Phone phone phone

Phone cards

Skype

In London, I paid 5 Pounds for a 45 minute international phone card that I used from a pay phone. The connection was just fine. Not all people have a computer for the Skype thing.

Yeah, that's why Frank suggested phone cards.

One other low-cost option is making calls from an internet cafe. They often have "phone booths" where you can make inexpensive calls.

Skype is working great for us (app on our iPhones) - incredibly cheap, BUT you must have an internet connection. We plan ahead by making our calls from the hotels & sometimes take advantage of the free wi-fi areas (not many). However, with Skype, you're SOL if you need to call (your hotel from train station because you're lost in Morocco, as we were, for instance) and you call direct. We didn't have an international plan set up, so I'm terrified to see my next bill.

Before the iPhone, I've always used calling cards + pay phones in Europe or locutorios, depends where in Europe you'll be.

"However, with Skype, you're SOL if you need to call (your hotel from train station because you're lost in Morocco, as we were, for instance) and you call direct. We didn't have an international plan set up, so I'm terrified to see my next bill."

You can get a local number with Skype that will let you call from a foreign country. Unfortunately, it is available only in a few countries (specifically, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States) so it wouldn't have helped you in Morocco.

No question Skype is the cheapest if you are set up for it. I don't pack a laptop so the option isn't available to me.

Second cheapest would probably be a pin card purchased from a tobacco/news stand in Europe that works in only one country.

Next would be multi-country cards or cards you can buy at Costco or Walmart.

Finally, you can either buy a sim card locally or use your current cell provider. This assumes your phone works in Europe; if not, you need to buy or rent a phone to use. The sim card is really cheap after the intiatial investment but that initial investment is more than you would spend to make occasional calls with a pin card.

Sim card rates are cheap in one country but more expensive to use elsewhere. You have to decide whether it's best to buy one in each country, use only one sim card in all countries or just use your US account and pay international roaming.

Determining the cheapest option depends on your itinerary, how much calling, and where (local calls, home to the US) you will be calling.

I am planning on taking my US-based MagicJack setup to make calls back to the US while I am in Europe. Is this smart? Does it work?