Cutting on Long Distance Calls (Part 1 of 2)

The expense of connecting Manila-UAE

I'm so sure one of the biggest problems encountered by long distance couples is EXPENSIVE PHONE CALLS. This was actually my worry because I didn't want my phone bills to skyrocket all because of the distance. Well, in this day and age, there are a lot of available means to actually cut and maybe eliminate these costs.

Here are some tricks Dodong and I learned along the way…

PLDT budget card

I remember the first time I used this. I was so excited to call Dodong. I bought a P 200 PLDT Budget Card at Galleria because my friend "C" said it was much cheaper to call using it ("C" and her boyfriend was in a temporary LDR back then, spending 6-months apart. "C" was in the US while her boyfriend was here in Manila.). I ran up our hill (since our house is atop a hill) so giddy to spend much quality time with Dodong on the phone.

I scrathed the silver film at the back and followed instructions. I was so excited but the call wasn't going through! Then finally the number rang and somebody picked up…unfortunately it wasn't Dodong. Darn. I was so confused and wasted the P 200 credit in my numerous attempts.

Later on that week, I learned that there is a special PLDT Budget Card for countries in the Middle East. Darn. I wish all PLDT Budget Card sellers mention that there are 2 different budget cards. Howell. But we've tried the PLDT Budget Card when my mom was in the US and it indeed was definitely cheaper.

Globe's Per Second IDD Calls

Now this is definitely a winner. This is what I use nowadays. Ditched the PLDT budget card since I am hardly near a landline anyway. (Of course, the office landline I can't use to make personal calls).

If you have a Globe phone, just dial 12800 + the country code + the area code + phone number and voila! cheap per second IDD calls. The effective cost per second for my calls to the UAE cost around 0.27 centavos per second. Amazing right? So IDD phone calls shouldn't have t cost you an arm and a leg.

Any other phobe-based cost saving tips you can share?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay