Cheap ways to call Germany from the U.S.

hey guys,

I've just moved to berlin (kreuzberg) from the uk and need to find a cheap way of getting in touch with my boyfriend, whose living all the way over in montana. cheap dial-throughs and skype were our method of choice, but we're now not always at our computers at the appropriate times and skype seems to be really expensive to call out of the us (something like 29c/min as opposed to 1.2p/min i think...). so yeah, was basically wondering if any of you kind ex-pat americans knew of anyway for your family to be able to call you cheaply on a german mobile - are there any dial through equivalents like we have in the uk?

cheers!

caroline.

you can get cheap calling cards. sometimes the connection sucks, but it works...
i'm in the US and i use a calling card to call my boyfriend. i call a US number for the card (call from my cell phone)
if you go to cloncom.com you can get different choices. i've tried two and like one of them. The one where there's a monthly deduction (versus weekly). I can look go see which it is if you'd like.
I just bought a $10 one and i think for the $10 i basically have abotu 12 hr of talk time calling US to Germany.
I call a Germany landline so i'm not sure if the minute quantity would go down calling a cell.

There are ways to call German mobile phones for relatively reasonable rates from the US, but what I always do is answer the phone and then call back to the US from my mobile, as it is much cheaper for me to call the US than it is for someone in the US to call me on my mobile. (For that, there are multiple threads--I recommend one of the German Festnetz Flatrates combined with one of the Betamax callthrough services like voipstunt.com.)

All of the following providers offer prepaid service that includes calling card-type callthrough access:
http://future-nine.com/ (12.3¢/min, possibly cheaper depending on your cell phone provider in Germany)
http://www.callwithus.com (ca. 16¢/min)
http://www.callcentric.com/calling_card/ (19.8¢/min)
http://www.onesuite.com (ca. 23¢/min; warning: balance expires!)

To reiterate, I would use one of these services so that someone could call me, but I'd then call them right back.

Yes. It will always cost more to call German mobile phones, as Germany cellular networks operate on a Calling Party Pays model (incoming calls are free).

For example, the monthly fee card you like charges 23.6¢/min instead of 1.3¢/min for calls to mobiles
http://cloncom.com/card.jsp?cardid=412&...ectionid_to=171

good find. i guess that is the card.
i don't know. i rarely call a german Handy with it so i don't know.

I always used One Suite to call home while living in the US. I used to call to landlines though so it was way cheaper. Never had a problem with the connection or anything and they do not charge "maintenance fees" like many other calling cards do, so you only pay for the actual calls (many calling cards charge another fee per week that the calling card is active).

thanks guys,

i think the calling cards are going to need to be the way forward. i wonder why it's so much more expensive from the us than vice versa, in the uk we normally get ripped off at all possible occasions.

a. German telecom is very competitive
b. you are talking about calling a German mobile. If you call from that mobile and have the right rate plan/callthrough service, then you avoid the expense of calling a mobile

Some of those callthrough services I mentioned are comparable in price or cheaper to call German mobiles from the US than it is to call German mobiles from most German landlines. (The cheapest dialaround from German Telekom landlines is about €0.08/min (ca. US12¢/min), but prices are often much higher than that from other providers within Germany.

When I was back in the US over the summer, I found this phone card and used it daily to call my husband in Germany. After numerous phone bills, and recharged calling cards, this card was quite the treat. It is called the Revos prepaid international calling card, and it can be bought at any 7/11 store. The cost is 19.99 USD a month for unlimited calls to many countries including germany. The calling card can only be used from one phone number, and it has to be a cell phone, also it only calls land lines. However my husband got a land line number through voda fone that rings to our cell. Also uses us numbers rather than an 800 number, so you can enter it as one of your fave friends on T mobile, if you have it and it doesn't use your minutes. Or use it on weekend or on evenings if you have that kind of plan. We used thousands of minutes a month so it was a great deal for us. Before this we ran 500 dollar phone bills or blew way to much on calling cards. Occasionally shitty connection, but well worth the savings. Hope it helps you.

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Hi

I am looking for a cheap and good quality way to call Germany from the US. I am open to any suggestions even complex software setups as long as it doesn't involve setting anything up on the other side.

I currently use a cell (Sprint) and a calling card (Global Phone) to call Germany, but I am getting frustrated with the experience. Often times I have a poor connection, no connection, a one way connection, the card bleeding money when calling a German Handy, and/or my card running out when it's too late to buy another card.

I am willing to try anything, but I do not keep a landline. Currently I am thinking of using Skype's international prepaid rates as it seems to be the most reliable and accessible solution.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks,
Nick

Topics merged by admin

Internet telephony is your only choice.

The only value of Skype is when calling other Skype users (when it's free). Otherwise it's inconvenient and expensive. Real VoIP services such as Broadvoice can offer you unlimited calls to the USA and other countries, including Germany for $19.95/month. Difficult to beat.

Hey
Take Skype.
Subscribe for Europe Unlimited. Call German and 20 other European Landline free for 1 year.
Pay only Euros 40 for one year.
You even get a Skype In number

I use sykpe world wide I can call almost any country for 12usd a month. Plus the system is stupid and doest recognize cell numbers. YOu are supposed to only be able to call landlines, but I get away calling land and cells. Works great, plus I have a number where people can call me.

Or if the person you are calling has a computer you can use regular skype voice over IP for free. Just have both people create a free skype account.

Good luck

And last resort 7/11 stores offer a international flat rate calling acrd for 20usd, but sometimes shotty connection.

I would recommend Reliance calling cards, if you are planning to call German Landlines. Costs 2.2Cents a min. Once you register your phone, you dont have to keep entering the calling card number or PIN. You can use short cuts to call numbers. And you can set up automatic recharging as well.

Thanks for the input so far everyone. My main criteria were that the receiver (my tech clueless girlfriend and family) would not have to do anything and that the connection would have to be clear. I searched through the forum and found Voipcheap.com and I might try that. The prices are more competitive than Skype and service more (cost) reliable than Jajah. If anyone has any further suggestions let me know.

I presume you mean North American cellphones. In which case you are the stupid one, as there is no way to differentiate them - in North America the cellphone owner contributes to the cost of incoming calls so there is no difference in the (cost of a) call to a land- or cell phone, so call services such as Skype don't (and can't) differentiate between them

use internetcalls.com

You can call the USA, including mobile phones for free. If you have a landline and you don't want to use your pc, then it can redirect to your landline (in germany) for 5c a call.

Oh dear, another who hasn't read the small Betamax print. Not free (at least not for longer calls), but VERY cheap...

I just wanted to update everyone on the topic. After reading the fine print I realized the Betamax clone rates can vary from time to time. This isn't much of an improvement over services like Jajah where (billing) support is non-existent and the fee structure a bit arbitrary. Skype remains the most convenient way (with support) but there are true VoIP alternatives that offer much cheaper rates.

In fact there are cheaper ones than Broadvoice that are not only competitively priced against calling cards but with almost always better connection quality. So in the end I bought a VoIP softphone and subscribed to a pay-as-you-go VoIP service that provides crystal clear connection for $0.01 USD German Festnetz and $0.17 USD for Mobile. It's actually cheaper to call a German mobile from the US than using T-Mobile within Germany.

VoipZoom - the youngest Betamax baby:

Could you extend your update as far as telling us what the service is? Not only does that help us to help you to confirm it is good, but it helps other voyagers passing by in the future...