When ever you try to buy a calling card, make sure you are aware of all the hidden charges. A very cheap prepaid calling card usually is associated with more hidden charges. The best way is to be aware and pay keen attention to the several common hidden charges.
Euro Calling Cards, the leading prepaid calling cards retailer online, our objective is to provide a wide range of calling cards associated with high quality to our esteemed customers. We try our best to gather all information that is relevant to the calling cards and make the information available online. But sometimes, certain calling cards companies update their rate table or hidden charges without any information to Euro Calling Cards. We always make sure you get the latest and updated pricing information on the calling cards and calling companies on our website.
Connection Fee: It is also known as first-minute surcharge. It is charged when a called number of the telephone is connected. It usually varies between 25 cents to as high as $3. The simplest way to evaluate if a cheaper calling cards with connection fee is worthwhile or not is to estimate the average time for your phone calls. Example: If you make at average 10 minutes duration of calls, a calling card for 5 cents/minute with $0.50 connection fee is actually more expensive than a card for 9 cents/minute with no connection fee. It is better to use a phone card without connection fee if you are not sure the person you are calling is available, and the phone call may connect to the answering machine. Phone cards with high connection fee are better in case you know your party is available at the phone number and you intend to talk for a long duration.
Block increment: This is the basic unit to record the length of your phone calls. Industry standard is one minute rounding, as it is the case of in the normal residential telephone services. Prepaid phone cards can be rounded to one, two, or even three minutes. If it is rounded to 3 minutes, your 30 seconds phone call will be considered as 3 minutes duration phone call and your 4 minutes phone call will be considered as 6 minutes duration.
Pay-Phone Surcharge: Prepaid phone cards or calling cards provide the most economical and easy channel when you want to make phone calls anywhere around the world, but the calling cards companies usually have a surcharge between $0.30 and $0.75 when you use a public pay-phone to make the call. Payment for the use of a public pay-phone is required by FCC.
Hang-up Fee: When the calling card balance is less than the amount required for a minute phone call, then this balance will be reduced to zero. And the calling card will be purged from the system. So, if you are using such a calling card which has this hang-up fee, then for the last call, try talking on the phone till the last cent is used.
Service Fee: Certain calling cards companies advertise showing the attractive total calling minutes provided in the card. But those minutes is calculated based on a single call per card used at one go. And usually we do not use a calling card for a single phone number and to be use it at one go. Certain phone cards charge service fee up to 25% of the phone call cost. This fee is usually applied after the call is finished.
Long Talking Fee: Certain calling cards companies charge this fee that is rarely known to lots of customers. Example: If the call duration is more than 20 minutes, then a long talking fee of 40 cents will be charged for every 20 minutes talking time. This equals to 2 cents more per minute.
