Cheap landline long distance from US to UK?

I did a search and most threads were at least two years old and I wanted some current info.  I call the UK from my US home phone because the voice quality is better than a mobile.  I used to use a dial-in number (which I got from this forum a few years ago) i.e. 12-34-567+ UK phone number.  But I was vacuuming today and sucked off the little sticker on my phone!  I know I could Google for a new service but I don't want to wind up with something dodgy, so any numbers you are using that are reliable, please share.  Thanks!

My grandmother added something to her current phone contract and pays a flat rate of $5 a month (I think) and then a few cents a minute to call our UK landline...I also love to use Skype-you can add money to your account but I always just use the internet version  

Hope this helps! 

I use Skype for calling phones internationally. It gives a better rate than any phone company I've found so far.

If you find something that seems to work good for you I'd love to hear about it.  We will be moving over on Friday and the parents are OK using Skype but would also like a landline option.  Last time we got them a calling card from Nobelcom but that has since expired.  I haven't checked them yet but would be interested to hear what you find out as well

I buy phone cards from 7-11 called PennyTalk... It very cheap for the minutes if your calling landline, but it costs 50 cents to connect each time, I talk with DH for hours at a time so this doesn't really matter to us... They're refillable too, but expensive as h if you want to ring a mobile number

I have a Google Voice number, and use it to call my husband's phones whenever Skype isn't an option for whatever reason. It's the cheapest rates I've been able to find so far. Signing up for a number was free when I did it, and I believe it still is. Calls to landlines in the UK are $0.02 per minute, and to mobile phones (at least to my husband's O2 phone) are $0.10 per minute. Skype calling - when I stopped using it, anyway - was at least twice as much ($0.24, if I remember right), and charged a connection fee, so 1- or 2-minute calls were hardly worth it.

With Google, you can have a Voice app on your smartphone, or you can call from your PC/laptop. Or, you can tell it which phone you want to talk from, and Google will call it, then automatically connect you to the number you want to call.

I've been using Google for over a year to contact him. The check-out process to top up credit is easier than Skype's, and I've never had a problem at all with call quality nor with the money part of it. I highly, highly recommend Google Voice.

http://google.com/voice

ETA:

Here is the page with all the international calling rates. Also, the service is only available from the US for now.

https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/rates?hl=en_US&currency=USD#U

Ok so let me get this straight-- to use a US landline with google voice you login on your computer, tell it to call the UK but route the call through the US landline phone??

Interesting

You've pretty much got it.

Basically, within a Google Voice account, you can say, "Okay, Google - I have [for example] three phones: home, cell and work. These are the numbers." Then, you can give out the number that comes with your account, and set up which of your numbers are rung based on things like time of day. Or you can have a call sent to all three phones.

Anyway, so Google has all your phone numbers. So when you're ready to call out, you go online and choose a contact you'd like to call. Then Google will ask which of the phones that you have on your account (you have to verify them before you can use them, so you can't have it ring any old number) that you want to talk to that contact with. Once you make a choice, that phone will ring, and a very nice voice will say, "The cost of this call is ['x'] cents per minute." If you don't have much money left on your account, it will tell you how many minutes you have remaining. Then, the number on the other end will start ringing. It only charges once it connects to either a person, voicemail or error message - which was something I disliked about Skype; a lot of times, I found it had charged me simply to ring.

There is a smartphone application, too, that you can call from, but I'm not sure if you can choose from there which phone to use, or if it automatically dials from the phone you're on. I only have the one number - my cell - anymore, so I don't have multiple numbers to test that part out on.

One thing to note, though, is it's not a standalone mobile app like Skype is; using it actually makes a phone call to a local number which acts as a connector to you and the person you're calling, so it will eat your carrier's mobile minutes. So overage charges are something to look out for if you use your mobile.

Anyway, I'm a big fan.

Wow that does sound really handy. I will check into it more and if it might work suggest it to the parents here.  They are just getting used to skype but the landline thing is what will appeal to them

I was also going to suggest Google Voice or Skype. Both great options! Is Vonage available in the UK as well?