Well, my wife has been using one phone card or another to chat with folks back in Russia. From here at least, the best rate she was getting was maybe 20 cents/minute, with a wide range on what you could get with different cards.

I had looked at VOIP, but Vonage refused to state whether or not its service would work landlines where I wanted to call. After repeated attempts at getting info, I finally told them off in the worst sort of way.

I had looked at Skype before, but they had always wanted a social security number (or fragment thereof) to take a credit card to pay for the optional "Skype Out" service. Obviously I was not amused at this and they got told off much more quickly than the folks at Vonage did.

So, I gave up for a while, and she just used phone cards with the 20 cent/minute rate. Well, recently, I bought a Logitech USB headset, for recording my audio exams for my Russian class. This got me inspired to see what the current state of being with Skype is. Well, they no longer require a SSN or fragment thereof to pay for their services. At 2 cents/minute for Moscow & St. Petersburg, with 5 cents/minutes where she wants to call in Russia, it's pretty cheap. With the Logitech® Premium USB Headset 350 headset and Skype, she reports excellent communications quality. You guys might want to check it out.

That is all!

Cheers!
AKDiver

My wife has been using a Mozart calling card for several years to call her relatives in various regions in Russia. For Russia calls it costs 6.8 cents/minute. There are cheaper cards we have tried, but the connection was terrible. My wife's relatives are amazed that she is calling Siberia from the USA and the connection is so clear. Here is the link for Mozart. The same company sells other cards too. For us, using the card on our regular house phone is the most cost effective.

http://www.callingtheworld.pushline.com/p/info.php/Mozart

I've been using Skype for several months and love it. They have kept loosening the restrictions I had when first started... a $10 a month per card feature seems to be gone. Can buy in $25 chunks which lasts a while, and no longer have to limit on number of purchases on credit card.

Jim

Question: About how many hours per month, on average, do your wives spend talking to people Russia? (For those whose wives are in the USA.)

The rate from my home phone is a flat fee of $4.79 per month, plus 15-cents per minute (16-cents to mobile) via AT&T. All calls are directly dialed. I get clear reception to house phones and to mobile phones. No calling cards. Nothing else to keep up with.

I've been looking into other international calling plans, but... no decision to change yet.

Try:
http://www.uniontelecard.com/phonecards/2051//rates/
4.0 Cents to Anywhere in Russia
1.2 Cents to Moscow
1.5 Cents to St. Petersburg.

The trick is to use the local access numbers. And even if you don't have one, use your cell phone during your unlimited minutes like nights and weekends to call those local access numbers.
It's a great deal. My wife goes through about 4 cards at $5 each a month and gets like 8 hours of talk time.

I think these rates even beat Skype.

Also no hidden fees or taxes.

I've been using Nobelcom.com for my calling cards which gives me about 30 hours of talk time (I talk to my fiancee at least 3 times a day in excess of 2 hours a day) for $100. Which equates to about 1.8 c/m. Which isn't too bad but their service has gotten worse over the last couple of months. I think they are just trying to use cheaper carriers and it's not getting better. I'm definitely interested in checking out this skype.

I'm not sure if the rate is still valid for new customers; but when I joined 'Lingo' HERE you could select Russia as part of your international calling plan that is inlcuded in your regular bill.. That's the only way I can afford to call Natasha twice a day for 1-2 hours; as well as our friends there..

Maybe you have to ask for that calling plan now, I dont see it listed anywhere.

Your current calling plan:
Lingo Unlimited International Plan
Price: 49.95/mo.
Unlimited minutes to Western Europe and lots of other international locations like Mexico and Russia.
Unlimited minutes to the U.S. and Canada, plus free in-network calling.

I call Anna in Saratov with Vonage (14.95/mo) 12cents a minute. I had planned on using that when she got here. I will look into some of the options mentioned here because the seem a bit better.

Paul Misses Anna

i use discall.com....i have it setup so i dont have to dial a pin and will automatically recharge when it gets under $5......it says it costs about 4 cents a minute....we do have some times where we cant hear each other...but not too often

overall happy with service

i guess i can top all of the above...

well not me exactly but seemingly european company

www.voipcheap.com

calls to land lines in most countries are free (Russia included of cause), quality is often better than Skype(depends on the region one's calling, Skype prooved to be not too reliable for me). After one trial period you have to put 10euro on your acount.
I'm using that initial amount of money for several months already to call cell phones in Russia.
It' nice to keep your yearly international calling bill under 13$...

obender

I use a VOIP phone at home. www.sunrocket.com - works out to ~$18/mo, unlimited US calling. Russia is 10 cents/minute, 3 cents/minute Moscow/St Petersburg. No calling cards to mess with, I've been using it for a year. I still call Russia frequently (I found a native speaker studying English there - who is about at my level, so I'm trading English practice for Russian practice.)

Yup, I'm using Sunrocket too and they give $3 credit each month for international calls. We make at least a few calls each month using it just to use up the credit, then I use one of the enjoyprepaid plans for the rest of the calls. They have a good rate to Russian cell phones at 4 or 5 cents a minute as I recall.

Paid for the Sunrocket for one year for a total of $200 which is $16.67 a month. They give me 2 phone numbers in my choice of area codes, unlimited long distance in the US and Canada,caller ID, voice mail, international calling credit, and a lot more. Works well for me. Beats the hell out of the local phone company.

No hidden fees.... but you do have to pay 69cents every 14 days.... not what I want to do...

I use Continental or something like that... 2 cents for St. Pete... no fees at all... sometimes a bad connection, but just call back and usually get a good one... I have tried a few others, and all have a problem with connections at one time or another..

prolly not helpful...

but we use www.pennytalk.com to call back to Oz.

It's cheap as long as you don't ring cell phones. Don't know what rates to russia are but worth checking I guess

I buy Cardinal Card at Zvonite.com

I like that this card requires no commitment and has no Maintenance Fee and no tax. The rates are 2 cents to call to Moscow, 2.2 cents to St. Petersburg, and 6 cents to anywhere else in Russia.

They also offer cheaper cards as well as Web-calls and SMS initiated calls, but these options require some commitment

I tried this. It works more like a radio for us. About 1.5 second delay.

The fact that you found this "stated" fee makes it by definition not hidden. My wife goes through the card in about a week, so this was never an issue for us. If you call less than that, you shouldn't have a large phone bill anyway.