International calling plans are a minefield. You need to weigh monthly charges versus on-peak and off-peak charges, bonus minutes, rebates, and teaser offers. I've found it to be as much of a pain to shop for as buying a new car.

But what I discovered early on is this: some international providers are much better than others when calling certain countries. VIP Communications used to be part of Swiftcall, an Irish phone company. As a result it offers ridiculously cheap calls from the US to Ireland, only 9c per minute. The UK and most of the rest of Western Europe, as well as Taiwan and Japan also seem to be pretty cheap with VIP. But beware, some other countries, like Russia and mainland China are quite expensive, so make sure you check their rates for the countries you are likely to be calling.

The calling plan is prepaid by credit card in $25 chunks. You can access the system by 800 number from anywhere without additional surcharge. Speed-dial numbers can be set up too.

They also have a referral program, where you can earn a $5 bonus when new users mention your account. (Mine is 6010500 if you happen to want refer to it.)

The main disadvantage I've found is that call quality is sometimes poor at weekends. At peak times they compress bandwidth to pack more calls in per phone line. But even this is no big problem, and some weekends and most weekdays are fine.

If the country you call is available cheaply with VIP, give them a try.



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