Cheap calls to Germany

Acculinq.com offers great international rates to Germany (from the US), starting at 3.9 cents per minute.

Here is how it works: Sign up for an account at AccuLinQ. com, add a $ limit (for example $50) to your account and your are ready to go. The $ limit is just there to prevent abuse; should somebody get a hold of your access code (like your teenage daughter) you only lose $50.

At the end of the month you get charged a $1 monthly fee plus the calls you made, plus access fees.

In order to call somebody, just dial a 1-800 number from your home phone or cell phone, wait for the prompt, add the German phone number and you can talk to your friends and family.

The quality of the call is pretty decent, only in rare cases you get a busy signal (like on mother’s day). The normal rate is 3.9 cents per minute to a landline, to a cell phone it is  25 cent per minute.

You can select up to 3 numbers from which you are planning to call -> “Select Access”, which gives you the cheap rate of 3.9 cents. If you call from a phone that is not on the list the rate doubles to 7.9 cents (->Non-select access).

Here is a summary of the charges:

• $1 activation fee (one time only)
• $ 1 monthly fee ($ 2 if statement mailed) *No fee will be charged if zero usage for billing cycle
• 60 ¢ per call from a payphone (FCC mandated)
• Other Taxes
• TX Residents: Add applicable State taxes