There are literally hundreds of calling cards available on the market for making both domestic and international calls. How do you determine which is the best calling card for your needs, and what should you be on the lookout for? Here are five things you should keep in mind when trying to select a card for international calls.

Countries

Some cards are restricted in terms of in which countries they cover. Make sure the country you need to call is accessible with the card, and compare per minute costs between several different brands of cards.

Costs

Once you’ve discovered what the per minute charge is for calling the country of your choice, check the fine print for other charges. Minutes are often rounded up in segments of 3, 5 or even 8 minutes, meaning that a short call could actually cost you nearly twice as many minutes as you actually spent on the call. Also beware of connection and termination fees, per call fees, daily, weekly or monthly fees, and refill fees.  Hidden costs are often a huge downside of using calling cards.

Brands

Sticking with big name brands is usually the best option if you want reliability as far as call quality goes. There are plenty of cheap calling cards for international calls out there, but many are run by cut-rate carriers that leave you with dropped calls, bad connections, and extremely poor sound making your precious calling time worthless.  Sometimes a little research can go a long way so it’s worth doing your homework before investing in order to avoid disappointment.

Reviews

When in doubt, get yourself on the internet and check out reviews of the calling cards you are considering using. Type in the brand name of the card and see what people are saying about them. If there are multiple complaints about call quality, dropped calls, extra hidden charges and so on, you may want to reconsider.  Remember, as the telecommunication market for smartphones and tablets continues to boom, there are plenty of alternatives out there.

Alternatives

Even the best calling card might not be your best option for international calls. Unless you are stuck using pay phones to call home, a simple app that works on nearly any Smartphone, tablet, desktop computer or even landline could be the answer. Rebtel is one such app you can use to make incredibly cheap, crystal clear international calls, so you can avoid having to use a card for international calls altogether.