How to call a US toll-free number from within Russia?

Question

I am in Russia (St. Petersburg) and would like to call a toll-free number in the States. How can I do that without incurring local phone charges?

Okay, if not for free then for less! I'm looking for a local number (or even Moscow) that re-routes the calls.

Answer 1

You should dial 880 instead of 800 and 808 instead of 888. You'll have to pay a regular fee for U.S. calls.

For other (not 800 or 888) toll-free numbers you may ask ATT (local number is St. Petersburg is 325-5042).

If you have an access to broadband Internet, set up a Skype account (www.skype.com) - all Skype phone calls to all toll-free numbers in the US (as well as France, UK and Poland) are free (http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=24)

Answer 2

In my experience, you can't call a US toll-free number from Russia at all, let alone without incurring local charges. I've lived in Russia for several years, and I've always had to get someone in the US to call the toll-free number and ask the person who answers for their non-toll-free number, and then pay for the call. It has to do with the fact that it's an international call, and the Russian phone system is going to charge you for that no matter what, unless you use a phone card (see below). Also, if you look at most toll free numbers, it says "(US only)" underneath them.

If it's very important for it to be free, maybe try email instead?

Or you can buy a long-distance phone card (Arctel is a good one, and so is Zebra). They have a local number with instructions in English (you have to dial "3" if you call the Arctel number in order to get English instructions). I'm still afraid you probably will have to call a pay number, not a toll-free one, in the US, but if you use the phone card you won't incur local charges. (Make sure you dial the star key before you start trying to do touch-tone. Most phones here are still on the rotary system even if they have push buttons, and some phones, like the one in my apartment, won't do touch-tone at all.)

Or you could ask a friend if you can use his/her cell phone and pay him/her for it. (Megafon has pretty cheap rates to the US; I talked to my mom for two hours for 500 rubles on my cell not long ago.)

Hope something here helps. Best of luck.

Answer 3

Well, the cheapest way to call a US toll free number is to buy a calling card in Russia that allows for inexpensive calls to the USA. You dial the Russian "toll free" access number, then dial the 800 number. You will usually get a message that says you will incur long distance charges, and it will ask you if you still want to call.

I've done this hundreds of times. Just go to a local "magazin" and purchase whatever cheap calling card they have that includes a) a toll free access number, and b) cheap calls to the USA.

Next time, before you go, buy a US based calling card that offers "sms access", and an unlocked GSM phone. I do this now, and call back here for pennies a minute using my locally bought Russian sim card.

Answer 4

You can't. U.S. toll-free numbers are accessible only from U.S. and Canada. You need to get an international calling card from a U.S. carrier with a local access number (I've used AT&T in the past). You dial a local number and follow the prompts...

Answer 5

You can't...at least not for nothing. Somebody pays for those calls...when it's "toll free", it just means the caller isn't the one paying. You'd have to place a long-distance call to a local (US) calling-card access number and dial the toll free number from there. You will pay for that long-distance call to the access number.

Answer 6

U will have to pay the normal long distance charges whether u dial the toll free or an ordinary number and the charges will be same.