HotTelephone.com didn't seem to work for me either... Or the FAX machine in Spain I was using to test the application was busy.... at 3am??! And I don't even have/use AOL (nor would I EVER! Blech! )

Guapetona-thanks so much for sharing the hottelephone website.What a gift!.I admit that sometimes you are put "on hold" and bombarded w/ads but you do eventually get through-I actually talked w/out a mike,I have something built into my computer.My friends said the reception was great!Same response from friends in Germany.
Thanks again,no more searching for deals on calling cards!
I use AOL_no problem......

Does anyone have information on the best call back service to use to call Spain form the US? Our daughter is studying in Madrid this semester with St. Louis U. and we are trying to find the most inexpensive way to call her. The 10-10-*** dial around numbers don't work for us because we are on a rural telephone coop. Also our long distance carrier is Alltel and we don't want to change to MCI or AT&T. I have found one service called GlobalTel with a .19 per minute rate to Spain and no monthly surcharge. Has anyone used this company and, if so, what were your experiences with it? We have never used a callback service, only the prepaid phone cards you can purchase at gas stations, etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hey!!!! FINALLY! It worked! I successfully placed a FREE call to Madrid using the HotTelephone.com service! It's pretty annoying that they have two self-refreshing banner ads slowing down the transmission/connection and causing worse voice quality, but those with a fast connection (unlike me -- cable/DSL isn't available in my area yet -- ARGH!) shouldn't have any problems.

jss5200: As for the best way to call back to the US from Spain, go to one of the easyEverything cybercafes in Madrid & Barcelona. There, their (FAST) connection fees are cheap-ish and you can "plug-in" to their headphone/microphone jacks and thereby call the USA for FREE using DialPad.com or Microsoft Phone. I use DialPad myself.

Saludos, MadridMan

Madridman,

What do you recommend for the average traveller who just wants to call home (the USA) and can't find a cybercfae handy?

Chip

The best deal for a quick call from a payphone is this: just use your credit card at a public phone outdoors. Half the time it says "tarjeta no valida" "card not valid," but you just poke around for a while and one of them works. I called US from Spain and talked 10 minutes and the cost was two dollars!!!! so, seemed reasonable to me.

Hi guys,

So glad hottelephone is working out. I know it can be a pain in the #$% sometimes.
Dialpad from Spain is a little better.
Well, happy calling and glad I could offer some help for calling alternatives.
And when it gets frustrating just think.."a caballo regalado no se le mira el diente.."

At the present time, we use MCI for calls to Spain. It costs us $3 a month, and 9 cents a minute on weekends.

Since that's the best time for us to call, it works out nicely.

Wolf

I was all set to call Italy to make reservations, but both 101-6868 and the toll free number are out of service. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I used 101-6868 to reserve for my last trip to Spain and 6-7 calls totaled less than $2.

Just to let these of you know that are using MCI which is what I use since I call also to Germany Switzerland and Spain. I get milage so that paid for my trip from Frankfurt to Madid in March. If you are with MCI check on this feature. Maybe you can make it back to Spain sooner then you had in mind. Good luck Mecky