The convenience made by using prepaid phone cards has allowed it to become very popular in the United States. Prepaid phone cards can be bought almost anywhere, in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, bookstores etc. They’re even sometimes sold in fundraisers or charity events. It is estimated that from 250 to 300 million such cards are already in circulation.

A prepaid phone card allows the customer to call almost anywhere from almost any phone simply by dialing a toll-free access number, and entering your personal identification number (PIN), and dialing the number you want to reach. Some prepaid cards even allow you to speed dialing functions.

Since there two types of prepaid phone cards available in the market currently, you can buy more talk time in two ways. First, if your card is rechargeable, you can call a toll-free number to get the card recharged, by paying for the new time alloted by credit card. If the card is however, one you discard when you’ve used all the time on it, all you need to do is just buy a new one.

Prepaid phone cards have some clear advantages over credit calling cards. For example, credit calling cards may charge more for your long-distance call at certain times than others, whereas you usually pay a uniform price per minute if you use your prepaid phone card, at least for calls within the U.S.

On the other hand, prepaid phone cards, whose per-minute rates, according to one study, varied from 9 to 57 cents, are usually more expensive than making calls from home. Should you lose your prepaid card, you’ve lost only the value of the time remaining on it. With a credit calling card, you risk losing an undetermined amount, for the time your card may be used by someone else until you cancel it.

To be exactly sure you’re getting adequate service from your chosen prepaid phone card, check the firm’s pay phone surcharges, if any. Find out also if there is a minimum calling time required, and inquire of the card uses the "rounding" technique,like a company could round calling times to the nearest minute, or the nearest three minutes.

It is imperative to analyze and make comparisons before choosing a prepaid call card service. First, one must have a wider knowledge of how you are going to make full use of the phone, where will you make the calls,when and how long the calls would be made. It is important for a user to acquire pertinent call rates and charging information.

Prepaid phone cards with low per minute rates, or with high surcharges are typically great for making long calls within a 10-15 minute span or even quite longer. However, if the caller would be calling for less than 10 minutes, a prepaid calling card that has a higher per minute rate with low surcharges will be better.