I have been using phone cards for years from many different Internet phone card companies. Fortunately I've had more good experiences than bad ones. But it is from dealing with the bad phone card companies that I've learned some valuable information on what not to do. And I'll share what I've learned to you.

The first thing I've learned and what I will share with you is do not go for phone cards with the cheapest call per minute rate. These cards are often loaded with the most fees and do not provide you with the advertised airtime minutes.

Now I know you might be saying, "Well why don't I just look for a company that doesn't sell phone cards with fees."

You can do that. But you won't find any. You see all phone card companies sell phone cards with and without fees. The good news is all phone card companies disclose their phone card's fees. Phone cards with fees are also the easiest to spot, they're listed first on the page and the phone cards with no fees are listed towards the end. 

All phone card companies claim they charge fees to the cover costs of everyday operations. I don't really buy that. If it is true then I believe they should just calculate the final price and advertise the phone card as is.

Now I'm not claiming that all phone card companies run scams and are out to cheat people. There are many unrelated industries that charge fees that don't make sense. One quick example are banks. Banks charge you a few dollars if you withdraw money from ATMs other then their own. It's just the way big business operates.

I only buy from three phone card companies these days. I kinda look at it as a football game where you use specific teams for specific tasks. The reason being that I use phone cards for business and to call family members so I mix up my usage.

But if you need a general all around phone card company then I suggest you buy from a company called Nobelcom and you can see their review here. The reason why I choose them is because they have a solid reputation in the phone card industry. Plus they have the best rates for phone cards that are designed specifically for dialing to a international mobile number. Yes the rates for dialing to a land line and a mobile line with a phone card is between night and day. So make sure you choose the right phone cards for calling either a land line or a mobile line. They're not hard to find especially on Nobelcom's website.

If you want to check out more phone card companies then click here to see www.phonecardsreviews.com. This website lists and reviews the top 10 phone card companies on the Internet.

If you're going to learn anything on this page then this should be it. When it comes to buying a phone card from any company, remember that:

Cheap Call Per Minute Rates = More Fees

There are basically 2 types of fees that you should avoid at all cost. There is 1 type of fee that is not so bad but I use it to my advantage. I'll explain why later.

The first fee you should avoid is the Connection Fee. Now the majority of phone card companies have done away with this type of fee but there are still a couple that have them. This fee is usually around .30¢ per call. Avoid this at all cost.

The second fee you should absolutely avoid is called the Carrier Service Fee or what I like to fondly call the disconnect fee. Because this fee is charged after you finish your call.

The third fee, which I really don't worry much about is the Maintenance Fee. These fees range from .40¢ to .99¢ and are deducted at either a weekly, biweekly or monthly from the value of your card. Check the phone card's full details as phone cards each differ.

The reason why I don't really worry about this fee is because I usually finish the phone card up before this fee takes effect. So I take advantage of the low call per minute rates while I avoided the maintenance fee.

So if you are not in a rush to use up your phone card's minutes, make sure you buy a phone card that has no maintenance fee.