If you are a talkative person and like to keep in touch with friends and family abroad, a prepaid calling card will help you control the outflow of money to a large extent. You can make international calls for a fixed amount of time and fixed rates, though the rates will differ depending on the caller and receiver countries. These are very useful when you are traveling abroad and make a call back home. You can choose a card after considering the total amount of money you have to spend, the reliability of the company and the features available on the card.

Businessmen, tourists and travelers frequently use MCI World Traveler when they visit different countries at one stretch. The advantage of this card is that you can call back to the United States from more than 130 different countries in the world and for reasonable rates. Denominations of the card are available at $25 and $100, with free connection and no maintenance fee. The card is valid for a period of six months after you first use it. Calls are rounded off to the minute and charged accordingly.

Clear Connections calling cards have denominations starting from $20 and round your calls off for 1 minute. You dont need to pay anything but the charge for your calls. You can use the card from anywhere except Hawaii, Canada and Alaska. An advantage of this card is that you can use it for a year after the first call.

You have a first-time PIN use fee of 69 cents, after which you just need to pay for your calls, from almost anywhere except Hawaii, Canada and Alaska, if you are using a Passport International Calling Card. A $20 card is valid for 90 days after your first call and is devoid of any connection fee. The calls are rounded off at 2 minutes and the card has different rates for international cell phones and landlines. You can make maximum use of the 2-minute call round up by using up the entire card for one call.