A US to UK call can easily cost $3 a minute or more. But depending on the plan you own and the method you use, you can get this cost down to only a few cents.

In this article, we’ll cover the steps for calling UK from the US before looking at how to save money doing so.

How to Dial UK Landlines From the US

If you haven’t dialed internationally before, you’ll need a few details. First is the person’s landline number, which you should probably have. Then, to make US to UK calls, you’ll need the dial-out code and the UK’s country code.

You’ll find both of these steps below in our how to call in UK from USA guide:

1. Dial 011 as the exit code. Doing so tells your carrier that you’re making an international call.
2. Next, dial 44, which is the UK’s country code.
3. Add the person’s area number, which can be up to 5 digits. You can leave the 0 off the front (reducing it to 1-4 digits).
4. Dial the rest of the phone number. This will be the remaining numbers in the 10-digit code.

The UK area codes are typically 2-5 digits depending on the size of the area sharing the code. Some popular UK area codes include:

1. 020 – London
2. 0161 – Manchester
3. 01972 – Swansea (Wales)
4. 0141 – Glasgow (Scotland)
5. 0121 – Birmingham
6. 029 – Cardiff (Wales)
7. 0117 – Bristol
8. 01225 – Bath
9. 023 – Southampton and Portsmouth
10. 02895 – Belfast (Northern Ireland)

The full format for a UK landline number would be: 011-44-179-2344-777.

When making a US to UK call, it’s not super important to know where the area code ends. Providing you omit the first 0, you can just dial the full number after putting in the relevant codes.

How to Dial UK Cell Phones From the US?

If your recipient is using a cell phone, the steps to dial UK from the US are a bit simpler. They’re as follows:

1. Dial 011, the US exit code.
2. Dial 44, the UK’s country code.
3. Enter the number 7, which is the UK’s mobile code.
4. Dial the rest of the phone number, which will be the remaining 9 digits.

The format of the phone number would look like this: 011-44-7-987-999-000. As mentioned, calling a UK cell phone number is easier because you don’t need to break it down into its relevant parts. Simply remove the 0 from the 11-digit number you’re given, and it’ll dial perfectly.

How to Save Money on US to UK Call?

There are 2 standard ways to save money when calling UK from the US. However, both have their limitations, which you can read below.

International Calling Plan

The first option is to buy an international calling plan from your carrier. For example, AT&T offers an international calling plan that starts at $15 per month. It offers free unlimited calling to 85 countries, and discount rates to another 140 countries.

This is an example of a surprisingly inexpensive option. Other carriers charge $80 or more a month for their international plans. Unsurprisingly, you’re limited if your cell phone is still locked to a single carrier.

So, what are the downsides?

First, it doesn’t offer shared plans, meaning you need an individual plan for each person that wants to call UK from USA. While this isn’t a massive issue, the costs can start to add up once you have 3 or more people needing an international plan.

A knock-on effect is that you can’t sync up with teammates. Again, this isn’t a big deal, but it can make collaboration on calls and projects more difficult than it needs to be.

Finally, international monthly plans don’t offer default call recording options. Sure, you can get this through your phone, but it’s not always a guaranteed feature.

Prepaid International Calling Card

As you can probably guess, the other option for making a US to UK call is a prepaid SIM card. Some examples include Zuzume UP, which can be filled with up to 344 minutes. Another is Alo World, which can carry up to 625 for $15.

These cards involve dialing the number on the back of the card, adding the card’s PIN, and then dialing the number you want to call.

This makes them an inconvenient option, as you can’t access a phone number from your address book once you’ve started dialing. Sure, writing a phone number down doesn’t take much effort, but our phones have contact lists to avoid doing this.

You also get limited minutes with these cards. 625 minutes might sound like a lot, but it’s still a capped amount that costs $15. It’s the same price as the AT&T plan above, which has unlimited call minutes to the UK and other countries.

Prepaid cards are useful in some situations, such as if you want to call a country not covered by cheaper rates. However, the UK isn’t one of these, meaning they’re not a great option for calling UK from the US.

Reduce International Call Costs with Textr

If calling UK from the US happens a lot in your business, step up your game and save costs by using Textr.

Through its lightweight CRM interface, you get multiple phone numbers, high-quality calls, and the ability to record. When it comes to doing business internationally, these are all pretty useful features.

So, try Textr Team next time you need to make a US to UK call. You can get US and CA numbers, and UK numbers are launching soon. Better yet, you can unlimited domestic SMS and MMS messages and call minutes. International rates are helpfully low, too.

Within Textr Team, you can assign individual phone numbers to your team members and collaborate using a single platform. This makes customer and project management much simpler, particularly when working internationally.

Start your 7-day free trial with Textr Team and see how it can revolutionize your US to UK calls. Download today on iOS, Android, and for web browser.