A recent study shows that email users are now making fewer long-distance phone calls since they’ve gone online. But for travelers like me, calling home is a must whenever I’m on a trip. Yes email comes in handy but there’s nothing like hearing my wife’s voice when I’m jetlagged and wide awake 3AM in the morning.But even then, I would refrain from calling long-distance from my mobile phone. There are cautionary tales about the ridiculous charges when they receive the bills. Hits you every time. But I mean seriously, who really reads the fine prints or check all country rates for mobile roaming plans?
Yeah I also had to learn from my own mistakes. I remembered staying at Marriot County Hall™ in London, and calling my local business contact just a few miles across the river directly from my hotel room. The next day, I got a bill of £15.81 for a 14-minute call upon check-out! I learned that Marriot charges 99p per minute and £1.95 connection fee for local calls. Maybe that’s the normal rate for hotels. Then I thought, why didn’t I think of OneSuite? It kind of slipped my mind because I always only use OneSuite international access to call back to U.S. I checked the U.K. to U.K. rate, and it’s only 10.4 cents per minute. That means, I could have saved some 15£.
My company does reimburse me for some expenses, but a 14-minute call for £15.81 just looks outrageous.
That’s why whenever possible, I use OneSuite international roaming as an alternative to mobile roaming to make calls, if I don’t have laptop or Internet access to make VoIP calls. I just need to dial OneSuite international access number from my hotel room (OneSuite offers access numbers in 25 countries, some toll-free) and punch in my PIN then the destination number. Within a few seconds, my wife was there saying hello and getting all the updates. There’s the mental support, and also the peace of mind that I don’t need to count the minutes anymore or think about the bills later on.
Ok. I think finally I’m getting a little sleepy…
