Andrea,
To call from the US to Honduras I have two options for you, depending if you have internet access or not. If anyone knows of lower rates (total rates) than those please tell me/us.
www.voipcheap.com has 18 and 19 cents per minute rates from anywhere to Honduras (landlines and cellphones respectively). Those rates are pretty close to actual cellphone to cellphone rates here, and even lower in some cases. I know they don't charge anything else besides actual calling time (rounded off to the nearest minute). BTW this is a VOIP service so you need internet access with this one. Also with VOIP service it generally doesn't matter where you are, only where you are calling to.
I started using that service to call my sister in the US since it includes 300 free minutes per week to lots of countries (including US) and 1 cent per minute after that (to the US). Then just out of curiosity I checked their rates for calls to Honduras and i was happily surprise they were so low. At first I thought it was 14 and 15 cents but that's euro cents, which turns out to be 18 and 19 dollar cents.
With voipcheap you have to call using their software or configure your own SIP device (similar devices to the ones used by vonage and other VOIP companies), I bought an unlocked Linksys one here in Honduras, configured it and sent it to my sister who lives in TN and now she talks and talks and talks now with me and my mom (good thing she pays that bill, LOL). You can set up one account and use it on several devices or you can set up individual accounts. My wife uses this service to calls some relatives of her in New Orleans and NYC. I set up two accounts to keep using the 300 free/week minutes on each one, so i get 600 free US minutes for $26 I pay every 3 months (90 days).
www.ohello.com has 34 and 35 cents per minute rates from US to Honduras. This is a the calling card I use when I travel. It is twice as expensive as the but then again you need an internet conection to use voipcheap while you can call from any US phone with ohello. When I go to the US I usually buy a cheap pre-paid cellphone with a bunch of minutes to take with me on the trip and even use with this service to call home when away from my internet conection at the hotel/conference/etc.
With ohello it's like any other calling card (I would say it's actually a calling pin), you pick up a US-based phone and dial a 1-888 number then enter you pin and then dial the number (country code first). The advantage is that there are no additional fees either with them besides actual calling time. You can recharge it, and even have it auto-recharge. My wife is using it right now while in NYC and it works pretty well too. One thing to point out is that there is a $1.00 fee per off-hook when calling from a payphone.
The good thing about both services is they don't have any hidden fees (the payphone one is very clearly stated with ohello and they even tell you how to make another call without hanging up).
There are also no monthly fees or obligations and with voipcheap you get lots of free calls to many countries (including any US number). Both service require a minimum pre-payment of about $10 to $13. Unless used up that credit can last for year with ohello and for 90 days with voipcheap.
Sorry I wrote so much, I hope I didn't confuse you. Computers is my job, but planes and telecomunications are my passion.
Options for "legally" calling from Honduras to the US are a whole other story, for now i'll just say that it's cheaper to call the US from Honduras than to call from US to Honduras.
Angel
----- Original Message -----
From: andreaomartin.....com
To: travel-to-honduras.....com
Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 9:49 PM
Subject: Re: [travel-to-honduras] Re: Traveling alone to Honduras
Thanks Megan. It is .40 cents per minute, but after you add in all of the
"additional" charges, taxes, fees for international calling, and whatever else
the phone company can come up with, it comes out to about .60 cents per
minute. Trust me, my long distance phone bill to Roatan last month was 425.00
USD!!! lol Only 300.00 of it was actual talking time. (I know, I talk to
much) lol 125.00 was the "extras" from the phone company. I was just wondering
if there was anything else out there that was cheaper.......
Andrea
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