# Cheap long distance carrier for occasional use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765 "2007-06-20T21:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/1 "2007-06-20T21:38:03Z")
It looks like we’ll be getting a weekend place and the cell phones don’t work there. So we’ll have to get a land line. And long distance. The local carrier wants us to pay a monthly fee for long distance, which is not good since we won’t even be there every month. Any experiences that you can share? BTW, my previous thread on getting a new credit card turned out to be a great success. Thanks again to all who contributed. ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/2 "2007-06-21T01:02:57Z")
Must you have long distance service tied to your phone line or can you use a calling card for the occasional long distance call you’ll need to make? ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/3 "2007-06-21T01:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=Adoptamom\_II] Must you have long distance service tied to your phone line or can you use a calling card for the occasional long distance call you’ll need to make? [/QUOTE] Calling cards are such a pain in the butt. We’ve tried them. We lose them. We make mistakes with them. My limit is to dial 11 numbers to call someone. Anything more and the system breaks down real bad. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/4 "2007-06-21T16:18:50Z")
I use Zone Telecom, but I don’t see anything on their site regarding new sales. But searching around, I did see this page with different plans: > **[Save on Long Distance Calls](https://news.wirefly.com/long-distance)** > > Finding a long distance phone service that suits your individual needs can be a difficult task. Many providers present their long distance options in a confusing way that make you unsure of the actual price you will pay for their service per month,... The first plan is pretty interesting, in that you don’t get charged if you don’t use it. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/5 "2007-06-21T19:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Plan B] It looks like we’ll be getting a weekend place and the cell phones don’t work there. So we’ll have to get a land line. And long distance. The local carrier wants us to pay a monthly fee for long distance, which is not good since we won’t even be there every month. Any experiences that you can share? BTW, my previous thread on getting a new credit card turned out to be a great success. Thanks again to all who contributed. [/QUOTE] I use 10-10-987-1- plus area code and number . it’s about 50 cents plus 3 cents a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/6 "2007-06-21T20:50:23Z")
Get a calling card, and add 800# plus the account number to your speed dial. Speed dial +number makes the call. When you run out of minutes, recharge the same card, rather then getting a new one. Now you don’t have to reprogram the speed dial. Keep a copy of the card some place in the vacation place and a copy at home, so you can recharge it over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/7 "2007-06-21T20:57:36Z")
Prior to getting cell phones with a “free long distance weekdays after 9 and all day weekends” plan, we used Qwest. Things may have changed since but I found their rates very reasonable and little, if any, monthly fee. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/8 "2007-06-21T20:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=Tastes of Chocolate] Get a calling card, and add 800# plus the account number to your speed dial. Speed dial +number makes the call. When you run out of minutes, recharge the same card, rather then getting a new one. Now you don’t have to reprogram the speed dial. Keep a copy of the card some place in the vacation place and a copy at home, so you can recharge it over the internet. [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/9 "2007-06-21T21:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=Plan B] It looks like we’ll be getting a weekend place and the cell phones don’t work there. So we’ll have to get a land line. And long distance. The local carrier wants us to pay a monthly fee for long distance, which is not good since we won’t even be there every month. Any experiences that you can share? BTW, my previous thread on getting a new credit card turned out to be a great success. Thanks again to all who contributed. [/QUOTE] Skype In and Skype Out. Basically Voice over IP with the ability to call and receive calls from traditional phones. I’ve been using it for my work line for 2 months now, and it’s great as long as you have a computer in a handy location. If I recall right, I paid $70 for a year’s worth of service. I also dropped $100 on a wireless headset, but if you can live with wired, you can get that for $20. If you don’t need a year, you can get service for less, but I don’t remember the price. It’s great. I’ve had no problems with Skype service at all. Quality-wise, it’s not as good as a land line, but it’s loads better than most cell phones audio quality. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/10 "2007-06-21T22:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=Tastes of Chocolate] Get a calling card, and add 800# plus the account number to your speed dial. Speed dial +number makes the call. When you run out of minutes, recharge the same card, rather then getting a new one. Now you don’t have to reprogram the speed dial. Keep a copy of the card some place in the vacation place and a copy at home, so you can recharge it over the internet. [/QUOTE] Yes, again. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-long-distance-carrier-for-occasional-use/408765/11 "2007-06-22T01:58:07Z")
Thanks for the ideas.