cheapest way to make phone calls

[judith84]

Hey!

I am going to move to Alicante for 6 months in early March. Since making calls with my Austrian phone will probably cost me a fortune, I think it might be the best to get a Spanish SIM card for my phone (or a completely new phone if it won't be too expensive). Now I'd like to know what's the cheapest way to make phone calls in Spain, considering the fact that I will only stay for 6 months. Which provider might be the best for me to choose?

I hope somebody can help me out with that. ;-)

[Marina]

Basically I would say there are no major differences in price between the three main operators. What is worth is to choose correctly the kind of use that you are going to make. For example: only week-ends and evenings, always calling to the same numbers, all day long... and based on that choose the appropriate card type. If you are thinking of getting a new phone I would choose the operator that offers me a better deal to get it.

These are the links to the different type of pay as you go deals of the three main companies:

orange (http://movil.orange.es/tarjeta/tarifas/)
movistar (http://www.movistar.es/particulares/tarifasycontratos) (left hand side menu "Tipos de Tarjeta")
vodafone (http://www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/ParticularesPS/ParticularesPS/0,2603,8574,00.html)

[Damian Corrigan]

The new carrier, Yoigo, despite initial teething problems, aren't bad.

They're especially good if you like an "all day, every day, any network" tarrif, which is what I like.

They also send u a handy text message after every call telling you how much your last call cost you and how much credit you have left.

Damian

[djS]

Spanish SIM card will not work in you phone unless you have you phone opened to take sim cards from outher operator
Ask you operator for the imei it the long No. in the back off your phone ie the nokia 6230i it the last No. under the Memoery chip
Would be 15 digis No , or need the IMEI Number by pressing *#06# Nokia code only
if you want to fine out when your phone was born yes born press *#0000#

all companys are areound 30 cent per min and same for sms out of Spain

Yoigo share networks in spain with Vodafone here it map of coverage http://cobertura.yoigo.com/

that is on top up accounts

jurdy

[greytop]

Whilst mobiles are covenient and you can take incoming calls, the cheapest way to phone home is to buy a phone card. There are many, some better for one country than another, but you can get 200 minutes for about 5 euro(s) which is much better than a mobile rate. You are better to use a landline to call although some work from mobiles at about 10X the cost.
If you can access a computer easily, set up a Skype or similar VOIP service. That will only cost a fraction of anything else - or nothing if the family is on the same service.
See sites such as http://www.lastarjetas.com/ for comparisons.

[billabongdom]

Hi there,
well, the new boys on the block are Carrefour (the Supermarket chain) for 10 euros you get a new SIM card and 10 euros of credit and all calls cost 15 cents to all networks all day, everyday. Try and beat that !!

Of course you need to free up your phone, but that's easy enough.

Ciao !!!!!!! :cool:

[djS]

not bad for 15 cent per min and all networks (inside spain ) some think like tesco in the uk with it Tesco chip but it real only a 02 chip
tesco get a kick back for the Operator
Wonder who Carrefour are frontting for

dont for get Sms Short Message Service (SMS) are biggest revenue for Moblie phone companys you would be talking off just under 15 million sms where sent in Spain today

so work that out there what sms cost to send
jurdy

[sandy]

I use a calling card that I buy on www.moreminutes.es (http://www.moreminutes.es) to make overseas (US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, UK....) calls. It costs something like 11 euros. It has a validity of 3 months. How long you can talk depends on where you call. I always have credit left when the card expires on me. There are probably cheaper cards around but since this is already so cheap, I never bother to look further.

sandy
-----
www.excelwines.com (http://www.excelwines.com)

[Damian Corrigan]

Hi there,
well, the new boys on the block are Carrefour (the Supermarket chain) for 10 euros you get a new SIM card and 10 euros of credit and all calls cost 15 cents to all networks all day, everyday. Try and beat that !!





OK: the aforementioned Yoigo. http://www.yoigo.es (http://www.yoigo.es/) 12c a minute to all networks. And they have a better phone deal if you need a new phone (though they also sell the card on its own).


I applied for the Carrefour SIM card and it never arrived (was getting my old number transferred across, which you have to send off for). And the staff in the shops didn't have a clue. But then, Yoigo is exclusively been sold in The Phone House at the moment - an equally clueless bunch of ****s.

Damian

[judith84]

Thank you for all the replies!

Are Carrefour and Yoigo pretty much the same? Does anyone have a homepage address of Carrefour, so that I can compare both? My phone is already opened because I have one of those very cheap SIM cards offered by supermarkets here in Austria. So it would not be a problem for me to put a foreign SIM card into it.

One more question: Do both partners who are talknig on the phone have to pay in Spain? For example, here in Austria only the person who makes the phone call has to pay for it. If you get called by somebody it won't cost you anything? How is that in Spain?

[Damian Corrigan]

www.carrefour.es/movil (http://www.carrefour.es/movil)

Carrefour is a 'virtual network', running off another network (I can't remember who). Yoigo is a new independent network, though they are so new they don't have their network up and running fully and are rentng from Vodafone temporarily.

So no, they aren't the same, though their prices are similar in the end.

The disadvantage of both of them is that buying top-ups is difficult. Carrefour top-ups are only available from Carrefour and Yoigo is only available from The Phone House (though they claim you can get them from Estancos too - I haven't seen any that offer it)

If you are receiving calls you don't pay (as long as the phone is in Spain - if you travel overseas with it, you pay). The only country in the world that I know of that where receivers pay is in the US.

Damian

[mark.n]

Hi at the moment vodafone offer a sim card for 25 euros and have 100 credit on it they also do a tariff were you pay for 1 min and talk for 60 use this with a Euro direct calling card for 6 euros and that is good for over 600 min,s to a UK land line. The calling card is good for 45 days from first use. My wife uses this to call me works out at about 25 cents for the hour and you can do follow on calls. The mostexpensive part of the call is the connection charge at 12 cents. hope this helps

[Damian Corrigan]

The Eurodirect cards are good, I know the guy that sells them http://www.onspanishtime.com (http://www.onspanishtime.com/)

That Vodafone tariff is good, but they still you for calls to mobiles.

Damian

[djS]

well dont for get there is SKYPE via the internet wich i used alot for calls around the world 2 cent per min to any where are free if you skype an outher user off skype and most internet shops would have that
Msn yahoo gmail.com have gtalk and lot more

if you have a labtop buy a Datacards it plug in side off you labtop and you can pay 40 - 60 euros per month to movistar r vodafone
jurdy

[Damian Corrigan]

Skype was talked about extensively on another thread recently. Skype has become a money grabber recently - www.freecall.com is cheaper and offers everything Skype offers.

Damian