MCI World Traveler Phone Card Review

Today's a real big switch for me because I normally write about which phone cards someone should use to call another country from the USA.

Recently I've been getting lots of emails from folks who've read my articles and reviews about phone cards, asking me which phone card they should use to call the USA while they're in another country.

To be honest I'm a little happy about this because I get to write something else for a change.

There are many different phone cards sold on the Internet for such a purpose. The one that I have used all the time and found most reliable is the MCI World Traveler Phone Card.

MCI is a telecoms company with a long history in the industry with a strong reputation for providing international phone services worldwide from the USA. However after some scandal involving unscrupulous CEOs, MCI had been integrated into another well known telecoms company called Verizon.

Today MCI is still the leader in providing high quality international calls as well as phone cards.

The best way for me to explain the details about the MCI World Traveler phone card is to run it in a Questions and Answers format. I use this card every time I am out of the US and like my American Express card I never leave home without one.

I have never had any serious issues with this phone card and neither have my friends and business partners all over the world.

However bear in mind that our experiences with this phone card may differ from yours. I'm just being honest because I may have never been to the country you're visiting.

Of we go to the questions:

1. Were there any surprise charges? There is absolutely no connection fee, maintenance fee or any other silly taxes levied on this phone card. This is one of the cleanest fee free phone cards I have ever used. There is a .50¢ payphone surcharge but that's not such a big deal in my opinion.

2. How is the call quality? That depends on the country you're calling from. If you're calling next to a barn then you might experience some call quality issues. On the other hand if you're in a urban city with a Starbucks on every corner you should receive decent call qualities.

3. How many countries can I call the US from? There are about 130 listed countries you can call from. To check them out go to MCI World Traveler Phone Card. That link will take you to a company called Speedy Pin, a provider of high quality international phone cards. Once you're there click the all rates tab and you'll find a rate search box. For more about Speedy Pin check out Speedy Pin Phone Card Company Review. Or you can watch a short video review that I made where you can also see me log into my account.

4. How are the rates from country to country? That depends on where you're calling obviously. I use to think it depended on how sophisticated a countries' communications infrastructure is but that's not the case.

Here are some sample prices of the most popularly visited countries people are calling from to the continental USA:

• United Kingdom .35¢/minute
• Canada 12.5¢/minute
• France 23.75¢/minute
• Italy 28.75¢/minute
• Germany 41.25¢/minute
• Russia 20.25¢/minute
• Japan 21.25¢minute
• Hong Kong 32.5¢/minute
• Mexico 37.13¢/minute
• Brazil 37.5¢/minute
• Australia 27.5¢/minute

5. Are there any phone cards with lower call per minute rates? Yes there are. But I'm not going to recommend any of them. For one thing I've heard horror stories about them from my friends. MCI has the most reliable international calling infrastructure in the world. They have been in the business even before I was born, and I'm old. So if I'm in a foreign country and I get an email that there is an emergency at home, I'm going to want the most reliable phone card at arms length.

6. What kinds of phones can I use the MCI World Traveler Card on? According to the MCI information page this card can be used in "most pay phones, hotels, ports of entry, and other public places, and has no hidden fees." Now I'm a real germaphobe, so I rarely use pay phone booths and I can't help you out with that information. But I've used this card on phones and pay phones in hotels, airports, any where phones are cleaned on a regular basis, and the card works just perfectly. Note: This phone card will not work from cell phones.

7. How is their customer service performance? Back home in the US I always call customer service to verify the access numbers I need to dial to the US before I leave. Each and every time their customer reps were very helpful and polite. The wait times aren't too long, about 2 minutes, sometimes less.The great news is that they offer 24x7 toll free service wherever their services are available.

8. How long will it take for me to receive my MCI phone card? Once you click that confirm purchase button you should receive a PIN number instantly by email. So this is great because you can send the PIN number to anyone for example a family member serving in Iraq. Note: A call from a base in Iraq back to the US is 6.1¢/minute. That's a really good price and those men and women deserve it.

So there you go. But one final note, before you make the purchase you should always check to see if the country you are calling from has some special rules. For example you can only use the card on certain marked pay phones.

I highly recommend this phone card not only because I use it. But because whenever you leave the country you should always have a phone card you can use to call home in case of an emergency. It's better to have one then to be caught without one.

This card is backed by the reputation of MCI, a leader in international communications. So don't spend money on a no name phone card and save yourself a headache.

I've seen plenty of vacations and holidays ruined because someone forgot something and couldn't call home (Not every country has a computer for email after all).

You can click here to purchase and find out more information on MCI World Traveler International Phone Card here.