Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Telephone, Telegraph, Telex & Fax
The telephone system in the United
States is run by private corporations, so rates, especially for long-distance
service and operator-assisted calls, can vary widely. Generally, hotel sur-
charges on long-distance and local calls are astronomical, so you're usu-
ally better off using a
public pay telephone,
which you'll find clearly
marked in most public buildings and private establishments as well as on
the street. Convenience grocery stores and gas stations always have them.
Many convenience groceries and packaging services sell
prepaid calling
cards
in denominations up to $50; these can be the least expensive way
to call home. Many public phones at airports now accept American
Express, MasterCard, and Visa credit cards.
Local calls
made from public
pay phones in Chicago cost 35¢ to 40¢. Pay phones do not accept pennies,
and few will take anything larger than a quarter.
You may want to look into leasing a cellphone for the duration of your
trip.
Most long-distance and international calls can be dialed directly from
any phone.
For calls within the United States and to Canada,
dial 1 fol-
lowed by the area code and the seven-digit number.
For other interna-
tional calls,
dial 011 followed by the country code, city code, and the
telephone number of the person you are calling.
Calls to area codes
800, 888, 877,
and
866
are toll-free. However, calls
to numbers in area codes
700
and
900
(chat lines, bulletin boards, “dat-
ing” services, and so on) can be very expensive—usually a charge of 95¢
to $3 or more per minute, and they sometimes have minimum charges
that can run as high as $15 or more.
For
reversed-charge or collect calls,
and for person-to-person calls, dial 0
(zero, not the letter O) followed by the area code and number you want;
an operator will then come on the line, and you should specify that you are
calling collect, or person-to-person, or both. If your operator-assisted call is
international, ask for the overseas operator.
For
local directory assistance
(“information”), dial 411; for long-dis-
tance information, dial 1, then the appropriate area code and 555-1212.
Telegraph and telex services
are provided primarily by Western Union.
You can bring your telegram into the nearest Western Union office (there
are hundreds across the country) or dictate it over the phone (
&
800/325-
6000
). You can also telegraph money, or have it telegraphed to you, very
quickly over the Western Union system, but this service can cost as much as
15% to 20% of the amount sent.
Most hotels have
fax machines
available for guest use (be sure to ask
about the charge to use it). Many hotel rooms are even wired for guests'
fax machines. A less expensive way to send and receive faxes may be at
stores such as
The UPS Store
(formerly Mail Boxes Etc.), a national chain
of retail packing service shops. (Look in the Yellow Pages directory under
“Packing Services.”)
There are two kinds of telephone directories in the United States. The
so-called
White Pages
list private households and business subscribers in
alphabetical order. The inside front cover lists emergency numbers for
police, fire, ambulance, the Coast Guard, poison-control center, crime-vic-
tims' hot line, and so on. The first few pages will tell you how to make
long-distance and international calls, complete with country codes and
