Question
Anyone get this flyer in the mail yet? It looks like it's not totally free with a $20 shipment return, but what do you think?
http://planetfone.com/program.htm
Answer
It looks like it's not totally free with a $20 shipment return, but what do you think?
Not even close to free:
The benefit does not apply to airtime charges
Answer
Seems similar to what American Express Platinum and Centurion Card members get. Nothing that great, as you still have to pay for airtime. In this day and age with unlocked GSM cellphones and cheap SIM cards, it is probably cheaper just to buy a local pre-paid SIM card and use that versus using some domestic service.
Answer
Sorry, you can tell I've never used one of these before--am thinking email from internet cafe would be cheaper than whatever $ airtime charges are. The brochure made it sound like such a benefit!
Answer
<<cheaper just to buy a local pre-paid SIM card and use that>>
This presupposes you have a multi-band GSM phone, that it is unlocked, and perhaps that you do not need to know the overseas phone number beforehand. An international phone rental benefit is, by definition, of less value to someone who already owns an international phone, but customers of Verizon, Sprint, Virgin (ironic, eh?), and Nextel in the USA are unlikely to own GSM phones and even customers of Cingular and T-Mobile may not have phones which will operate on other frequencies.
I do agree that handset rental may be the smaller part of the expense compared to useage charges, but I think these services do have value to those who do not have the appropriate hardware or who simply don't want to figure out what they need to make it work.
dennis