Best way to call China from US

[CowBoE 429]

My fiancee uses smartphone and laptop to talk to me over Skype and WeChat,

which were mostly free, thanks to the great Internet & Wifi technology.

But once she gets to US in about 2 weeks, she will need to regularly talk to her tech-challenged

older mom who only knows how to use non-smartphone, and I'm trying to find the best

(both cheap and convenient) method.

Skype provides...

1) Pay-as-you-go: 2 cents/minute

2) 800 minutes/month for $7.99/month (1 cent/minute)

3) Unlimited for $13.99

They have Internet and wifi at home, and younger sister has smartphone and laptop,

so with some cooperation that would have been a great way to do free Skype video calls,

but no such luck as her younger sister is very self-centered and is very jealous of

her older sister marrying a nice ( ) handsome ( ) man from USA.

We also would like her mother to be able to call US cheaply (and then we would call back of course).

How are you guys talking to non-techy older contacts in China?

I'm not even sure they have concepts like MagicJack in China???

[RandyW 149]

Calling cards are VERY cheap, but make sure it will support calls from China to the U.S., if they need to call you.

http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/rate_table1.asp?Origin=USA&Destination=China

Edited September 2, 2014 by RandyW

[googolplex 7]

My fiancee uses smartphone and laptop to talk to me over Skype and WeChat,

which were mostly free, thanks to the great Internet & Wifi technology.

But once she gets to US in about 2 weeks, she will need to regularly talk to her tech-challenged

older mom who only knows how to use non-smartphone, and I'm trying to find the best

(both cheap and convenient) method.

Skype provides...

1) Pay-as-you-go: 2 cents/minute

2) 800 minutes/month for $7.99/month (1 cent/minute)

3) Unlimited for $13.99

They have Internet and wifi at home, and younger sister has smartphone and laptop,

so with some cooperation that would have been a great way to do free Skype video calls,

but no such luck as her younger sister is very self-centered and is very jealous of

her older sister marrying a nice ( ) handsome ( ) man from USA.

We also would like her mother to be able to call US cheaply (and then we would call back of course).

How are you guys talking to non-techy older contacts in China?

I'm not even sure they have concepts like MagicJack in China???

In Skype, there is one more option: Unlimited China ($3.89/month). I signed up for this plan a few months ago and have been only paying $3.89 per month since then. I intended to get China 400 (400 minutes) from Skype back then, but Unlimited China was available at the same price as China 400. I don’t know if this was a glitch in Skype. Therefore, I will just keep this plan until they cancel it. With Unlimited China, I can call any phone # in China directly.

[CowBoE 429]

Calling cards are VERY cheap, but make sure it will support calls from China to the U.S., if they need to call you.

http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/rate_table1.asp?Origin=USA&Destination=China

It will be mainly us calling her mother in China to, but her mother may have to call us at times,

so we will look into the calling cards for her. Thanks.

[CowBoE 429]

In Skype, there is one more option: Unlimited China ($3.89/month). I signed up for this plan a few months ago and have been only paying $3.89 per month since then. I intended to get China 400 (400 minutes) from Skype back then, but Unlimited China was available at the same price as China 400. I don’t know if this was a glitch in Skype. Therefore, I will just keep this plan until they cancel it. With Unlimited China, I can call any phone # in China directly.

You are lucky to get that unlimited China package. Now they don't have it anymore. They have unlimited world for $13.99.

This is what they have now...

120 min

per month

120 Minutes/Month

1¢/min

$1.19/month

Continue

400 min, $3.89 per month

400 min

per month

400 Minutes/Month

1¢/min

$3.89/month

Continue

800 min, $7.79 per month

800 min

per month

800 Minutes/Month

1¢/min

$7.79/month

Continue

Unlimited World, $13.99 per month

Unlimited World

Includes USA, UK, China and over 60 other countries; excluding Colombian rural areas - LEX

[bpierce 24]

Maybe QQ ?

[goodspeed 2]

I am using primarily QQ. Also, my home service is Lingo. With Lingo, my fiancee will be able to make unlimited calls to Chinese landlines as well as wireless free of charge! I have an old package for about 4 years now which allows calls to about 63 countries.

http://www.lingo.com/home-phone-international-plans.shtml?gclid=CPSZ6dGmw8ACFSdk7AodbWAAXQ

Edited September 2, 2014 by goodspeed

[CowBoE 429]

I am using primarily QQ. Also, my home service is Lingo. With Lingo, my fiancee will be able to make unlimited calls to Chinese landlines as well as wireless free of charge! I have an old package for about 4 years now which allows calls to about 63 countries.

http://www.lingo.com/home-phone-international-plans.shtml?gclid=CPSZ6dGmw8ACFSdk7AodbWAAXQ

Never heard of lingo. I will have to check that out. Thanks.

[CowBoE 429]

I am using primarily QQ. Also, my home service is Lingo. With Lingo, my fiancee will be able to make unlimited calls to Chinese landlines as well as wireless free of charge! I have an old package for about 4 years now which allows calls to about 63 countries.

http://www.lingo.com/home-phone-international-plans.shtml?gclid=CPSZ6dGmw8ACFSdk7AodbWAAXQ

So I finally had chance to look at the Lingo.

Looks like it's $20 or $24 per month, depending on the contract.

This might be good for someone who makes lots of international calls to different countries.

But Skype has $14/month unlimited calls to 60 countries also.

[bigdog 376]

Our mother in law has an I pad, real easy to use.

[CowBoE 429]

Our mother in law has an I pad, real easy to use.

I do think its the best method as her mother stays home most of the time.

Since her mother is tech-challenged, I like the idea of setting her up with Tablet and

just teach her how to do Skype video/calls, but my fiancee thinks she wouldn't be able to comprehend it.

But I've not given up this idea yet, so I will consider this route again.

[LBeachey 45]

When we first got back, I got this as our home phone. http://www.italkbb.com/us/en/index.html

It gives you a number that can be dialed in China and rings here. You also get a local number. I got rid of it as my wife didn't really use it and I have no need for a home phone

My wife uses the Skype app on her iPhone and she has not gone over even when she is using our data minutes. We have the Skype China subscription as well, I think 400 or 800 minutes, I can't remember. It is charged to my credit card.

Her father is similarly technologically challenged. If he needs to contact my wife, he calls one of her cousins who then WeChat's my wife to call her Dad. It is not a perfect system but it has never been an issue. My wife tends to call her Dad every few days anyway.

[SBB 74]

My wife just pays out of pocket on Skype on the occasion she needs to call her parents as it only costs about 1.1 cents per minute. It's taken us over a year to go through $10 of Skype credit. If her parents need to call her, they just call her cell number and my wife hangs up and calls them back with Skype.

Edited September 4, 2014 by SBB

[DJ&L 83]

My wife just pays out of pocket on Skype on the occasion she needs to call her parents as it only costs about 1.1 cents per minute. It's taken us over a year to go through $10 of Skype credit. If her parents need to call her, they just call her cell number and my wife hangs up and calls them back with Skype.

How does this work? Can you call from a mobile phone? Or do you need to be on your computer to use skype?

Can you make calls from a mobile phone (in the US) to a land line in China?

[googolplex 7]

How does this work? Can you call from a mobile phone? Or do you need to be on your computer to use skype?

Can you make calls from a mobile phone (in the US) to a land line in China?

You just need to install Skype on your cellphone and have Skype credits or a Skype plan for international calling. I can call any phone # in China from my cellphone's Skype. If the person in China that you are calling has Skype installed and a internet connection, you don't even need to pay anything: you can just voice chat via Skype.