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Apr 09, 2008 -- Making cheap calls while traveling overseas

After traveling recently in Europe, Clark was reminded how expensive it can be to call back to the United States. While in Venice, Italy, he overheard an American woman telling her friend how she got ripped on calls back home. She was charged $68 for a 5-minute call to family and $10 for a 1-minute call to check her voice mail. Clark told the woman he was only paying 5.8 cents a minute and offered to let her use his cell. She probably thought he was another con artist, and she definitely didn't take him up on his offer!

So what's Clark's secret? He heeded a listener's advice and used a service called Pingo.com. There's a charge of about a dollar a month to be a customer, but the payoff is in the great rates. Clark even found an online coupon to receive bonus minutes when he first signed up. Meanwhile, Clark also has an unlocked world cell phone that he bought on eBay. He's equipped it with a SIM card from GoSIM.com that's been saving him big bucks. Remember, your wallet will be destroyed if you use your standard U.S. cellular from one of the 4 main carriers while traveling overseas.

One caveat: Some users have reported complaints about Pingo. View the company's Better Business Bureau file.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

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What others are saying

  • GO-SIM International SIM card
    I got one of these SIM cards from GO-SIM in the summer after reading about it here. I used it when traveled to Europe in 7 countries and the results were amazing! I received calls from the US for free just like on my regular cell but without any charges at all! I would recommend any one traveling out of the US to get one of these! Great product!
    By Tim @ 11/03/08 02:20:04 PMreport abuse
  • What about VoiceStick?
    I'm surprised nobody has mentioned VoiceStick.com from i2 Telecom, an Atlanta-based VoIP provider. They have ridiculously low int'l calling rates - generally around 2-3 cents per minute. And it's portable, with a self-executable that runs off of a USB flash drive (without having to install it on the PC, like the competitors' versions with the USB drives). They also have what they call a "bridge" that allows you to make calls from your cell phone or landline through your VoIP account so you pay the VoIP int'l calling rates instead of what the cell phone provider or landline provider would charge for int'l calls. I've never heard Clark mention VoiceStick, which is somewhat surprising to me.
    By Rew @ 09/03/08 04:20:44 PMreport abuse
  • Pingo
    I was really happy with Pingo and have told many people about it. What I failed to realize, however, is that they charge 98 cents/month. I got charged an extra $5 to my account 16 days after using it on my trip. It seems my balance went below the $5 when they debited my account 98cents. It is a great service, but make sure you cancel if you don't need it in between! I am hoping that there isn't a service charge for canceling. That might prohibit me using them again.
    By Joyce @ 08/11/08 06:31:34 PMreport abuse
  • Pingo w/ GoSim
    I'm a little confused about the sim card. Once you buy a pre-paid sim card from GoSim.com do you have to keep loading it with minutes, or do you buy the pre-paid Global SimCard and then buy minutes from pingo? If it is the latter, how did Clark get 4.8 cents and avoid the 41 cents a minute for calling from a mobile phone?
    By Bryan Ginsberg @ 07/22/08 11:37:58 AMreport abuse
  • pingo
    This is totally confusing. Would someone please explain how pingo works with an international cell phone plan.
    By lucy @ 07/12/08 01:29:36 AMreport abuse
  • international calls
    My daughter will be in Europe for a few months. She needs to call and be called from several Europeon countries. Someone told me she needs to get a phone from the airport in Spain. Anyone familiar with that?
    By MJB @ 06/15/08 09:49:01 PMreport abuse
  • Pingo
    I just tried to order on line. I am very computer savvy. The transaction did not appear to go through. I got an error message and not obtain a confirmation or any other notification of a successful transaction. But being careful, I called my credit card company. They stated the charge had gone through and they could not help me for a few days. I will have to call Pingo and see if they can fix things. A very sloppy website. I am not impressed.
    By Fred @ 06/03/08 08:06:06 PMreport abuse
  • I'm confused and need help!
    my daughter is going to Italy in a month. I have an international phone I plan to have unlocked. What would be the easiest way for her to make calls home. It can't be too complicated. Do I get a Sims card from GoSim, then buy minutes at Pingo? I need something easy for her to set up. Thank you!
    By renee @ 04/29/08 03:00:01 PMreport abuse
  • GoSIM.com
    Cost to call US from France with the SIM card is .60 per min. Cost to call from Italy is .65 per min with this service.
    You must have an "unlocked" phone to use this service.
    By Craig @ 04/23/08 03:41:34 PMreport abuse
  • Making cheap calls while traveling overseas
    I am surprised that Clark did not mention Skype. It's about as inexpensive as you can get. Plus, it comes loaded on the Eee PC, which Clark has. I have called home from Paris and London @ .024/minute including VAT, using Skype on my Eee PC
    By Bob Ritchason @ 04/22/08 12:13:17 PMreport abuse
  • Pingo
    My son recommended Pingo to me after a horrible expense calling him in England where he is on sabbatical. I think I am paying about 3 cents a minute with no overhead charge. His son used it from a variety of places in Europe.
    By William Lyons @ 04/21/08 10:41:36 PMreport abuse
  • International phone savings
    Check out jajah.com. It's different than Skype, which I also use regularly, both in the Chat mode and generally from the computer (Skype IN and Skype OUT options are also available).
    However, with JaJah, don't even need a computer to call - just register with your e-mail and your various phone numbers, add your callers, and you can get a local number for them. You can call for free to other JaJah users - (although to cell phones in Europe it is more expensive) or for VERY LITTLE 3.3 US cents (2.0 Euro cents) to land lines or even cell phone "Home Zones" in Europe (at least Germany). My son & I both use it. He even used it with his Chinese cell phone when he was in China!
    By Annette Gelbrich @ 04/21/08 08:09:11 PMreport abuse
  • SIM card better deal than GoSim.com
    Unless I am not understanding correctly, I think T-mobile has a better deal. You can geta SIM card for an unlocked phone with 10 minutes for $4.99 at the T-mobile web site.
    By Rhonda Brockett @ 04/21/08 07:31:14 PMreport abuse
  • Using T-Mobile overseas
    If your phone is a quad-band or tri-band phone and on a post-paid account, you could bring it overseas and pay T-Mobile's international roaming rates. If you've had the phone for a certain amount of time (90 days? 1 year? I forget) you can call TMo and request an 'unlock code' which will allow the phone to accept any SIM. This applies to all the GSM network-based carriers, but each one has different rules for unlocking their own phones.

    As for Japan, they and S. Korea don't use the GSM standard that the rest of the world uses. So unless you're a Verizon customer, you can't bring your phone there and expect it to work. On CDMA carriers like Verizon have equipment semi-compatible with Japan and S. Korea's networks.
    By Tom Servo @ 04/21/08 06:02:09 PMreport abuse
  • GPS
    We are traveling to Italy in November for only a week, so this information is much appreciated. I would also like to see if anyone has an inexpensive way to get a handheld GPS to help us find our way around. I would probably use it back in the States too, but don't want to invest several hundreds of dollars. It would have to have the capability of loading maps for Italy. Any thoughts?
    By MS @ 04/21/08 05:13:38 PMreport abuse
  • T- Mobile Usage
    I have T-mobile as a provider and I was wondering if I can use my phone overseas but using Pingo?
    By Ange @ 04/21/08 04:04:36 PMreport abuse
  • Gosim
    I'm confused. If the cost of calls to the US are $.69/min using Gosim, why would I bother using a calling card only to be charge an additional $.058/minute?
    By Andy @ 04/21/08 02:42:00 PMreport abuse
  • I-Phone use in Eastern Europe
    I have been advised by the Apple people to us AT&T overseas program. Does anyone have experience with that service??
    By Bob Loomis @ 04/21/08 02:20:12 PMreport abuse
  • Skype
    Hey everybody - what about Skype? I'd love to hear from folks who either live or travel outside the US about their use and cost of Skype.
    By Bill Reining @ 04/21/08 01:53:16 PMreport abuse
  • international phone call options
    What other options are there? My husband is going to Japan for one month this summer but we don't anticipate any other international travel in the next year or more. we don't really want to buy more equipment that we won't use again.
    By Chris @ 04/21/08 01:52:20 PMreport abuse
  • Landline calls from overseas
    Clark - Don't forget your own advice from years ago... Bring your Vonage Router with you and plug it in to your rooms high speed internet connection... Then all your calls to the US and most countries are free... I live in Germany and use it every day...
    By Butcher @ 04/21/08 01:27:02 PMreport abuse
  • Callbacks to US from Europe
    Have used Onesuite (Onesuite.com, formerly BigZoo.com RECOMMENDED BY CLARK HOWARD years ago)for cheap callbacks from payphones. Perhaps less convenient than a cellphone but inexpensive.
    By Pete @ 04/21/08 12:43:25 PMreport abuse
  • It Works!
    We just got back from New Zealand. We purchased an unlocked world phone from EBay. We used a combination of a Vodaphone SIM Chip, Pingo and GlobalPhone (www.gphone.com) call back service for a better rates than a cell phone alone. Most SIM chips have free incoming minutes (but the charge for the caller is higher).

    We also setup Pingo with a speed dial for our family to call us back with. Very easy to use and much less expensive.
    By Rob @ 04/20/08 10:05:39 AMreport abuse
  • t-mobile
    I called from Italy on my T-Mobile and it only cost me .99 a minute no roaming,no charge to have international service.12 minutes,13 dollors and change with tax
    By dee @ 04/16/08 12:47:50 PMreport abuse
  • True Cost
    Please report the true cost. Calls from pay phones much more expensive! And the cost form the cell - you are paying both pingo and cell rates? The whole story please!
    By Ronnie @ 04/14/08 02:19:05 PMreport abuse
  • Correction
    Let me correct my numbers: Should be $.69/minute for GoSim + $.058 for Pingo = total cost of $.748/minute. United-Mobile SIM card calls are somewhat less. Using a Global SIM paired with a callback service would be considerably cheaper. Even cheaper would be to make the call from a payphone using Pingo(if you can find one that works!).
    By Woody @ 04/11/08 11:28:54 AMreport abuse
  • Pingo calls in Europe
    I looked at the GoSim rates. Looks like GoSim charges $.69/minute for calls made in Italy, so the true cost of Clark's calls are $.69 + $5.8 = $.74.8/minute. Better than the Hotel rate, but still not cheap. A callback service would produce a lower rate than that, because incoming calls are free with GoSim.
    By Woody @ 04/11/08 11:22:08 AMreport abuse
  • Pingo calls
    You failed to mention that calls from mobile phones in Italy cost an additional 41 cents a minute.
    By Vireshwar Sahai @ 04/10/08 07:23:41 PMreport abuse
  • callin from overseas
    One could try Vonage(land line only). Vonage can help him set up a virtual number which he can call from back to the US. Of course that depends on whether the country they are calling from is covered by Vonage plans.
    By walter mhlanga @ 04/10/08 03:35:27 PMreport abuse
  • International phone calls
    What timely advice! My daughter is heading to Europe (5 countries) this summer and I had no idea where to seek information about affordable phone use during her trip. Your help is SO APPRECIATED! Thank you.
    By Christi Matthews @ 04/10/08 01:35:41 PMreport abuse
  • international cell calls
    my sis recently visited europe and spend too much using her cell phone; had she inquired about this service, she would have saved herself alot; thanks to your show I will be spreading the word to others. Thanks Clark and staff!
    By jackie johnson @ 04/10/08 01:01:37 PMreport abuse
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