Here are two great phone calling card tips that you would do well to pay attention to next time you go to buy a calling card.

Tip #1 Retail phone cards vs. virtual calling cards online
I live in Washington where there is a general sales tax of almost 9%. Many people that live on the border of Washington and Oregon know that by doing their shopping in Oregon (a state without a sales tax), they can save almost $9 on a $100 calling card. The point of this story is that you should not only compare the cheapest rates on the card, but also the cheapest place to buy the card. If you want to avoid sales tax. Buy your phone cards online from a virtual calling card provider like Pingo.com that offers great international rates. This will allow you to beat out those retail cards on the sales tax alone, not to mention the lower calling rates you often get from going through an online retailer vs. a "real-world" retailer (who makes a lot of their money in the markups they apply to the per-minute rounding rates on the card).

Tip #2 Walgreens and Wal-Mart International phone cards

Here's an email we received from an obviously frustrated individual.

Hey CallingAdvice.com. Maybe you can help me. Making International calls has always been an issue for me. I was born and raised in Europe so I make a lot of international calls back and forth to my family and friends. Over the past few years, making these calls has created a fair amount frustration and anger. While the cost of making these calls has come down, it has become harder and harder to make these calls. There are now so many options when choosing a company for the calls, and more often than not everyone is very competitive.

It has always been hard for me to make these calls. Over the years, here in the U.S. it has become more of a frustrating process for me to make international calls. In order to dial an international number, most companies require you to dial their 800 number first, then you must dial an extension or the number on your calling card (which can sometimes consist of as many as 20 numbers), and then finally you dial the desired number. Once you have done all this, sometimes your call may go through or it may fail. For me, more often than not, the call fails and doesn't work. Not to mention the fact that for me, international calls have become expensive.

Then, when it comes to my home line (you have probably experienced this too), there are many companies that call me on a daily basis, asking me if I am happy with my phone provider and if they can try to beat the price.

When I call the rates are usually between 10-15 Cents per minute. This may seem low to some people however these charges add you quickly and it become expensive before you know it! My monthly bill is usually between $150-$250 (depending on how much I talk) and this bill is just for international calls. In addition, I have a cell phone bill and a home phone bill. I am not rich by any means and I have a lot of trouble affording this type of service.

The first time that I went to a foreign country, away from my family, was when I was 13. I went on a class trip to Israel, and we needed to share a cell phone between 4 people.

Unfortunately, the window of time that we could communicate with our families was limited because we had activity-filled days, so there was a narrow band of time in which we could communicate home. As a result of the limited time, and because we were so busy, eventually all of us started to contact home less and less. However the cell phone that was rented in Israel (where we were) was a very good idea. It greatly improved my ability to contact my family, and was also significantly cheaper than calling on a pay phone and more accessible.

I would recommend to anyone going to a foreign country that they rent a cell phone if they want to contact anyone back home. Of course, the better option if you have a computer and an Internet connection is to get a service like Skype, and if you don't have a computer and Internet connection, then the best and most flexible option is to just get a virtual calling card from a company like Pingo.com.

At Pingo.com, you can receive $5 in free calls, and get 15% discount. All you have to do is use the Pingo coupon code "s4i"

We use VoIP to make international calls. (VoIP is composed of services like Vonage, Packet8, PCtoPhone, Skype, and others.) Whoever invented VoIp was a genius, and has created a life-saver for anyone traveling abroad. I am not originally from the United States. Even though I live here now, I am Asian, and most of my family and friends are all in the Philippines. I have relatives and friends in other countries too, especially around Europe.

I use my VoIP Phone service to call them. Amongst all the choices for International calling, I would recommend VoIP services because not only is calling through VoIP much less expensive, but the quality is good too! I say this while letting you know that I've used calling card and cell phone services for international calling as well, but I have really never been all that satisfied with the quality. Generally speaking, calling cards are almost always more expensive.

If you are making international calls while traveling abroad, and you are making those calls regularly, then one of the best things you can do is to get a cell phone plan that will let you make international calls from the country where you are traveling to.

The best way to do this is to check with your cell phone provider to find out what it takes to add the country you are traveling to, and add that country in to the calling plan itself. As long as you stay under the minutes limit, this is one of the most cost-efficient ways I have found of making phone calls from another country while traveling.