Calling cards: Tips for using your international phone cards

"Money saving tips for using your calling cards and international phone cards; save between 50%-70% with your phone cards"

Here are Edith's best tips to using your international phone cards.
Note: Email is the cheapest way to communicate with your folks in Belize, we ourselves save a lot of money by emailing to Belize. If you are not already doing this you are loosing a lot of money. However, for those times when only a long distance phone call will do (e.g. your folk in Belize don't have email or for Mother's Day or at Xmas time) we recommend the following tips when using an international phone card.

Look for a calling card that doesn't charge a connection fee or monthly fee, or tax. Fees take away minutes from your calling card. You can still take advantage of the low rates on these cards by using them up in "one lick" to avoid loosing minutes.
Try to use your phone card up in one or two long calls. Why? Because minutes are rounded off, so too many calls on one card adds up quickly or should I say takes away from your balance. Also, some cards do not charge an initial connection fee, but some cards will after you use the card after two or more times.


Do you want to keep your calling card for longer without loosing minutes in the form of fees? People who love to chat for endless hours (and that is now possible with calling card rates getting cheaper every day) with their folks in Belize usually buy the cards with the cheapest rate and use up their cards in one long call, so they don't have to pay a weekly or maintenance fee. However, you want to keep your card longer and not pay any additional fees while you keep your card. For your situation, you need to buy a card that doesn't have any maintenance, weekly, or other fees. You will pay a higher rate/min but in the long run you still save because minutes (in the form of fees) aren't being taken away from your card while you sleep. Do remember that most cards expire in 90 days.
Don't use your calling card at a pay phone. If you can, call from home instead because payphones have a surcharge (about 50 cents). Of course this doesn't apply if you are at the airport trying to reach Belize.
When you buy your card online choose delivery method by email vs. postal mail. Why? Because there will be a shipping charge added for postal mail (about $2). Email delivery is free.
If you plan on visiting Belize you can save money by buying a Belize to USA card. The only drawback is that in Belize these international phone cards can only be used at payphones and from hotels and not from residences. Also when you visit Belize don't burden your folks there with a high phone bill. You can now buy your own prepaid phone cards in Belize.
If you order online be sure to create an account. The advantage is that you will not have to re-enter all your info every time you return to buy more cards. Don't forget your username and password.
Most people will want to use up their phone cards down to the last minute and we are no exception. Let your party on the other end know that you are using a phone card, therefore, "just in case" you run out of minutes before you can say goodbye, then tell them 'bye ahead of time and "just in case" you do get disconnected then let them know ahead of time, that you will call again some other time. I mention this because while some cards will let you know ahead of time when there's only one minute left on your card, but some other cards won't.
Don't use your international phone cards for domestic long distance. Why? Because your international card is optimized for international need and may not have the best rate for domestic long distance. Instead, use a pre-paid long distance card with the best rate for your particular situation.
If you have a great way of saving on your international calls to Belize and would like to share it, email your tips to us.

What is rounding?
Some calling cards round to the nearest second, minute, others 3 minutes etc. Rounding means they measure your talk time in increments. For example if a card is advertising 3 min rounding and you talk for 1 minute the telecom company will round up to 3 minutes and charge your card for 3 minutes of talk time. If you talk for 5 minutes the company will round up to 6 minutes and take away 6 minutes from your card, if you talk for 20 min the Telecom company will take away 21 minutes from your card and if you talk for 12 minutes they wont take away any additional minutes because 12 minutes is an exact increment of 3. The lower the rounded minutes or seconds the better the value of the pre-paid calling card.