Cheap calling from US to UK?

Just moved over and my family/friends have been wanting to call me in the UK; but I have warned them not to call until they check their international phone rates with their long distance carrier.

What services do you find work best and cheapest?  Prepaid calling card (purchased from??)? or 1010-type number?

Looking for specific info to pass along.

Thanks! 

When I was calling from NY to the UK, I used Verizon long distance and it was 9 cents a minute. Not too bad. I think AT&T was good as well. Wal-Mart calling cards are also very cheap and work well

You or one of your family members could try one of the new VoIP subscribers, like Lingo or something.  It's telephone over the internet.  The way it works is that you get a small box that you hook up to your broadband internet and then you plug a phone into the box.  You can chose a phone number from any area code in the US.  Wherever you go in the world, as long as you have broadband, the phone connected to the box will ring when someone calls the US phone number associated with it.  It's also unlimited calling to North America and Western Europe if you call using the phone connected to the box. 

I bought Lingo before I moved, and for $20/month friends and family can call me for free (because they're just calling a local phone number) and my phone in the UK rings.  Before I had broadband in my house, I just had the number forwarded to my work phone (I couldn't forward the phone to my mobile because that was an additional $.40/minute and I don't have a landline at home)

Check it out.  It really works.  www.lingo.com

Aaron

At home I mostly use 10-10-987 to call the UK from the US - 3 cents a minute plus a $0.39 connection charge per call. I haven't had any misbilling issues with them. Before that I was trying to limit my calls to my monthly concession from Sprint (I'm an employee) but at $0.08 a minute but it wasn't enough.

For a mobile solution I've signed up with Gorilla Mobile. They charge you a $5.95 annual fee and then the calls to the UK are charged at $0.05 a minute - it can be used from landlines as well. They bill your credit card on the 5th of the month for the previous month's charges.

 nivertsan - what a cool solution!  I just love techie gadgets!  thanks for the info!!!!!

Bummer for me, 10-9-8-7 does not work in my rural area, so when in the states, I use a calling card.  $20 gets me 950 minutes, so it's 2 cents per minute.  I use www.callingcards.com and buy the "European Express".  The cards are set up to use for specific countries, so if I use it to call the UK, I get 2 cents per minute...but it is spendy to use within the states.  My sister uses a card designated for Mexico to talk to her friends in Jalisco and ends up paying 1.5 cents per minute.

So, in closing, www.callingcards.com gets my two-thumbs-up vote ;-)  Happy calling!!

Frances

There's another voip provider, called Skype, the quality is supposed to better than telephone. The software is free, so you can make internet calls to anyone with the software. It runs similar to icq and other messengers. Additionally, they have a SkypeOut service to call real phones anywhere in the world. Calls to the US/UK are 2 cents per minute, or 1.1 pence per minute. (calling mobiles is more expensive)

www.skype.com

My hubby used it in his office for a while to speak to a customer in Denmark, the quality was incredible. You can also get phones that plug into your usb port. Or use whatever headset, earphones, or microphones you have available.

Anyone have suggestions for -- Cheap Calling from UK to US? 

I worry that my fiance is spending WAY too much money on phone calls to me... and I don't know where to recommend him going... if I could suprise him with a calling card, that would be WONDERFUL.

Suggestions?  Web sites?  Thanks muchly.

UK to US calls - One-Tel.  Been using it for years and it's great.

I use Planet Talk, www.planet-talk.co.uk, 3p per minute. Pre-paid and billing options, also giving you an access number to use if you're away from home.

I also love onetel for my calls to the US...it's been great & very cheap! 

For calls from the US to the UK I use www.onesuite.com to get calling cards.  I pay 2.2 cents per minute and no other connection or maintenance fees attached to it.  Love it.

For US to the UK we use the Walmart calling cards.  We had a $.07 plan through SBC, but we were calling a mobil and BT charged us $.20 extra for every minute.  My parents have Voice Stream and they got their international deal which gave us $.03 / min for $3.99 a month.

Definitely use a calling card. Long-distance companies are an absolute ripoff in comparison. But don't go for, say, budget department store rates. I bought a few at department stores that cost $20 for 90 minutes, but then found one that charged three cents a minute. Big difference. 7-11 has them, gas stations, etc. If there are any check-cashing places near you, they tend to have the most options.

From UK to US we use Quip and LOVE it. 3p a minute.