help me to be able to contact my girlfriend

wolfyparsons

Hi,
i am currently living in dubai and my girlfriend is living in the states (chicago) i find it almost impossible to be able to contact her as much as i would like and is there anyone who can help me find a way of really cheap or even free ways to contact her.
this is a big problem in uae as it costs an arm and a leg to keep contact abroad.
i will not be seeing her for over a year so being able to contact her as much as possible will be life saving.
there is only one telephone company here as it is a growing country there will be more telephone companys in time but at the minute there is only the one (Etiselat) can anybody help me, any free phone codes or any accounts i can charge up.
I anticipate a reply and would be very greatful and so will my girlfriend.

thank you
Paul

p.s. martin there is loads and loads of brits here that are in the same situation and are really needing your help.

cheepsk8

Hi, if both you and your girlfriend have internet access, you could consider skype (https://www.skype.com). It is free to use over the internet(if you both have it), and can also be used to call landline phones at lower rates than usual. You just buy a handset at about £30 and plug it into the usb port, download the software and buy credits from the website if needed. I haven't used it myself, but there are various positive reports on the internet about it. Hope this helps.

wolfyparsons

i have internet acces but she doesnt.She has a states mobile .
Any help?

itsfreetosmile

Try using 1899 before you dial the number (sign-up on https://www.1899.com).
I've done this to call from my UK landline to my sisters mobile in the States and the cost has been 1/2p per minute. A recent 13 min call cost me 9p (they charge a 3p connection fee. Well worth it!!

fatboyonadiet

He can't use 1899 as he's in the UAE! The best thing would have been internet for you both, unless she has GPRS on her phone and then you could e-mail her and she could check it on her phone, not the best option.

itsfreetosmile

Maybe there's a UAE version of 1899?

fatboyonadiet

Not that I know of, do they not have calling cards? Is it not cheaper for your girlf to call you?

itsfreetosmile

Try this link: http://ld.net/international.cgi?cogid=2222
It has a country to country search for the lowest cost option.
I put in UAE to US and it came up with 'iconnecthere' at $0.10 for a 5 min call.

andy88_2

that will be the price of an internet-based call to USA, which is good, but not always possible

you may also need a callback service, with rates around US 28c/minute for calls in either direction, or for UK/Emirates as well

It would be possible to set up an account with one provider for both functions, and you can in fact get a US 800 (cost from $100) or local area code number (free) that routes direct to any desired destination ie Dubai for the same price per minute.

I could recommend 2 that I have no connection with except as customer, but have been accused of spam - perhaps you could ask Martin.