Calling card for rare use to call UK and maybe Kazakhstan from US

Nthing Google Voice. I use it to call back home from the UK to the USA and it is VERY cheap. I've tried skype, but the quality is spotty because my parents don't have a great connection. Also it is a bit bothersome to have to have them wait at the computer logged in because I always call them after dinner, and that can vary as to exactly when that is finished. Instead I use the built in voice in gmail and it works great. I think I spend about $20 a year possibly only $15 because the rate is only $0.01 per minute calling their landline. I don't know if it is higher calling their mobile, but it seems to still be cheap.

I don't have a data plan for my phone, so I could only use that kind of thing when in WiFi range. Thanks for the suggestion, though -- if the calling card thing doesn't work out I might consider it, though I'd strongly prefer just buying a calling card.

I haven't used this in a few years, but my parents always used http://www.1010220.com/index.html to keep in touch with me when I lived in Italy and the UK. It does not work with cell phones. It was super simple to use and (obviously) really easy to remember. I don't know how their rates compare to phone plans, but depending on the length of your calls, it might come in handy.

Future Nine is another VoIP provider that offers dial-in numbers so you can use your account like a calling card. Only the toll-free numbers cost extra, so if you have included US long distance on your cell, for example, you can use the calling card service for no extra charge beyond the normal rate to your destination. If not, they add an extra 3c a minute for using the 800 number. I use them and voip.ms for SIP trunking and such and I have no real complaints with either of them.

Hi - to be clear, when you say "It does not work with cell phones," do you mean it can't be used *from* cell phones, or it can't be used *to call* cell phones?

I call my parents in Germany over Gmail. You type in a number and it calls them, and the call quality is generally excellent. This acts like any old phone call to the person on the other end: they don't need an Internet connection to be able to receive it. It helps if you have a USB headset; I use a http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003EA21AA/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/. But a laptop microphone and headphones work out fine as well. Their https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/rates are pretty reasonable: calling my parents' landline in Germany is $0.02/minute, which looks exactly the same as to a UK landline. Thai cellphones are $0.03/minute. French cellphones are way more expensive than the other European countries: $0.10/minute, except for Globalstar which is a whopping $0.35/minute. Kazakhstan cellphones are a bit more expensive at $0.13/minute.

Hi - to be clear, when you say "It does not work with cell phones," do you mean it can't be used *from* cell phones, or it can't be used *to call* cell phones? Oops sorry-- it can't be used from cell phones, as far as I know. It 100% worked to call cell phones. Incoming calls do not use minutes in the UK/Italy, so when they called me, it cost nothing at all on my end. This could differ by plan or service though.

Following on kdar's answer, you don't even have to talk on the computer to use Google Voice. You can tell Google Voice to call the person, and it'll ring your own phone (landline, cell, whatever). When you pick up, the other end will start to ring and you carry on just as if you dialed directly.

Yea, Google voice is the way to go. $0.05/min to a landline in Kazakhstan, $0.13 to a mobile. I use to it call Ireland all the time, great call quality. I can use it directly from my Android mobile, the app integrates into the phone and uses Google voice for all international calls. Pretty good as my dirt cheap mobile plan doesn't allow international calling. As long as you're calling from the USA it's a great solution.