Good news / bad news: I got a novia in Cabo--but the phone bills are killers. I am spending altogether too much and I know there has to be a better way. Some time back I saw some discussion about "10-10" dialing services that can reduce the cost. If anyone knows how to call cheaply down there, and what band or zone Cabo is in as well, I would greatly appreciate getting advice.
Bigsmile.

I pay 21 cents a minute on my sprint PCS phone. Assuming you have free airtime, this is the way to go.

Tell her to go to the lobby of a gringo hotel and call collect.

That was a joke.

Check out http://www.NobelCom.com best calling card plan I found. Remember in Mexico if you call a cell phone long distance the reciever pays 2.5 pesos a min, so add another 20c/min.

I just had a V60 reprogrammed for Mexico, found out V60t are trimode phones which have auto roam. No way to disable the "feature" which means the cell always roams to AT&T's network within a mile of the border. Not very usefull to a chica who works on the border. Anyone interested in a V60t all ready for a chica? Startacs are the right phones to get reprogrammed BTW.

Ok, these suggestions are a great start; thanks guys. Anyone else have suggestions?

My Verizon cellular service has a plan I use for Mexico which costs $3.00 per month and is 10 cents a minute for anywhere in the country. This is calling from the US.

My (possibly ex-)girlfriend is obsessed with the V60t, how much do you want for it?

Capn_Flash@yahoo.com

I have a client who lives in Alcapulco for 4-6 months a year.


I haven't used this service in about 4 or 5 months, but it is called PT-1 Long Distance.

For all of Mexico the cost is .19 per minute when calling from the U.S. No monthly fees.

You simply dial 101-6868 and then the number.

They have a wedsite: www.101-6868.com

I'm a big fan of 10-10-345 for combination of convenience, rates, and connection quality.

Convenience-Just dial 10-10-345, then the international calling code (011) followed by the country code and number. It's billed directly to your telephone.

Rates-There's a 30 cent connection fee for all international calls. Calls are billed in one minute increments. The current rates to Mexico are 15 cents per minute to bands 1-3 and 7, and 19 cents a minute to bands 2-4 and 8. (I guess there is no band 5?)

Quality-It's a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T. I've never had problems getting though, and seldom had problems with the quality of my connections. I've also used Nobel.com quite a bit, but have had problems getting through, and with connection quality on many of their cards.

Ben and TG...thanks much. I'll try them if the Nobelcom deal doesn't work...my novia has a cell phone so I got a Nobel card for cellphone connections. I think I got that right. If there are problems then I'll go to your suggestions next. Do you guys know if there is a different billing rate for calling to a cellphone? Seems with Nobel that is the way it works, and I know that she'll get charged on her cellphone too.
On a personal note to TG: I've enjoyed reading your posts on various boards for some time now. Thank you for the tons of info you've shared: it's helped a great number of us to enjoy ourselves even more over time.
Bigsmile.

Thanks, Bigsmile! I'm not sure about cellphone surcharges to Mexico using 10-10-345. Their website (www.luckydog.com) says there "may" be surcharges. Best bet is to call their customer service number and ask: 800-317-2657.

RESULTS. Ok guys, here's the results of what I've done to save phone costs based on your advice:
First: I got a $20.00 "phone card" through Nobelcom. Very easy to do online. For that price the system message tells me I'll get just about 2 hours of talk time, or $.17 per minute. Before this I was paying (God I hate to admit to this!) $2.60-2.90 per minute. So far the sound quality has been great BUT sometimes I can't connect due to busy lines. One really cool thing is that using my cellphone I can use this service and call my novia's Mexican cellphone when I ordinarily cannot. But this will increase the per-minute cost a bit.
Second: 10-10-345. When I haven't been able to get a line with Nobelcom I've used the 10-10-345 system recommended by Tampagringo. Works great. I haven't tried to use it with my cellphone yet. That's next.
Guys, thanks for the great advice. My last phone bill was about $200 for calls to Cabo. This time it's gonna be $20-30. What a relief.
Bigsmile.

http://www.mercadolibre.com.mx/mexico/ml/org_prod.p_main?it_s=MLM&it_n=3641945 can someone explain if this is telcel calling card? Would this work in Nogales on a telcel cell phone?

Bluelight - can't shed any light on your query, but Ms Daisy recently got a cell phone with a Tucson number that works from Nogales. Not sure which company it's with, but I'll ask her. (I haven't been able to reach her in the last few days). So, apparently, it can be done (having a Tucson or maybe Phx number on a cell phone in Nogie).

Guys, A quick update. I have provided several Hombres access to this service and wanted to pass it along to others if interested.

It is an international calling card. Rates to mex band 1-8 is $.229 per minute. No monthly minumums or set up surcharges. Only monthly fee is $1.00 por paper billing and then only if you use the card. Calls to mex. city, Guad, and Monterrey are $.149 per minute.

You can select any 7 digit phone number you want for the card and can even select your own pin number. You can also pre-program into 3 phones, (IE:Cell, Home, Office)and the switch will recognize the number and auto insert your pin.

Best of all, it is billed in 30 second minumum and six second increments.

There are special access areas where the cost per minute is even less;

Rates from local access numbers in Alamosa, Albuquerque NM, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and San Diego Surrounding areas at $.049 for all domestic calls. Subtract -$.04 per minute rate for international calls. (varies by country).

Calls to cellular phones carry a premium charge and calls from pay phones are charged an additional $.30 to subsidize the pay phone provider.

e-mail me off line at sandman00111@yahoo if interested in more info.