The Convenience of Calling Cards for Business Travelers

When you're on the road, your calling options can be frustratingly

limited — not to mention expensive. Hotel long-distance charges can cost $1 per minute or more, and collect calls also might approach $1 per minute. At these rates, your hotel phone bill could easily exceed the cost of the room.

While calling cards can be convenient, economical tools for business travelers, you'll find a dramatic difference among calling card rates. Shopping around for the best calling card plan to meet your needs can result in major savings over time.

Types of Calling Cards
There are two varieties of calling cards: prepaid calling cards and calling cards issued by your long-distance provider and billed to your long-distance account.

As a rule, businesses should avoid prepaid calling cards. The Federal Communications Commission doesn't regulate the sale of prepaid cards, and prepaid cards usually don't offer the best rates. They also carry several other disadvantages:

• If the card provider suddenly goes out of business, the calling card is worthless.

• Some prepaid cards deduct large connection fees for each call.

• Cards may use high billing increments, rounding to the nearest five minutes instead of 60 seconds or 30 seconds.

• Access numbers may not work.

• Providers may debit you for more time than you actually use.

On the other hand, calling cards billed by your long-distance service provider offer a sound alternative for business travelers. They allow you to make calls from just about any telephone in the world, with the added convenience of having the call automatically charged to your long-distance bill. In addition to the potential savings calling cards offer, using them can make record keeping and accounting tasks much easier.

Hidden Charges and Fees
Though many calling cards offer great per-minute rates, some cards have hidden charges that actually increase the cost of a call. A common surcharge is a per-call connection fee that's assessed each time you place a calling-card call regardless of the length, destination, or time of day. This surcharge — anywhere from $.25 to $1.50 per call — is in addition to the per-minute rate and can dramatically increase the rate you pay, particularly for short calls.

Some calling plans also charge recurring monthly fees. These fees can range from $1 to $5 per month depending on the plan. If you have a calling card but don't use it regularly, consider a calling plan that doesn't have a monthly fee.

Hotel Charges for Using Calling Cards
When using your calling card to place a call from a hotel room, some hotels charge an additional connection fee that ranges from $.35 to $1.50 per call. The fee is often levied on all calls, including toll-free calls that allow you to reach your calling-card company. About 30 percent of hotels charge this fee, although most large hotel chains have dropped their fees due to complaints from business travelers.

Even with in-room connection fees and hidden card fees, calling cards are generally cheaper than direct-dial long distance calls from a hotel room.