# Do you use a phone card for long distance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851 "2011-12-11T22:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/1 "2011-12-11T22:16:56Z")
I’ve been using the same phone card for ten years. It’s so old the numbers are getting hard to read. I keep a copy of the access numbers taped to the bottom of my phone at home and a copy in my wallet. The original card is in my kitchen drawer. I originally got it because my local baby bell didn’t offer long distance. You had to select a carrier for long distance. AT&T wanted to charge me a minimum fee just to have long distance and I said hell no!!! I choose a phone card instead. I use it occasionally at work when I need to make a personal long distance card. I’m not sure how long distance works now that the baby bells are gone. Do you still select a carrier? I find that Phone card rates are a lot more reasonable than cell phone rates. Or at least they seem to be. I rarely have to refill my phone card. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/2 "2011-12-11T22:23:46Z")
I use Vonage and call wherever I like without thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/3 "2011-12-11T22:24:08Z")
I have a landline and a cell phone. My landline has long distance service. I used to use a phone card back before cells were so common. Nowadays, if I’m not at home, I use the cell for both local and long distance calls. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/4 "2011-12-11T22:56:21Z")
No, I use my cell. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/5 "2011-12-11T23:18:04Z")
Other. Have a cell, no landline. I use my cell for U.S. and Canada, but a phone card for occasional calls to family in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/6 "2011-12-11T23:57:35Z")
No, because it’s not 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/7 "2011-12-11T23:58:25Z")
I used phone cards until about ten years ago or so, when I got a cell phone. I still carry one in my wallet, just in case. When I did use calling cards, I was paying one or two cents per minute. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/8 "2011-12-12T00:11:42Z")
I’ve got unlimited long distance to anywhere in North America through my local phone company for like $15/month. I’d like to switch to vonage, but at the moment I have to have a land line account with my dsl provider if I want their internet service. Since they are the only internet option here aside from satellite or dial up, I’m kind of stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/9 "2011-12-12T00:59:38Z")
Pretty much the same situation as **Mr. Accident**. We get no cell service here and almost everywhere (except our vet’s office, thank goodness) is long distance, so we contract for long distance with our phone company for a monthly fee. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/10 "2011-12-12T02:10:21Z")
I’m surprised at how many people use their cell phones for long distance. I’m pretty sure my Prepaid Go Phone (cell) is higher than my phone card. I bend over backwards to never use my cell for long distance. I don’t make many calls anyhow. Local or long distance. That’s why I went with the Go Phone. I pay for what I use as I use it. No surprise $200 cell bills from any greedy carriers for me. Most local calls are from my land line and totally free. That’s how I think it’s supposed to work. I hate, hate paying for local calls. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/11 "2011-12-12T02:27:39Z")
My cell phone is under contract to AT&T and isn’t a prepaid phone. So I get 450 anytime minutes, calls to other cell phones are free and unused minutes roll over from month to month. So I’ve got a couple thousand of rollover minutes in any month. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/12 "2011-12-12T02:29:23Z")
My cell gives me free long distance. I guess I kinda thought everyone’s did. I don’t have a “home” phone. When we moved to Texas we realized that the only calls we had gotten on our land line for months were people trying to sell us something. So we just use cell phones now. (although the people trying to sell us something sometimes find us anyway). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/13 "2011-12-12T02:41:46Z")
My wife does, but only for calls to China. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/14 "2011-12-12T08:34:42Z")
The majority of cell phone plans that include minutes and are paid for monthly, are all inclusive of all US phone calls, no matter how far away and no matter where you are in the US. That means there’s really no such thing as long distance except internationally, and no such thing as roaming any more, either. So no, I haven’t needed to even think about it for about 10 years, and before that when I had a landline (from around 1989-2001), I had an included add-on for something like $8.99 a month or something that included local toll and long distance. I’ve never used a phone card. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/16 "2013-08-29T23:25:48Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > The majority of cell phone plans that include minutes and are paid for monthly, are all inclusive of all US phone calls, no matter how far away and no matter where you are in the US. That means there’s really no such thing as long distance except internationally, and no such thing as roaming any more, either. Yeah, that’s my answer too. Wow, roaming. That brought me back. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/17 "2013-08-29T23:26:32Z")
Reported for possible spam. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/18 "2013-08-30T05:18:32Z")
I use Google Voice for free long distance in the US. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/19 "2013-08-30T15:12:44Z")
I don’t have long distance on my landline, so would use a calling card if I used my landline to call long distance. But I just use my cell, even though I only get 250 minutes a month I don’t come close to using that. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/20 "2013-08-30T15:42:02Z")
I got an MCI card back in 2001, primarily to use for landlines and pay phones when I was on the road. They’ve phased the card out so I can’t add minutes anymore, but I still have an hour or so left on it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-a-phone-card-for-long-distance/605851/21 "2013-08-30T15:56:38Z")
I put “I used to but stopped” because I haven’t paid for long distance since I got a cell phone in 2001.