AT&T Calling Cards...Calling from Iraq to States?

My husband and I talk everyday on the phone and sometimes spend 40 dollars in one day on adding minutes to his phone card. For 550 units...which is about 3 hours for calling from Iraq to here costs $42. I am aware that he must use AT%26amp;T calling cards but can you use the ones they sell at Walmart or do you have to get them directly from AT%26amp;T or AAFES? Are we spending too much for what we are getting?

AT%26amp;T Calling Cards...Calling from Iraq to States?
I did a search and found this on a government website. Doesn't sound good for the Walmart cards (especially the last paragraph). -sorry





CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE, JR.


Sixth District of New Jersey





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 7, 2005





CONTACT: Andrew Souvall or Jennifer Cannata (202) 225-4671





PALLONE SEEKS ANSWERS FROM AT%26amp;T ABOUT CALLING CARD PROBLEM IN IRAQ





Says Both DoD and AT%26amp;T Must Do Better Job of Educating Public On Best Options





Long Branch, NJ --- One day after calling on the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General (IG) to investigate calling card problems our soldiers are now dealing with in Iraq, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today talked with officials at AT%26amp;T about the problem and sent a letter formally asking the DoD Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz to conduct an investigation into how prevalent these calling card problems are in Iraq.





According to AT%26amp;T, over 80 percent of calls made at AT%26amp;T call centers are made with one of its special military calling cards, the so-called 550-unit AT%26amp;T Global Prepaid Phone Card, that charge soldiers 19 to 21 cents per minute. These special AT%26amp;T calling cards can only be purchased either on military bases or on the web at the "Army %26amp; Air Force Exchange Service" site (www.aafes.com). AT%26amp;T says these are the only calls that guarantee soldiers a 19 to 21 cent per minute rate at a call location built by AT%26amp;T in Iraq.





"AT%26amp;T says an overwhelming majority of our soldiers are using its cheaper military cards, but I'd like your office to investigate how prevalent the problem is of soldiers using other cards that do not give them the best deal," Pallone wrote in his letter to the Inspector General. "If the Defense Department determines a real problem exists, I urge DoD to find a solution that allows other cards to be used at these sites without major penalties that dramatically reduce the amount of time available to our troops to get in touch with their families."





Yesterday, after hearing about the problems military personnel in Iraq are having with some of the calling cards they receive from the U.S., the New Jersey congressman announced plans to ask the Defense Department's IG to investigate contract services provided by AT%26amp;T to our troops in Iraq. Today, in his letter, Pallone asked the IG to also explore ways to better educate both the public here in the U.S. and troops in Iraq on the cheapest ways to call home.





"It's important that our troops have access to the best deals possible," Pallone continued in his letter. "To that end, I urge the DoD to explore ways to educate the public about the best calling cards to use, and to warn them about huge problems if they choose to send other cards."





Pallone also asked AT%26amp;T to work with military family groups and the New Jersey National Guard to better educate them about the importance of using or sending only 550-unit global card to Iraq so our soldiers get the full benefit of the minutes on the card.





"Both the military and AT%26amp;T must do a better job of educating military families and others interested in sending calling cards over to our soldiers that these special AT%26amp;T cards are the only cards they should be purchasing for our troops," Pallone said. "The 19 to 21 cents a minute deal is certainly reasonable, but we just need to make sure these are the cards our soldiers in Iraq are using when they call home."





A report in this weekend's Star Ledger cited troop and family complaints that the number of units or minutes advertised on calling cards rarely represents the service provided. They also complain that troops are only allowed to use AT%26amp;T calling cards in the call centers and are forced to use a less reliable phone system if they hope to use a non-AT%26amp;T calling card. The report cited an example in which the Salvation Army purchased a 120-minute AT%26amp;T card at Wal-Mart for $7, but a reporter's call on the card only allowed eight minutes of service before termination.
Reply:Why to pay so mutch.Look at oonli.com SMS trigged calls.It is 8,9cents per min.Here: http://www.oonli.com/phone-car... to call from Iraq to USA. Report Abuse

Reply:Hello, I just came back from Iraq 2 months ago from a 7 month deployment. It depends on where your husband is stationed. If he is in an established base they should have access to an MWR where he can purchase a SPAWARE account on line. It costs about 4 cents/min. on the phone to the states. I have been to some pretty nasty places in Iraq where there weren't any means of communication. It takes patience. Trust me. Everything will be OK.
Reply:have him get the codes to the satilite and he could be calling for free. just hang around the phone booths and ask somebody for a code.
Reply:I'm not sure if there's a difference in the ammount of time you get from the ones purchased through AAFES, but I do know for a fact that the 550 unit cards that you buy on post are $39. For the specific rates you'd have to either call them or see if it's listed online somewhere.





If you want to save money, have him not call home every day, or at least don't burn through an entire 3 hours of talk time every time he calls. I know it's nice to hear from him when he's gone, but time actually goes by quicker if you only hear from him once a week. Instead of measuring it day to day between calls, or feeling like you have to hang around a phone so you don't miss him, measuring a year week to week between calls makes it seem like less time, saves money, and makes the calls that much more special. Sometimes I'll hear from my husband 2 or 3 times in a weekend, and then I won't hear from him again for 2 or 3 weeks. Y'know what, I can't believe most days that it's been as long as it has since he left.
Reply:Consider MCI World Traveler Phone Card. No Connect Fee. 1 min. Rounding. No Other Fees. 6.1¢/minute from U.S. Military Bases Worldwide including IRAQ. So an hour talk would be only $3.67. You may buy it at http://www.ampolbiz.com/SpeedyPin.htm





As for AT%26amp;T cards the rate depends WHERE you buy them. On line outlets such as the one mentioned above seem to have the best rates.
Reply:I can only imagine how hard it can be to be so far away from each other. This webpage seems to have pretty good deals on calling cards from USA to IRaq.... Good luck, hope it helps=)





http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/rat...
Reply:My brother was in Iraq and told me the AT%26amp;T international cards were pretty good. I'm stationed in Korea and I use a phone card from AAFES and the rate is pretty good. I don't know why he could only use AT%26amp;T cards. I guess if the phones are at%26amp;t then the connect fee is cheaper on their cards.
Reply:Calling from Iraq to USA is quite expensive. If it is calling from USA to Iraq, that will be much cheaper.