I don't know if this subject has been discussed yet, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

So I just started this job that deals with phone cards so I've come to appreciate their usefullness. And since I've been a member of this forum I started to think of their usefullness in emergency situations.

So here's what I've come up with.

For those of you that don't know what phone cards are here is a description. A phone card is a card that represents an amount of telephone time credit or telephone money credit. This telephone time credit or telephone money credit is used to make local, long distance and/or international calls. The phone card is purchased with a certain amount of credit for future use. Phone cards are also known as Pre-Paid Phone cards, Calling cards, Long Distance Calling cards or International Calling cards.

Typically, phone cards come with a toll free access number and a personal identification number (PIN). To use the phone card you:
1. Dial in the toll free access number
2. Dial in the PIN
3. Dial in the telephone number you want to talk to.


So why are phone cards useful in emergency situations?
-Because some can be used from almost ANY phone (home phone, business phone, pay phone, cell phone, satellite phone (Navy Ships), touch tone phone, rotary phone, and in most cases phones in other countries).
-Because they can hold more value than you can adequately carry as coins in your emergency kits.
-Even if 'you' are not in an emergency you can offer someone who is in an emergency (stranded in an airport, survived a car accident) the wonderful gift of a telephone call.

Here are some tips for choosing the right phone card for you.
-Choose a phone card that never expires. This means that you can buy the phone card today, put it in a kit and always have telephone money. Heck, you can even will it to your children if you want to.

-Choose a phone card that has the option of voice dialing or operator assisted dialing. With voice dialing you can speak or dial both your PIN and the phone number you want to talk to. With operator assisted dialing you can speak with a live operator who has the option of dialing in both your PIN and the phone number you want to talk to. I recommend these options because you never know if you will be using a touch tone phone or a rotary phone. The toll free access number can be reached by either a touch tone phone or a rotary phone, but the PIN and the telephone number you want to talk to must be dialed using a touch tones or voice dialing. Why? Because after you dial the toll free access number your call is placed onto the phone card company's system. Everything on these systems including your PIN and the number you want the system to connect you to are accessed by either touch tones or voice dialing.

-Choose a phone card that DOES NOT have a first minute surcharge. Some phone cards have a huge first minute cost. This can drastically reduce the value of the phone card in a short amount of time. Imagine this... You are calling someone, but dial the wrong number and hang up. Or you have to make several short calls, such as contacting everyone on your emergency list. Even if you made a connection with a phone number for 1 second that first minute cost is subtracted from your phone card. If you do this enough times you will spend all of your phone card's value on short phone calls. It is possible to spend the entire value of a $10 phone card on 11 one second connections with a first minute surcharge of 85 cents.

-Choose a phone card that can have credit replaced on it. Some phone cards can be taken back to the place where you bought it and credit can be replaced on it. Some phone cards can have credit replaced on it with the assistance of a live operator. However, replacing credit with an operator requires you to reveal credit card and/or check information. Some cards can even have additional credit added to it making the phone card's actual value higher than what is printed on it (Face Value). This would make your phone card literally one of the most valuable items in a kit. I recommend this option along with the non-expiring card because you can use the card, replace credit on it, and use it again for as long as you want.

-Choose a phone card that can be used internationally. Not every card can be used both to and from domestic locations (within the U.S. and it's territories) and both to and from other countries. You never know where an emergency may happen or where an emergency may take you. Keep in mind that each phone card company has its own dialing instructions for each country. And there is no single phone card that can work to and from every country.


Here are some tips for using phone cards
-Be aware that the PIN on some phone cards can wear off the card. Take steps to ensure your PIN is readable.

-Be aware that nearly all pay phones have a surcharge that phone cards cannot avoid.

-Make serveral photo copies of the back of the phone card and put them in all of your kits. 1 phone card for multiple kits. And a piece of paper is much lighter and packable than a plastic card. I DO NOT recommend copying only the toll free access number and PIN. There is very important information included on the back such as international dialing instructions, tracking numbers that can be used by customer service should your phone card malfunction for whatever reason. If you do decide not to photo copy the back of the phone card at least copy
1. The toll free access number
2. the PIN
3. the customer service number
4. the tracking number (you can find out which number this is by asking customer service).

-Copy the back of your phone card onto the back of your emergency contact list.

-Include any special instructions for dialing to and from other countries. Call customer service for these instructions. I would recommend at least having instructions for Mexico and Canada if you are living in the U.S.

-If you find yourself in a situation where you have no other means of trade you may be able to trade using the phone card. DO NOT trade the actual card, the toll free access number, or the PIN. Arrange for an amount of time for the person that wants to trade with you to talk on the phone. You dial in the toll free access number and PIN making sure no one can see what you are dialing. Let the person that wants to trade with you dial his/her number. You time the call. Make the trade.

-Some phone cards have an Activity Threshold. This means that the phone card company maintains the card for a certain amount of time. If there has been no activity with the phone card for a certain amount of time the phone card will be put into an inactive state. Meaning you may have to take extra steps to have the card re-activated for use. This is something you probably don't want to deal with in an emergency situation so I would recommend using the card for at least one minute every two months or so. OR if you don't want to spend your minutes do this:
1. Dial the toll free access number
2. Dial the PIN
3. Select customer service from the automated menu
4. Have a nice conversation with the customer service representative.
This will show up as activity on the card and that conversation with the CSR is free. Please keep in mind that this works with some cards not all cards. This Activity Threashold is different for every phone card company and may be known by other names.

-Phone cards can be used to send faxes and for internet dial-up use. Ask customer service for insturctions.



Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the following products and am only providing this information as an objective researcher.

In alphabetical order:

Costco MCI 3.47 cents per minute PrePaid Phone Card
-No Experation Date
-Operator Assisted Dialing
-No First Minute Surcharge
-International Calling
-Rechargable (credit can be added to it) Can be recharged using an automated system or with a live operator.

Sam's Club AT&T 3.47 cents per minute PrePaid Phone Card.
-No Experation Date
-Voice Dialing
-No First Minute Surcharge
-International Calling
-Rechargable (credit can be added to it) Can be recharged using an automated system or with a live operator.



Well, there it is. Please feel free to use this information any way you see fit. I would appreciate any additions, corrections, or suggestions.

Thanks
Wayneburg

Hi Wayneburg,

Hmmm...a rather informative post. Thanks for taking the time to jot down the key issues (a couple of which I was unaware of).

FWIW I've photocopied the card and place a lightweight paper copy in my wallet and used a label maker to create labels which have been in my kits since I first got my card about a year ago, additionally, I placed a label with the calling # and PIN around the AAA battery in my ARC AAA light EDC. This has been duplicated for family members.

Didn't really do much research when I p/u the card, just went to Costco and got a Preppaid Rechargable Phone Card by MCI, initially rated for 670 minutes (dark blue and orange front and the back is black & white. I concur fully with your comment about them being worthwhile additions to the kits.

My perusal of the fine print revealed that it is initially valid for 2 years from date of purchase, and can be renewed apparently ad infinitum.

Don't know how this rates on your grading scale & I'm curious if you've any comments regarding this card. If need be, we can take it to PM.

On the whole, my hat is off to you for bringing more knowledge to light. I've seen a couple of threads that touched on these cards, but never a thread dedicated to them. Thanks.

Regards,
Comanche7

Wayneburg-
Thanks for the informative post; your suggestions about epiration, surcharges and such are a good starting point. Any chance you could save us some leg work and give us a list of cards that met your requirements, as well as retailers who sell such cards? I haven't done tons of research, but every card I remember looking at had some sort of expiration and/or high surcharges. Thanks in advance!

Comanche7,

Thanks for the positive response. I'm glad you gained something from my post. Here's a tip about that paper copy you are carrying in your wallet. There is a spray that you can apply to paper that makes it waterproof. I'll have to research what it is called, but it would definately be well worth the effort of applying it.

I would be happy to respond to any PM questions you might have about your card.

Thanks,
Wayneburg

Red Jeep,

Glad you found my post informative. I wasn't too sure how this information would be received. As for saving everyone legwork in researching cards.... I'm glad you asked. I plan on writing up a post answering those questions and why in the morning. I just wanted to answer these posts before turning in for the night after a day of holiday shopping. That's an emergency situation in itself.

Thanks
Wayneburg

I'm going to add to the tips for choosing the right phone card for you.
-Choose a phone card that can be used internationally. Not every card can be used both to and from domestic locations (within the U.S. and it's territories) and both to and from other countries. You never know where an emergency may happen or where an emergency may take you.

I'm also going to add to the tips for using phone cards
-You can barter for goods using telephone talk time. This goes against my ethics for emergency situations, but the fact is it is another way of using a phone card. If you find yourself in a situation where you have no other means of trade you may be able to trade using the phone card. DO NOT trade the actual card, the toll free access number, or the PIN. Arrange for an amount of time for the person that wants to trade with you to talk on the phone. You dial in the toll free access number and PIN making sure no one can see what you are dialing. Let the person that wants to trade with you dial his/her number. You time the call. Make the trade.

I will go ahead and add this information to my original post.

Wayneburg,

Waterproofing for paper, IIRC there is a product sold by Campmor? called Mapseal? that has been favorably reviewed on these forums. I think that it is a liquid that you apply with a sponge. Its been a while since I last thought about it.

I also believe that there are aerosol sprays that will do the same thing. Musing here, I wonder if Thompson's Water Seal (available in spray and liquid form) would work well...hmmm <plans a trip to the garage to root around and find a left over can to experiment with this weekend.> I'll see about a test and report the results here.

[Edited by Comanche7]
There have been several conversations on the forums regarding waterproof paper, i.e. Write in the Rain and 1 or 2 more. These are purported to be excellent for printing with laser printers (both sides I presume) and I'm looking forward to trying this out. Cautionary note, since laser printers use a heat fusion process to dry / bond the ink to the paper, it is imperative that you verify that the specialty paper you plan to run through your expen$ive laser printer will not "gum up the works". Perhaps some of us have tried laser printing on such papers and would be willing to share experiences / paper & printer types used.
[End Edit]

Comanche7

Wayneburg,

Really appreciate your willingness to share the professional insights, I suspect that you may end up with a couple of PM's resulting from this thread. <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

FWIW The Costco / MCI card that I described above will work internationally (at least according to the info sheets that came with it which I've no reason to doubt at this point).

[Observations made below were with the first cup of coffee this morning and muse mode in low gear, possible topic drift follows: <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ]

As far as bartering with the phone time, I understand the feelings that you expressed, many of us are perfectly willing to freely share what we can, HOWEVER it pays to look at the big picture and think outside of the box. The method that you describe appears to be entirely ethical and moral, IF one is not taking advantage of anybody, and IF the person(s) that one is bartering with agree that it is a fair exchange of goods / services, then it would seem to be entirely appropriate.

Having said that, I would qualify the statement with the observation that I am NOT in any manner suggesting that it would be appropriate to gouge someone in distress (i.e. hurricane disaster etc. Clarification: These are just my thoughts and I've no reason to believe or even infer that any of the forum members would commit gouging.)

[Edited by Comanche7 after reading Wayneburgs comment regarding ethics which is located a bit further down this thread]

I've experienced ocassions where I've helped someone and they ABSOUTELY insisted on some form of renumeration.

Since this may be or become a matter of their feelings and pride / personal honor / not wanting any debt in any form, Ive tried to be sensitive to the situation. When this has occurred, I've found that it is generally best to accept the renumeration offered, which I generally apply to the resources that I draw from the next time I help someone else... YMMV

[End Edit]

[end of topic drift and time for a second cup of coffee <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />]

Your offer of research and initiative in starting working with this thread is sincerely appreciated.

Comanche7

Wayneburg,

Food for thought...perhaps if you were to consolidate your information in a format similar to that used by Doug in his reviews, he might consider including it in one of the reference areas for kit contents.

Comanche7

Great post. Here is a thread from a while ago on the same subject.