Prepaid calling cards are quite prevalent among military personnel, students, teens, recent immigrants, and travelers. Senior citizens and small businesses use them to regulate daily expenses and operating costs, respectively, while roommates buy them to minimize disputes over monthly phone bills.

The price of prepaid calling card minutes has dramatically plummeted in recent years because of escalating competition among different providers. However, call minutes are not really what phone cards are about. Carriers can levy a host of hidden fees for everything from connection tolls to weekly or monthly fees simply for maintaining a card.

In a volatile market, buyers need to shop around wisely. A study made by Consumer Action revealed that discount clubs, such as Sam's Club and Costco, tend to offer the best buys in prepaid calling cards. Discount stores and drug stores also offer good prepaid calling card deals.

Since there is always a chance that a prepaid calling card won’t work, where one buys it can really matter a lot. Hence one should buy from stores of good reputation. Reputation and reliability of a particular supplier of a prepaid calling card brand also have bearing. With an established company, it is usually easier to contact customer service for concerns, and such a company is reasonably certain to still be in business in the near future. Before buying a particular brand of prepaid calling card, try out the customer service number first. Many of the big players in prepaid calling cards include popular names such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Qwest, Global Prepaid Alliance, ILD Telecommunications Inc., and IDT.

In fairness to other phone card manufacturers, it might be a good idea to buy the smallest denomination first when trying out a new brand of prepaid calling card, and then call its customer service. Also beware of prepaid calling card companies that promise too much, such as a penny a minute rate, because it could probably be a scam.

Just like buying a new pair of shoes, one wants to look for a “best-fitting” prepaid calling card. One should be able to assess his or her phone usage patterns before buying a prepaid calling card. For someone who makes frequent short calls, avoiding cards with connection fees or calling minimums is a practical advice. On the other hand, for somebody who makes longer calls less frequently, trading a reasonable connection fee for a lower per minute rate is worthwhile.

Furthermore, for someone who wants to keep a card in the wallet for emergency purposes, a prepaid calling card that is good for at least six months to a year, preferably one that won't charge daily, weekly or monthly fees, is recommended. Those who use the card regularly, or for a specific special occasion, wouldn’t mind a card that expires in 30 to 90 days.

For those who want to make international calls to specific countries, it is advised to look for toll-free customer service, and use the number to shop calling costs to a particular country before buying one. Comparing prices is definitely not always as easy as it sounds. But a good rule of thumb when assessing prepaid calling cards is to examine the cost of a total call, rather than the cost per minute. Also ask for minute rounding schemes, since a card may charge a 1-minute call with a fee equivalent for 3-minutes.