Calling collect to USA.

Joe,

I’m in Sicily now and I actually had to call one of my credit card’s company due to receiving an alert about an international charge I’d not made.
I had to dial +1 (country code for U.S.) then the collect number indicated on the back of my card.

Having said this, I presently have an Italian SIM card, and thus an Italian phone number, so I’m not quite sure if you'll need to dial differently if you have a U.S. phone number.

Hopefully someone who has experienced calling their CC company or bank will chime in.

Enjoy your trip!

If you dial a "free" US number, it may not be free if you are outside the USA.

You can use Skype if you have an account that supports phone calls.

I use Google Hangouts to make free calls to US numbers (any number, not just a collect calls) from my smart phone. Skype will work too to call 800 number for free, I believe, but I haven't tried it for that recently. Your phone needs some internet connection (WiFi or mobile data) for either one to work, but it doesn't need actual phone service (a SIM card) to work for that.

i needed to call my credit card company once and was never able to get it to work from a pay phone. If anyone has I'd be interested in hearing how they did i.

To make a collect call from Europe, you can use AT&T USA Direct. Note that this is separate from AT&T's cell phone service, and can be used by anyone, not just AT&T current customers.

You dial a special toll free number (from a LAND LINE), and you are connected to an English-speaking operator, who will place the collect call. I've done this successfully from Spain.

Here's the PDF with the numbers for various countries: https://www.att.com/media/att/2012/support/pdf/USADirectTravel-CompleteGuide.pdf

To save you time:
Italy: 800-172-444
Germany: 0-800-225-5288

I called the number given on the back of the credit card when it was stolen, when call was answered I said it was Collect. Easy.

joe,

I've had to call credit card firms a couple of times from Europe, and don't bother trying to make a "collect" call. I normally travel with a roaming plan from my home cell network, which includes calls, and just paying the long distance isn't really that expensive. I don't have to make calls very often, so a few bucks in extra holiday expenses is not going to break the bank.