Ingo

Hi All,

I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
etc.

Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
Asia, where I normally call.

What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
access code to call long distance from a hotel line.

thanks all mate,
Ingo

Raffi Balmanoukian

in article bf57c.1662$, Ingo at
wrote on 3/20/04 8:22 PM:

    > Hi All,
    >
    > I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
    > etc.
    >
    > Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    > Asia, where I normally call.
    >
    > What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
    > access code to call long distance from a hotel line.
    >
    > thanks all mate,
    > Ingo
    >
    >

You can try USA Direct (USA Sprint, etc.) which will charge to your US
account. Or, you can utilize any of the callback outfits.

Your best bet, though, from the major centres is a reliable prepaid card -
rates can be as low as AUD 4 or 5 cents per minute; watch out for flagfall
(flat starting) fees and out-of-capital rates which can be substantially
higher than the advertised (minimal) rates. Also watch out for time-of-day
premiums. If you're calling the US during the US daytime, though, they are
probably not going to apply to you since it will be the middle of your
night!

Quality varies considerably - some are glorified internet voice connections,
others are clear as the proverbial bell.

With those caveats, though, those prepaid cards are great value if you watch
how you use 'em. I bought a AUD $20 card, talked for moons back home, and
still had something like $7 left after a month. OTOH, I used Canada Direct
for a couple quick calls back home (and I have a pretty good calling plan)
and it cost far more.

Geoff Lillico

"Ingo" <> wrote in message
news:bf57c.1662$...
    > Hi All,
    > I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
    > etc.
    > Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    > Asia, where I normally call.
    > What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
    > access code to call long distance from a hotel line.
    > thanks all mate,
    > Ingo

Try using phone cards from public phones. The high charges are the hotel's,
not the telco.

Geoff Lillico

A Mate

I've used a callback service to/from a mobile (cell phone) successfully in
Canada (despite the poor GSM coverage), Ireland, Italy and Turkey.
You'd need a GSM mobile (triband if you want to use it in North America too)
and
set it up from the USA over the net (Easy to do - there are several
providers -
Google for a list!).
On arrival in Austr buy a prepaid no plans sim card - about $30 with credits
(or phone and card - about $90 with credits - if
you don't have a GSM phone already), get onto a computer and register your
new mobile number with the callback service (you can register it by voice
too) and you're away. Not quite as cheap as the cards Raffi mentioned, but
extremely convenient!!!

Good Luck.

"Ingo" <> wrote in message
news:bf57c.1662$...
    > Hi All,
    > I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
    > etc.
    > Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    > Asia, where I normally call.
    > What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
    > access code to call long distance from a hotel line.
    > thanks all mate,
    > Ingo

Dave Campbell

"Ingo" <> wrote in message
news:bf57c.1662$...
    > Hi All,
    > I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
    > etc.
    > Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    > Asia, where I normally call.
    > What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
    > access code to call long distance from a hotel line.
    > thanks all mate,
    > Ingo

Take a look at http://www.ozprepaidcards.com.au for a (partial) list of
prepaid cards that are available in Oz. This will give you some idea of
which cards offer better rates for your anticipated calling pattern and
planned location within Oz. (Not all cards have local dial-in locations in
all areas, and if you have to use the toll-free 1300 or freecall 1800
numbers the rates tend to go up dramatically.) You will probably find it
more convenient to buy your cards over the counter (available from many
convenience stores) rather than ordering from the web, but at least you will
be able to get some idea of which ones to look for.

Just as an aside, if you plan to use a cell phone while you're in Oz, it's
probably not a good idea to use it in conjunction with your prepaid card.
For instance, it's cheaper for me to call Singapore direct on my cell than
to go via the local number with a card.

Dave Campbell

Frank Slootweg

[Removed invalid group soc.culture.australia]

Adding to Dave's response: Note that even local calls from hotels can
be quite expensive. For example the Holiday Inn in Adelaide (now
different name) charged one AUD per local call. As Raffi mentioned, that
could be the equivalent of a 25 minute call to the US, using prepaid
phonecards. I don't know if they charge for toll-free 1300 or freecall
1800 numbers, but, as Dave mentioned, those are not very cost-effective
when used with (cheap) prepaid phonecards.

Dave Campbell <> wrote:
    >
    > "Ingo" <> wrote in message
    > news:bf57c.1662$...
    >> Hi All,
    >> I am a US person visiting the beautiful country of Oz,,staying in hotels
    >> etc.
    >> Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    >> Asia, where I normally call.
    >> What are the biggest long distance companies here in Oz that will give me
    >> access code to call long distance from a hotel line.
    >> thanks all mate,
    >> Ingo
    >
    > Take a look at http://www.ozprepaidcards.com.au for a (partial) list of
    > prepaid cards that are available in Oz. This will give you some idea of
    > which cards offer better rates for your anticipated calling pattern and
    > planned location within Oz. (Not all cards have local dial-in locations in
    > all areas, and if you have to use the toll-free 1300 or freecall 1800
    > numbers the rates tend to go up dramatically.) You will probably find it
    > more convenient to buy your cards over the counter (available from many
    > convenience stores) rather than ordering from the web, but at least you will
    > be able to get some idea of which ones to look for.
    >
    > Just as an aside, if you plan to use a cell phone while you're in Oz, it's
    > probably not a good idea to use it in conjunction with your prepaid card.
    > For instance, it's cheaper for me to call Singapore direct on my cell than
    > to go via the local number with a card.
    >
    > Dave Campbell

Tom Hatfield

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:22:31 GMT, "Ingo" <> wrote:

    >Long distance charges are extremely high from hotels to call US and South
    >Asia, where I normally call.

As a former hotel accountant I can tell you the that use of an in-room
telephone will always be expensive, as it is one of the highest costs
per room. That does not mean you need to use their phone.

Use a payphone, charge is local cost, and a pre-paid card and you can
talk for hours for very little change. I am constantaly amazed that
when I have as little as .50 cents value left I can call the USA from
Sydney and talk for up to 90 minutes sometimes.

All mobile phone calls in Australia are charged at long distance
rates, either per second, or part of a minute (depending on the plan).
You can chew up a lot of money using them for anything but a very
short call.

Tom