help with national and international phone charges

[malinerr]

hey. i just joined this site =]

i have been going crazy trying to figure out my phone! i have a family share plan, which includes 4 phones. i know i could just ask my father about the details of our plan.. but that might not be the best of ideas.

does anyone know about the cost of recieving an international call? how much would it charge you? (i took this call during the weekend, so it should be free... but it was from japan so i don't know) The call was about 100 minutes, and it was from a homephone in japan not a phone card.

and anyone have any ideas about out of state calls? i live in new york but i get calls from florida, and i make calls to florida lately so i have no idea if i am being charged extra for the of state thing (even though these calls are placed during night time.. which should be free on my plan)

i asked my father if a night call to Connecticut is free. (i tried to pick something closer than Florida so he wouldn't get suspicious) he said no its not. i don't know whether he just doesn't know himself, or whether he is lying so that i wouldn't make those calls.

anything will be helpful.

thanks,

alina

[Quint101]

As long as you are in your coverage area (i.e. the USA on current plans), you can receive calls from anywhere at no additional charge (i.e. plan mins apply b4 9:01PM m-f free after that). As far as domestic long distance charges, there is none on the current plans. When did your dad get his plan? I ask this because some older plans have LD charges on the FS plans (usually the lowest priced local plans that is not offered anymore). Maybe you should ask dad (I know... it is a novel concept ).

Also, your dad can see all call details (sent AND received) online for all phones on the account; so when the bill prints, so there is no sneaking anything past him

[malinerr]

heheh,, i know he will be able to see everything. but why walk into my doom earlier than i have to?

well we got these new phones at like january. so its been like 8 months already. 2 year contract of course

now... are you serious? no extra charge for recieving a call from japan? that sounds too good to be true! but i will believe it because theres nothing else to do.

are you sure no plan has additional charges to out of state calls? (other than minutes of course. and we get 800 between 4 of us) i make all these calls after 9pm, so i am hoping its free !!!

thanks ^_^

[Quint101]

Originally Posted by malinerr

heheh,, i know he will be able to see everything. but why walk into my doom earlier than i have to?

well we got these new phones at like january. so its been like 8 months already. 2 year contract of course

now... are you serious? no extra charge for recieving a call from japan? that sounds too good to be true! but i will believe it because theres nothing else to do.

are you sure no plan has additional charges to out of state calls? (other than minutes of course. and we get 800 between 4 of us) i make all these calls after 9pm, so i am hoping its free !!!

thanks ^_^

Since he got this plan in Jan., there is no domestic long distance to the 50 states in the USA (I have a family share plan also), only your plan minutes apply (peak b4 9:01, free atfer that). There is no addl fees for receiving a call from anywhere; as long you are not making the calls (esp overseas), you are fine.

[malinerr]

thank you
thank you thank you

youre a life saver

[Stupiud]

I've taken international calls without any werid charges.

you should be fine.

[ZaphodB]

All incoming calls cost the same.

Assuming you have a recent (started within the last two or three years) plan, any call you make from the US to the US won't have long-distance charges, whether it's daytime or nighttime.

There's only three ways you can be charged:

1. Calling internationally.
2. Being in another country and using your phone (and the list of countries where your phone would even work is limited).
3. Texting internationally.

Your father would have to specifically allow options 1 and 2, which it doesn't sound like he would do, and as for option 3, just use e-mail instead.

There is a fourth choice, which is that if your father started his plan more than about three years ago, he may have a local DigitalChoice plan, in which case if you go out of the local area (New York, LI, SW Connecticut, Westchester and most of north Jersey) you'll be roaming and have to pay long distance.

If you need to call internationally, by the way, go to any bodega and buy a phone card. Read carefully -- some of them have a lot of bulls*** charges hidden in the fine print -- and pick one that offers the best deal for the country you're calling. Any one of them will have a local New York access number (which you'll probably need to look up online at their website) or an 800 number, and you can call it from your cell phone at night. You should be able to call Japan for no more than about a nickel a minute (plus whatever per-call charges there are, a buck or two).

Your night minutes are 9:01 PM to 5:59 AM.

9 PM New York = 10 AM in Japan (11 AM in winter)
6 AM New York = 7 PM Japan (8 PM Japan in winter)

[Andy]

I receive calls from Europe on a daily basis and there is no charge as long as you are in the United States. The call is billed just like any other call you receive.