Q: I occasionally call Germany, and Qwest charges me a $4 international fee on top of the usage. But that also happens even in a month I don’t call. Why?Helga Murphy, Denver
A: Qwest has a number of international calling plans that embrace a monthly fee in exchange for a reduced per-minute rate.
The theory being, if you make enough calls, it will easily offset the expense of the fee, compared to what you’ll have paid had it not been for the plan.
Calling-plan fees — whether local or international — are charged whether you use the service or not. You pay for its availability and, by extension, save on its use.
Qwest’s Choice International plan, for instance, is $4 per month, and each call is 8 cents per minute to fixed phones and 28 cents to a cellphone.
Had you not had the plan, your rates to Germany would be as high as $1.39 per minute for a daytime call as Qwest’s regular rates are much higher.
So, assuming you make no calls while enrolled in the service, you will pay $48 yearly in monthly fees — the same as 34 minutes of calls at the regular daytime rate, or 52 minutes at the lower regular evening rate of 91 cents per minute.
Assume, again, a single 10-minute daytime call to a home phone in Germany each month at the plan rate. That’s 80 cents monthly, or $9.60 in a year. With the plan fee, that’s $57.60.
At the non-plan rate, that’s $166.80 a year or $109.20 at the evening rate.
You ultimately decide whether it’s worth it to you based on your usage, but it’s not hard to see the savings even when you’re not calling.
David Migoya wants to get the answers to your consumer questions. E-mail consumertips@ or write to Consumer Shopping Bag, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave. Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.
