How can I call international long distance on my cell phone at discounted rates?

[davidp]

I have friends and family in many different countries around the world and would like to call them using my TELUS cellphone. After checking TELUS' long distance rates I find them to be generally expensive to the countries I wish to call. Does TELUS have a international long distance service that offers discounted rates?

[davidp · Accepted solution]

I called in to TELUS customer service and asked my question about discount long distance and they notified me about #100.

The customer service rep was happy to fully explain how #100 works.

Any TELUS pre or post-paid customer can simply dial #100 on the cell phone, listen to a short prompt, and dial their desitnation number. Rates start as low as 5¢/min and your calls get billed directly on your current TELUS bill! A really cool and useful feature the rep told me about is after every call using #100, you get a free SMS outlining your call details and charges. She directed me to www.telehop.com/mobile for all the international rates.

I just tried the service and it was great! I called my brother the U.K. and it was easy, very clear call quality, and received the text message right after I called. I am definately going to use this service more!

I also asked if the rates change during peak hours or during holidays because you brought up a good point. She assured me the rates are always the same any time of the day or year. I am really excited to find out about this new service.

[dobes]

You sound like you work for Telus! But what I would like to know is - can you find out ahead of time what the rates to certain countries are when you dial #100, or do you just take your chances and find out in the SMS after you've made a call?

Ooops - I just saw the link in your post. Sorry! 

Aaaand-- now I've read the link. People need to be REALLY CAREFUL about this #100 service before using it. For instance, I have friends and family in Slovakia, and was thrilled to see that I could call them for only ten cents a minute. At least, that's what the large country photo tells me. BUT the very fine print at the bottom of the page tells me that calls to cell phones could be charged at a different rate, and, using the drop down menu, I found out that they are indeed -- at a whopping $1.50 per minute - TEN TIMES MORE than calls to landlines. No one I know in Slovakia even has a landline any more, so that's out. 

On the other hand, calls to the US - the other place I have friends and family - seem to be 5 cents a minute whether they are placed to landlines or cells, and that is totally great.  So BE CAREFUL, people, and read the fine print before you use this #100 service to make a call 

[xl]

Good point on the fine print.  I usually use a calling card to avoid the confusion.