The cheapest way to call home for the holidays
Short answer
The cheapest way to call family abroad over Christmas, Lunar New Year or Mother’s Day is a pay-as-you-go browser call with RobinPhone: it rings their ordinary landline or mobile, nobody needs an app, calls cost from $0.02 per minute, and prepaid credit never expires, so you can top up well before the day.
Holidays are when everyone wants to hear from you — including the aunt with only a landline and the grandparent who never installed WhatsApp. Here’s how to get round the whole family on the day without roaming bills or asking anyone to download anything.
The big calling days
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; Lunar New Year, which falls in late January or February; Mother’s Day, the second Sunday of May in the US, Canada, Australia and many other countries (the UK’s Mothering Sunday is in March or early April); plus Eid, Thanksgiving and family birthdays.
Why a browser call works on the day
Relatives answer on the phone they already have, so the call reaches everyone — landlines, basic mobiles and smartphones alike — and you pay only for the minutes you talk.
Step by step
- 1Top up a few days earlyPrepaid credit never expires, so there’s no rush on the day. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay; $5, $10 or $25 is plenty for a round of holiday calls.
- 2Check the time difference for the big dayChristmas morning in Manila (9 am, 25 December) is still Christmas Eve evening in New York (8 pm, 24 December). Plan each call for their morning or early evening, not yours.
- 3Collect everyone’s numbers with the country codeGrandparents’ landline, parents’ mobiles, cousins abroad — save them as contacts so you can go down the list in one sitting.
- 4Call in turns from your browserOpen RobinPhone on a laptop or phone and dial. Nobody on the other end needs an app, internet or a smartphone.
- 5Watch your balance, not the clockRobinPhone warns you when your credit is running low, so a long family chat isn’t cut off by surprise. Four 20-minute calls to UK or US landlines cost about $1.60.
What it costs
| United States | $0.02/min |
| Canada | $0.02/min |
| United Kingdom | $0.02/min |
| Australia | $0.03/min |
| Mexico | $0.02/min |
| Colombia | $0.02/min |
| Philippines | $0.28/min |
| Malaysia | $0.02/min |
| Singapore | $0.06/min |
| South Korea | $0.06/min |
| Japan | $0.04/min |
| Germany | $0.05/min |
Live landline rates, billed per minute. No connection fee. Full rates for 175+ countries
Common questions
What’s the cheapest way to call family abroad on Christmas Day?
A pay-as-you-go browser call. With RobinPhone you dial their landline or mobile from your browser for a per-minute rate from $0.02, with no app, no subscription and no roaming charges.
Is it cheaper than calling from my mobile plan?
Usually much cheaper. Without an international add-on, US carriers charge roughly $1.99 to $4.00 a minute to countries like the UK or Australia (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile standard rates, September 2026). RobinPhone starts at $0.02 a minute to landlines in those countries.
Will calls work on public holidays?
Yes. Calls go through the phone network every day of the year; the only thing that changes on a holiday is who is home to answer.
How much credit do I need for a round of holiday calls?
It depends on who you call and for how long. Four 20-minute calls to UK or US landlines cost about $1.60; calls to mobiles in some countries cost more — check the table above.
Can I call several relatives at once?
Not yet — each call is to one number. If the family is together, one phone on speaker lets everyone join in.
Do relatives without internet or a smartphone need to do anything?
No. The call rings their ordinary landline or mobile and they simply answer.
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