Calling Collect Internationally

It's usually on the back of the credit card. If not, glom it off of the web site. Everwhat number that is, it's answered by an operator or automatically kicks in with a menu. You'd probably want to keep all of those numbers in your phone - - even if you don't use that phone, you can still use it to look them up. You can also use the regular number and make it an international call at your expense. This method also comes in handy when you forget to tell them you're going on the road and need to get them to undeblock the stinking card.

AT&T has local numbers in most countries which allows you to connect to an an english speaking operator who will assist you with collect calls. This chart has the numbers: http://www.business.att.com/bt/access.jsp In addition, if you're bringing along some type of device that connects to the internet and allows Skype, you can use it to dial US 800 numbers from anywhere in the world. http://www.skype.com

It is not required to call collect. You can just dial direct and pay the charges for the phone call. However, if you want to call collect you would generally need to call the international operator in the country where you are. The number varies by country. AT&T's USA Direct service that Michael mentioned is also an option (but check to see if it requires advance sign up). Personally, if I lost my card I would just use my cell phone and call them direct. By the way, I've never had a problem dialing an 800 number from overseas; you just get a message saying that the call will be charged.

Note,, since these numbers are on the back of your credit cards,, be sure to write them down and keep seperate as you won't have the card to look up the numbers,, if card is lost. Seems like an obvious thing, but easy to forget to do.

While in Germany you can dial "116 116" from any phone to get any credit or debit card blocked immediately. You will hear some German from a tape. Just don't press any button. You'll then hear in English "to continue in English please press 9". Do so and they'll immediately transfer you to an English speaking operator.

Wow! thanks for all of your advice. I haven't had time to digest it all yet. First let me clarify that I would like to call collect, as the credit card companies will pay for that rather than my paying if I dial direct. On the back of my cards, there is an international number to call collect: example (302) 594-8200. Now, do I need to dial any access codes or anything before dialing? If I understand correctly, someone said that if I dial that number I will get an operator? And thanks for the immediate stop in Germany info :) Sure hope I never need to know this!

Hi Kitty. Here's an extra piece of advice - photocopy all of your cards (credit cards, debit cards, health insurance card, etc.) front and back. Leave a copy at home with friends or family and take another copy - keep it in a safe place like your moneybelt. If you lose any of your cards, you'll have the phone numbers and all the card information in one place.

Kitty, I got a notice from my credit card company about suspicious activity on my card while on my last trip. I tried unsuccessfully to call collect and I kept getting cut off. I ended up having to dial direct. So it doesn't always work. The suspicious activity was that a clerk has mis-entered the security code on the back of my card and had to key it in a second time. To the credit card company's computers, that looked suspicious I guess.

Kitty said, "302) 594-8200. Now, do I need to dial any access codes or anything before dialing? If I understand correctly, someone said that if I dial that number I will get an operator?" If you dial that number directly (e.g. 00 1 302 594 8200 you will be be put straight through and you will pay the charges. You need to instead dial the international operator in that country (e.g. the international operator for British Telecom) and explain to them you want to call collect or "reverse the charges". That may be easier said than done. The number you dial to reach an international operator varies. For example on a BT Phone (British Telecom), you would dial 155. You could do a search on google on international operator and the country and see what comes up. The other problem that comes up when trying to call collect from abroad is that you may get the interactive voice response system rather than a person. Sometimes it is difficult to get an operator to stay on the line and process a collect call that is not immediately answered by a person. The AT&T USA Direct option is another one you could try. That puts you in touch with an AT&T operator in the country. You can read up on that here: www.att.com/esupport/traveler.jsp Odds are you won't lose your card. If I lost my card, the last thing I'd be worried about is an extra $10 or $20 in phone charges. I'd be more worried about getting in touch with the credit card company so that I could get a replacement card and continue my trip.

Yep, Laura, I get your point. If it's hard to call collect, don't bother. I thought maybe I was missing something intuitive about calling collect. I talked to my credit card company months ago when I started booking flights and e-tickets so that they wouldn't block those. At that time the rep wanted to make sure that I knew I could call collect if I had problems in Europe. I hadn't looked into how one places international phone calls so I didn't ask her how that works. When I got around to thinking about that today, I thought folks here might know better than the cc company rep would. It seems that it is not easy to call collect. Apparently that is a benefit the cc company tries to provide, but in practice it doesn't work so well (through no fault of theirs). Thanks everyone!

Kitty, Do check the AT&T USA Direct service info that Michael suggested. I haven't used it in years and I only used back when I had an ATT calling card for business travel. Now that I carry a cellphone, I don't use it as the cell phone is cheaper. I don't know what the requirements are, but it did used to be pretty easy to use. Here is link with details. www.att.com/esupport/traveler.jsp

I've used the AT&T service, and it's easy. No advance sign up is required. Before my trip, I go to the website and make sure to get the access numbers for every country I will be in during the trip (including places where I'm changing planes). I carry these numbers with me, along with the phone numbers on the back of the credit cards (as said, if you've lost the card, it's too late to look at it to get the number). If you call the AT&T number, you are put through to an English speaking operator, and you then tell them you need to make a collect call and give them the US number. The non-800 numbers on the cards are specifically for this, and have a policy of accepting collect calls. BTW, you can also use the AT&T service to charge a call to your credit card. This is VERY expensive, so be sure to use the service for collect calls only.

Thanks, Harold, that sounds exactly like what I am looking for! I'll head over to the AT& T site. Thanks for you help, everyone. What a wonderful group of people!!!

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