includes toll free access and uses a one-minute rounding interval but their rates are extremely high when compared to other premium quality phone cards like Bizon. Using the Bizon phone card a caller can make the same call to Western Europe for 3 cents per minute or less. The Bizon phone card has similar call quality and also uses a one-minute rounding interval. It does charge an extra 1 cent per-minute for toll free access and applies a 15% surcharge but even with these extra charges calls are much cheaper than those charged by AT&T. The Bizon phone card can also be used to make low cost calls from Western Europe to North America. It is an excellent choice for people who want to make high
quality low cost calls between North America and Europe.

Another option for making low cost calls from North America and Europe is Tel3Advantage. It also using a one-minute rounding interval and has no hidden fees or taxes. Tel3 does charge an extra one cent per minute for using a toll free access number but it has a very wide network of local access numbers that can be used with no additional charge. Rates to call Western Europe from North America with Tel3Advantage are 2 to 3 cents per-minute depending on the country called.

When shopping for prepaid calling products consumers should use the same common sense they use when shopping for other products. They should be suspicious of those advertising super low rates since these products often have low quality or, in the case of phone cards, have significant hidden fees and charges that pump-up their rates. Also, extremely high priced options are often not worth the money. As with most products, there are moderately priced phone cards that offer high quality so consumers can get good value for thweir money.