Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

My friends know how much I've been bitten by the travel bug ;-) Every year without fail I have to travel overseas to the UK and USA at the least.

It's great catching up with my friends in those various places, as well as catching up on all those little things we don't have in New Zealand (Hello Taco Bell, Midnight Milky Way Bars, Abercrombie & Fitch, Steve & Barry's, Ben & Jerry's, Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper...!)

Apart from the obvious saving it takes to fund the annual trip(!), one of the most important things I need to have sorted out is an International Phone card, to get hold of my friends while I'm travelling, and make arrangements on where to meet, etc.

Ever since my summer camp seasons, I've been a big fan of pre-paid International Calling Cards... Not the dodgy ones those street vendors try to sell you, but quality ones that let you recharge and check your balance over the internet.

One of the best International calling cards online is Pingo. It's really convenient, you can use your "card" from payphones or landlines around the world, and the rates are way cheaper than using your cell/mobile phone on 'roaming' overseas, or feeding coins into payphones. Save your money for spending on your travels!
You don't have to be a traveller to use Pingo though... You can use your account to get really cheap rates when making International calls (or calling Long Distance in the US). For New Zealanders, we're talking just 3.5c a minute to call the USA, or 3.9c a minute for the UK.

Right now if you sign up for Pingo, they'll give you US$5.00 worth of free calls. (Depending on where you're calling from/to, that converts to up to 4 hours of free International calls!)