i know that some of you call negril. what is a cheep calling card or online service. seems to me that i am paying to much for this. i get a card for $25 and get about 65 minutes. there must be something cheaper. thought i would as the experts
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i know that some of you call negril. what is a cheep calling card or online service. seems to me that i am paying to much for this. i get a card for $25 and get about 65 minutes. there must be something cheaper. thought i would as the experts
skype.
There is the Digicel international plan. A lot of locals have the plan - it costs ja$1 a minute - which is less than a penny and a half per minute us$. That is about as cheap as it can get...
Try www.pennytalk.com
We have found it the rates to be cheapest to call family in Jamaica.
What is the cost of this plan and is it available on pre paid? Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
If it will be lenghly I go online to Digicel top up and it costs me less than a 10th to top up the phone ( add minutes) of who I want to speak and I send them a text to call me $12.00 gets me atleast an hour vs what my long distance bills were and any of the other methods I tried.
Verizon long distance had a 30 cents a minute JA plan a few years back but i think last I checked it went to 60 or 80.
you can send the top up to the person online at the digicel website, then they can purchase the international plan with that amount.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
if you sign up to digicel they will also alert you to all kinds of double bubble promos, but that is for local calling.
As others point out, it is cheapest to top-up friends/family in JA and have them call you after they turn them into international minutes. That costs them $1J/min to call you. I think they need a minimum balance on their phone of $1000J to convert them to international minutes by dialing some ext - no need to visit a store. Those $1000min are good for up to 30days - expire after that.
For times I need to call to JA - I have an account with http://www.nobelcom.com/.
No need to get a physical card, can setup pin-less dialing, automatic re-charging, etc. Variety of plans for different rounding times, connection fees, etc. I think they all do that now.
For me, a $40 re-charge usually lasts me 2-3 weeks - but many times I call and talk for the 2 min they are going to charge me regardless - and have my fiancee call me back with her cheaper minutes.
For all these cards, watch out for teaser prices. They all, including one I use, seem to have low prices listed prominently, but those are to land-lines in JA - very few PEOPLE have landlines, but is good for calling hotels and other businesses. Calling a cell phone in JA has a higher per min charge.
I used to use the nobel, too, but it would up being just cheaper to get the international plan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio_Buckeye_1
one thing you bring up ohio is the 1,000J, but you have to make sure you make the purchase so that they actually get the full 1000, because there is tax and nonsense. digicel tells you how much the recipient will get when you top them up, so you have to make sure you are actually sending them more than the 1,000. otherwise they will be short and will have to (maybe) make it up on their end.
That what I have been doing was topping his phone up but until a few days ago didn't known that there was international plans like that so now I know ,so I can stop using calling cards because here in Canada to call there was I believe 22 cents a minute so every night was topping up 20 bucks! Ouch.now he's got the international plan but I'm looking for the amount of money get you this many minutes answer as there is nothing on digicel that tells you.I was topping phone up with 30. Canadian which turned into 2400. J I believe on his phone but what I'm wondering is it I really need to top that much up every month?
The international plans are 1000 minutes or 1500 minutes. You need $1250 in credit to get the 1000 min. international plan. Using the same % that'd be $1875, if my math is correct, for the 1500 minute plan. I ran out of my 1000 minutes in 3 weeks & started over. Very easy to top up online. Used my Digicel acct. to pay for my wireless access this summer, too.
Wish I could get a good rate to call JA w/ out having to dial 800 #, pin #, etc. Royal PIA. Don't call often, mainly because it is such a PIA. My phone provider has international calling plans but none include JA, don't even give JA per min rate on their website. Just checked this a.m. since I have a friend in IL who pays - I think - $5 a month & can call JA at no extra cost. I'm pretty sure that's what he told me. Will ask when I talk w/ him again. Of course, you'd have to live in his area to get that deal :)
i signed up on ringyard and seems as though that will work well. it is about .20 per minute with an access number to call. currently my cell does not cover jamaica. so i believe that i can get rid of my home phone now. else i kept it and used a calling card. and that calling card kept loosing minutes when i used on my cell. not sure why but i tried to get to the bottom of that and the bottom was really deep and never did find out so i just used my home phone and did not loose minutes that way.but this ringyard is much cheaper anyway. i will see further how this works
Quote:
Originally Posted by monk
I use Nobelcom for me, in the USA to call to JA. From other posts, look like others might be cheaper, maybe have to explore.
Most times I talk for just a few minutes and have my fiancee call me back on the Digicel Int'l minutes I have sent her.
Or do I misunderstand you - and there is an International Plan here in the USA to call JA you are referring to?
Good point. I figured interested parties would find the info on Digicel Topup website, but here are more details for those interested:Quote:
Originally Posted by monk
When you go on digicel TopUp site to send minutes to a JA cell# - they have pull-down of prices/minutes.
Topup of $1250J sends $1000 minutes. Your JA friend will get an IM that minutes have been sent.
Those minutes are not Int'l yet. Unless they type in the code to turn some of their minutes into Int'l ones - they will stay normal minutes.
Normal minutes can be used to call USA phone numbers, but they burn thru those minutes MUCH faster (like $17.75J/min)
Once the JA cell phone has recieved the 1000 or more minutes, they dial *134# SEND to activate the Int'l plan.
They then get a text msg with instructions on choosing how to either activate 1000min as Int'l, or other amounts.
Those 1000 minutes are good for up to 30 days then expire.
http://www.digiceljamaica.com/assets...FAQ___TC_s.pdf
if you are using nobel you might want to check out enjoyprepaid- it's nobel without the annoying PIN and stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio_Buckeye_1
between the digicel and skype, I saved a ton of money, gave up on the cards soon after skype and that is also video. also oovoo is popular.
yup, good post yvonne. when you purchase the minutes on digicel they tell you how much you are buying and what the receiver will actually get, so so long as you cover the amount of the intl plan, you are good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yvonne