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You can usually make direct international calls from pay phones, but if you aren’t using a phone card, you may need to drop your coins as quickly as your words. Prepaid phone cards are a common and relatively inexpensive means of calling abroad. Each one comes with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a toll-free access number. To purchase prepaid phone cards, check online for the best rates; www.callingcards.com is a good place to start. Online providers generally send your access number and PIN via email, with no actual “card” involved. You can also call home with prepaid phone cards purchased in Puerto Rico (see below).
Another option is to purchase a calling card, linked to a major national telecommunications service in your home country. Calls are billed collect or to your account. To obtain a calling card, contact the appropriate company listed below. Where available, there are often advantages to purchasing calling cards online, including better rates and immediate access to your account. To call home with a calling card, contact the operator for your service provider in Puerto Rico by dialing the appropriate toll-free access number (listed below in the third column).
|
Company |
To Obtain A Card: |
To Call Abroad: |
|---|---|---|
|
AT&T (US) |
800-364-9292 or www.att.com |
800-225-5288 |
|
Canada Direct |
800-561-8868 or www.infocanadadirect.com |
800-496-7123 |
|
MCI (US) |
800-777-5000 or www.minutepass.com |
800-888-8000 |
|
Telecom New Zealand Direct. |
ATT 800-248-0064; MCI 800-666-5494; Sprint 800-659-0064 |
|
|
Telstra Australia |
1800 676 638 or www.telstra.com |
MCI 888-343-5067; Sprint 888-311-9050 |
Placing a collect call through an international operator can be expensive, but may be necessary in case of an emergency. You can frequently call collect without even possessing a company’s calling card just by calling its access number and following the instructions.
There are several different phone areas on the island, meaning that calling from the east coast to the west coast (or from San Juan to either coast) is long-distance. The simplest way to call within the country is to use a coin-operated phone. Puerto Rican pay phones cost $0.50 for local calls, and start at $1 for long-distance calls. Prepaid phone cards—available at newspaper kiosks, convenience stores, and drugstores—which carry a certain amount of phone time depending on the card’s denomination, usually save time and money in the long run. The computerized phone will tell you how much time, in units, you have left on your card. Another kind of prepaid telephone card comes with a PIN and a toll-free access number. Instead of inserting the card into the phone, you call the access number and follow the directions on the card. These cards can be used to make international as well as domestic calls. Phone rates typically tend to be highest in the morning, lower in the evening, and lowest on Sunday and late at night.
Although cell phones have spotty service in Puerto Rico’s central mountains, they have fairly consistent reception in coastal regions and can be a useful emergency communication tool for drivers. However, cell phones are not as cost-effective as phone cards. They probably don’t make sense for visitors who will not be making frequent calls or using a cell phone as a safety precaution when traveling by car. Travelers who own cell phones with coverage in the US will likely also have Puerto Rico included in their calling plan; check with your carrier before traveling.
The international standard for cell phones is Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). To make and receive calls in Puerto Rico you will need a GSM-compatible phone and a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a country-specific, thumbnail-sized chip that gives you a local phone number and plugs you into the local network. However, most phones available for sale in Puerto Rico are not GSM-compatible so if you are planning to make calls to places other than the US or Canada, you must make certain you are purchasing a GSM-compatible phone. It may be easiest to purchase one before you leave your home country. Many SIM cards are prepaid, meaning that they come with calling time included and you don’t need to sign up for a monthly service plan. Incoming calls are frequently free. When you use up the prepaid time, you can buy additional cards or vouchers (usually available at convenience stores) to get more. For more information on GSM phones, check out www.telestial.com, www.orange.co.uk, www.roadpost.com, or www.planetomni.com. Companies like Cellular Abroad (www.cellularabroad.com) rent cell phones that work in a variety of destinations around the world, providing a simpler option than picking up a phone in-country.
Puerto Rico is 4hr. behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and does not observe Daylight Savings Time.
The following table applies from late October to early April.
|
4am |
5am |
6am |
7am |
8am |
Noon |
10pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Vancouver Seattle San Francisco Los Angeles |
Denver |
Chicago |
New York Toronto |
SAN JUAN New Brunswick |
London |
Sydney Canberra Melbourne |
This table is applicable from early April to late October.
|
4am |
5am |
6am |
7am |
8am |
Noon |
9pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Vancouver Seattle San Francisco Los Angeles |
Denver |
Chicago |
SAN JUAN New York Toronto |
New Brunswick |
London |
Sydney Canberra Melbourne |
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 |
 |
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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