One for the expats: I’ve heard good things about Espantel recently, two cents a minute to the UK and the USA (and many others) using your landline – you dial a 901 number followed by the number you want to reach and you are charged on your normal phone bill. Could be an easy alternative to jajah or skypeout.
What do you use to call those you left at home?
Ryan
26 Feb 07 at 5:02 pm
a mix of jajah, and skypeout depends on who and if they are registered for one of them. Why is it so hard to convince people to take two minutes and register with one of these. Then basically there is no 2cents a minute. It amazes me that free is regarded with so much suspicion.
Ryan
26 Feb 07 at 5:05 pm
hey espantel makes it appear that calling within Spain is even cheaper through them. HUH! In all honesty since moving here, our costs of long distance have been WAY lower than our costs for communicating within Spain. I think I talk more on the phone to the UK and US and I know I pay a fraction of what I pay to call within Spain. Strange world
Pepino (Dave Hall)
26 Feb 07 at 5:10 pm
I use http://www.voipdiscount.com
I’ve not really got into the whole VOIP phenomenon in any depth, but this one was recommended to me and I find it really easy. Maybe it works exactly like Skype (if so, I’m probably preaching to the choir here), but basically, you install a tiny program on your laptop and you can then dial direct from the laptop and use your headphones/microphone to listen/speak.
As I don’t have headphones etc, I use the feature that lets you just enter two numbers, your own and the one of the person you’re dialling. Seconds later, your phone rings, you pick up, and then the other end starts ringing just as though you’d rang them directly from the phone. Is that like Skype?
Anyway, I put €10 on my account when I opened it, thinking it would keep me going just for a start. That was 5 months ago and I’ve still got €9.70 left despite using it often.
The line quality is clear 99% of the time, and I’ve never had a call dropped.
All in all, it keeps the “Old Queen” happy (that’s my mother
), and also saves my flatmate from having to go through the Telefonica phone bill with an electron microscope to make sure he’s charged me for all my calls. 
Ben
26 Feb 07 at 5:15 pm
Dave, that sounds like jajah, I might have to try that one too!
Pepino (Dave Hall)
26 Feb 07 at 5:39 pm
Thanks Ben. Just had a look at http://www.jajah.com and it tells me that the rates from Spain to the UK are 1.7p a minute. So I guess I must be on a good deal with http://www.voipdiscount.com as I’ve talked for hours in total and still only spent about €0.30 and given that their website tells me that calls to the UK are completely free, I guess the €0.30 must’ve been used when I’ve sent the odd SMS back to the UK.
nuria
26 Feb 07 at 6:09 pm
I will have to try that. I usually use skype to communicate with friends and family in the US who have a computer but Espantel looks like a great option for the land lines.
Tim
26 Feb 07 at 9:47 pm
voipstunt.com seems very similar to these other services, too. Used successfully between Australia and UK.
sandy
27 Feb 07 at 12:15 pm
I have been using a virtual phone card from http://www.moreminutes.es for a few years now. They have my credit card on file, send me a PIN by email every three months worth 11 euros when the card expires or whenever I use up the credit before three months is up. I use it to call UK, Netherlands, Sweden, US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, still I can never seem to use up the credit. I think to call the US it’s less than 1 cent (in Euro) but you have to pay for the charges to a 901, 902 or a local access number.
Downside: Their website is somewhat difficult to navigate. The connection is not the greatest sometimes. However I tried some other companies before, the connection was awful all the time.
Victoria
25 Mar 07 at 7:26 pm
Ben, could you , PLEASE, help me out with something? What brands are popular among young people in Spain? I need it for a school project…Thank you so much!!
Ben
26 Mar 07 at 7:38 am
Hi Victoria,
You need to be a bit more specific. Do you mean clothing brands, food brands, what type of brands? The best thing to do would be to ask again in the forums where we can all help you out.
Ben
Andy
1 Aug 07 at 10:35 am
Hey people,
I’ve found this 1: http://www.reducitel.com
it kind of works the same as espantel but it has a 50% discount deal where you get 1 minute free for every minute that you call. Also to UK Mobile!! Definitely worth the try
ANN
11 Feb 08 at 11:46 pm
Hi does anyone know if there is a system where my grandaughter makes calls from Spain to the UK, but I pay for the calls here in the UK.
graham
23 Feb 09 at 5:52 pm
Ben, What are the charges for the 901 and 905 access numbers for espantel
RayTibbitts
23 Feb 09 at 8:43 pm
@ANN
In Spain this is called “Cobro Revertido” for Collect Calls or more literally, Reverse-Charges.
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One service that I have found that does this from Spain to the UK is
8000 REVERSE
All your granddaughter needs to do is dial, “00-8000-REVERSE”
and follow the instructions in English.
That’s spelling it out on the keypad “00-8000-7383773″
From landline to landline, you will be charged in the UK, for receiving the call:
to connect: £3.91
per minute: £0.98
——————————————————————————–
Compare this to Skype Out calling rates:
to connect: £3.91 vs. £0.03
per minute: £0.98 vs. £0.15
Skype Out is much cheaper, and uses the internet connection you already have in the UK.
Except it means that you would be calling her, not the other way around.
——————————————————————————–
Of course FREE is the best option!
If your granddaughter has the internet in Spain, you can both use Skype or iChat (or others)
for no additional cost. It’s even free for video calls!
I’m here in Spain, and my parents and grandparents back in the U.S. use iChat and SkypeOut, but to be honest, we don’t call each other any more often now that it’s practically free to do so. The only difference is that we end up talking longer, and running out of things to talk about.
It may even lead to less-frequent calling, as we sub-consciously wait to actually have something new to talk about.
RayTibbitts
23 Feb 09 at 8:53 pm
@graham
Telefonica charges about €0.04 to connect and almost €0.04 a minute for call to 901′s
For 905′s they charge twice as much.
This is what they charge the person making the call from one of their landlines in Spain.
anglohil
28 Feb 09 at 2:56 pm
What is the cheapest way to call uk from english mobile or spanish mobile?
do not have landline
Austin telephone
28 Aug 09 at 4:40 pm
This is great news, I visit Spain regularly and spend a lot of money calling back home in the US at expensive rates. Hopefully this will work with an Austin telephone number so I can speak to my family more.