Telephone Offers

Long Distance Offers

The major U.S. long distance telephone companies no longer offer miles for signing up for their land line services. It was great while it lasted.

There are a very low cost dial around services for your long distance needs. I used for years PowerNet Global for this purpose. I now use them for my regular long distance and local toll service at very low prices. I have been paying them less than 3.9 cents a minute for long distance within the U.S., in-state, and local toll calls. This includes all taxes and fees. To sign up with PowerNet Global, call toll free (866) 329-7280, and please tell them I referred you. Call (866) 329-7280 and mention Customer Referral Number TMC7500098. This shouldn't cost you anything, and will give me a tiny credit. Thanks. If you are using another long distance carrier for the miles, make it clear that you want a dial around service, and that you do not want to change long distance carriers.

It is also possible to do the same thing with phone cards. These are often cheaper than a dial around service, but they require that you pay a minimum amount before you make a call, can run out of money in the middle of your phone call, and sometimes have a monthly minimum usage fee, surcharges, expiration dates and periodic maintenance fees. I leave it to you to read the small print. Cards that I or others recommend:

  • OneSuite under 3 cents a minute)
  • Sam's club AT&T card (under 3 cents a minute)
  • Costco MCI card (3.5 cents a minute)
  • DialAroundTheWorld.com card for international calls.
  • PhoneShark.com for international cards.
  • Hostelling International USA for international cards, including a nifty, very cheap callback feature. On April 29, 2007, they were offering a $10 credit.
  • IvyMedia's website for special phone cards for calls from the U.S. to China, Taiwan, and the world listed under Shopping (in the left menu)

I am looking for a site that lists most or all of the cheap cards. The ones on AB Tolls seem expensive. Please write to me if you know of such a site. Thanks.

Here is a very complete San Francisco Chronicle article on how to make inexpensive calls internationally.

For comparison of expenses for phone service that does not offer miles, you can find excellent telephone deals with no miles offered at AB Tolls. One I used for interim service (while waiting for a good mileage producing offer) was Enhanced Communications Group, found on that site. I had good telephone connections and no problems with this company. I am currently using PowerNet Global:

  • The regular number for signing up with PowerNet Global is (877) 860-2561
  • Through a mixup in the quote that they gave me, I ended up speaking with one of their brokers, who gave me an even better deal than that offered by the company: 2.9 cents/minute interstate, 3.9 cents/ minute intrastate, with fractional minutes (6 seconds). (No, that's not backwards. I live in California.) No surprise fees or charges or minimums. Minimal taxes. My January 2006 bill showed 39.6 intrastate minutes for $1.58. $1.58 is exactly what I paid. Call 888-541-0608.
  • I can get further reductions on my minuscule bill if you tell the company that I referred you. Then you can refer, too. To tell them that I referred you, call (866) 329-7280 and give them customer referral number TMC7500098. (Thanks.) Of course, do not accept a rate lower than that offered by the broker mentioned above. Please tell me how this worked out.
  • On August 21, 2006, a reader wrote:
    I called PowerNet Global, to sign up for long distance. And I used your referral #, so enjoy the extra 1 cent off of each call! But! They told me as of Aug. 1 they have added a $.99/month fee. Bummer. But still beats the $5/month I have with MCI for long distance I almost never use.

    They initially quoted me 1 cent higher than what you have posted, but after I gave them your account # for referral and told them what you were getting 3.9/2.9, they matched it. (I'm in IL).

Telephone companies often will offer miles or dollar discounts for allowing them to bill your credit card directly, and/or to send you email. But they are always happy to encourage you to sign up for these services for free "as a convenience to you". So don't sign up for these services until you first ask if you can get something for doing so. I mention these offers as I know about them, and would appreciate it if you would tell me about any you know about. Thanks.

 
Japan Airlines Telephone Offers   Japan Airlines lists its telephone offers here.

 
Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles Telephone Offers   Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles program has several telephone offers with companies I have never heard of (so they are probably in Asia).

 
KLM Telephone Offers   Air France/KLM FlyingBlue miles program has telephone offers.

 
 

Cell Phone and Wireless Offers - Domestic

Caution: You may be able to find lower rates for the same phone services offered below, so low in fact that the miles are not worth the extra money.

HowardForums is an amazing forum for people as obsessed with Cell Phones as I am with miles.

Tower location and coverage reported by users (by zip code) can be found at the very useful website www.cellreception.com

 

American and United Airlines for wireless service   Sprint - American Airlines miles offer: Up to 20,000 Miles for new Sprint accounts and up to 5,000 miles per year for new and existing customers. Doctor of Credit points out that although the new accounts bonus might be worthwhile, the monthly miles for new and existing customers is not, because the Sprint Discount Program will be removed for folks signing up for this offer.

250 United Airlines miles for AT&T or 3,200 United Airlines miles Verizon wireless. Please tell me when these offers change. Thanks.

 
Swagbucks and Verizon   Swagbucks lists an offer from Verizon for a free smart phone and 3,500 Swagbucks (worth at least $35). Plus 3,000 + 3,000 more for doing other stuff. Of course, first join the Swagbucks program, then either click on the link I provided, or search in the shopping section for Verizon. Please tell me when the Swagbucks offer is no longer available. Thanks.
Swagbucks is a very easy way to earn a few dollars just by clicking. And it has become a pretty good shopping portal with frequent good offers like this one. You may read about Swagbucks here. I have been successfully using it for years with no problems. Signing up for free for the program through my referral link helps me at no cost to you, and gets you 1,000 SB ($10) after meeting an easy requirement. Thanks.

 
 

Cell Phone Rental and Roaming for International Travel

Two good articles on this subject:

 
American Airlines - PlanetFone Free Telephone Offer   Holders of the Citi Platinum Select American Airlines AAdvantage World MasterCard are offered a rent free international cellular phone from PlanetFone for one month for travel outside of the U.S. except in Japan or Korea. Other charges apply, including charges for use and a $20 return fee. Read the terms and conditions thoroughly, and be very certain that you are aware of the calling rates and all of the fees that you will pay. I have no experience with this, but the calling rates seem very high to me. I am sure I would be able to do better with a local phone card purchased in the country I am visiting. But if you just have to have that constant cell phone connection (you probably aren't on vacation).

You may read about the credit card on the Annual Fee Cards page in my Credit Card section.

 
TRAVELLING CONNECT and many airlines and hotels   TRAVELLING CONNECT offers up to 10 awards per minute when you are traveling abroad and making mobile phone calls on the networks of the participating mobile operators. In India and Hong Kong you can also earn awards for incoming calls. Awards are miles on a choice of a very large number of airlines, inclucing American, Delta, and many major non-U.S. airlines, and points for Hilton HHonors, Marriott, and Priority Club.

 
TravelSim and many airlines and points programs   TravelSim offers 1 mile or point/per minute you are calling or receiving a call using its TravelSim card on your cell phone. Miles or points are offered for a large choice of airlines, including Delta and American and many nonn-U.S. airlines, and points for Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards, and Priority Club.

 
 

Calling Cards, Charge and Prepaid

Here are some calling cards that earn miles. However, you might find better deals in my paragraph on non-mileage producing calling cards above. Also, read this article on phone cards and this article by Ed Perkins on calling cards for calling from outside the U.S. to the U.S.

 
Thanks to BoardingArea for donating the web space for this web site.