Phoning Home

The best ways to save on phone bills while traveling are to pick up the phone less frequently, hang it up more quickly, and send postcards whenever possible. Unfortunately, this advice is of little use for those of us who have to:

1.Check our answering machines three times a day. 2.Check up on lovers, dog sitters, and stockbrokers. 3.Let Mom know we haven't been mugged or gotten sick since yesterday.

If you recognize yourself in one of the above categories, you can reduce the damage with these three tips:

Check Hotel Surcharges. Many hotels charge for toll-free, local, and long-distance access calls made from your room. Making multiple calls from the same access call or phoning from a lobby pay phone can save you about 75 cents a call.

Compare Overseas Rates. When calling home from many overseas destinations, you can now use a local or toll-free number to reach a U.S. operator and long-distance carrier, such as AT&T U.S.A Direct, MCI Call U.S.A, and Sprint Express. While these services are easier than making coin or phone-card calls, sometimes local services are cheaper; either way, it is always less expensive to have the person you're calling call you back.

Use a Surcharge-free Calling Card. While most long-distance carriers charge an additional access fee of 60 cents to 80 cents per call, some charge only for the call itself, at very competitive rates. The Out & About/ATN calling card offers some of the lowest rates available - currently 13.9 cents per minute, billed in 6-second increments, with no per-call fee. Enroll on line at www.outandabout.com/atn.cfm. P.S. You could also probably get away with calling Mom collect.