This week’s revelation that WorldCom was toeing the edge of bankruptcy put fear into the hearts of investors and long-distance service consumers alike. Could this mean that my long distance service is imperiled? What will happen to Qwest?

Drop them a farewell prepaid card.

One good way you can limit your exposure, avoid service and bogus charges, and save a bundle of money is through prepaid calling cards.

Prepaid cards offer long-distance minutes, often for less than half of what you’d pay your traditional carrier when all fees are in.

Here’s a quick rundown of some locations that sell phone cards and their prices. Costco sells MCI phone cards for 3.5 cents a minute. Wal-Mart has AT&T cards for six cents a minute. Sam’s Club, the same owners as Wal-Mart, sells the same cards for 3.5 cents.

The closest Sam’s Club is in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Safeway offers the Sprint card, at no real savings, for 12.8 cents a minute. Some gas stations in Bend peddle The Clean Card, which comes out to 6.5 cents a minute but has a weekly ”maintenance” charge of 25 cents.

Bend resident, Allison Johnston, switched from Qwest to using phone cards from Costco for her long distance two years ago. ”I have had problems in the past with long distance carriers,” she said. ”Phone cards are so much easier, and you don’t have to worry about extra charges coming at you.” After all, Johnston said, she saves money.

As with most traditional calling plans, there are cheaper time periods and cheaper days of the week to call. In some respects, people will try to design their calling habits around those blocks of time. However, with prepaid calling cards, all calling periods are the same.

The savings can be significant. Under a sample bill with MCI long distance, you will pay $12.95 for the calling plan, $5.48 for something called Federal universal service and $1.50 for something called a billing option fee.

Before you’ve made the first call, you’ve spent almost $20, the equivalent of more than 500 minutes of calls under some prepaid cards.

Also don’t forget that, in the age of ”slamming and cramming,” consumers pay for fraudulent actions by long distance carriers.

Slamming is the practice where phone companies call your current carrier and tell them to switch you to their plan, often charging you a fee for their illegal action. Cramming is the ubiquitous art of adding bogus charges to your already confusing phone bill. Both of these are practiced widely and often in Oregon, according to the Attorney General’s office.

All phone cards are not created equally, though. There are a wide variety of prices and even extra charges in small print. Some cards, not all, carry service fees, sometimes called maintenance fees.

They can come in all shapes and sizes, so take time to read the small print.