European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 16, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Long distance ticket to air travel by Suzanne Wooton the Baltimore Sun 1 i Quot a a. It 1 you May already not be charging on your credit card unless it rewards you with airline frequent flier Points. But Are you making your Lon distance Telephone Calls work for you the same Way. Since Sci began offering frequent flier Miles through american and Northwest airlines in 1989, other j Long distance companies have hooked up with carriers capitalizing on the program that has become an indispensable marketing tool for airlines. Today Quot Affinity card Quot customers of Sci and five other telecommunications companies can earn at least five Miles for every Dollar spent on Long distance Calls. At that rate a $400-a-year Long distance Bill could earn 2,000 frequent flier Miles. At amp to the nation s largest Lon distance company offers no frequent flier Points but is expected to team up Early next year with several major airlines including United and Delta which have no ties to a Long distance company. Quot it s a defensive thing for at amp to to keep people from jumping to sprint and Sci Quot says Randy Petersen publisher of inside flyer the Colorado Springs  airlines Magazine. Quot before Long every major frequent tier program will have an Affinity card with a Long distance  a spokesman for Sci says the. Company has lured customers from other phone companies because of the  we know that people have switched because of the Affinity card Quot says Chris Vannelta director of partner sales and marketing at Sci in Arlington a introduced by american airlines in 1981, frequent flier programs were designed to create passenger loyalty by giving repeat customers free trips or upgrades to first class. Industry wide membership has soared from 1.8 million to nearly 30 million in just 12 years. Typically the Long distance phone companies Purchase Miles from an airline. Customers who enrol receive an Affinity card from the phone company. The frequent flier Points they accumulate As a result of Lon distance charges show up on periodic statements issued by the airlines. Some companies offer Points oily on residential service while others include business lines 800 numbers and calling cards. The Affinity cards Are most beneficial for businesses with hefty monthly phone Bills. Petersen s own company for instance spends $3,000 to $4,000 a month on phone service he said. That Means a free airline ticket about every two months. Typically 20,000 to 25,000 Points will earn a ticket in the Continental United states. Quot residential customers probably won t earn a free ticket with their Long distance Bills but a couple thousand extra Miles could push them Over the Edge Quot Peterson said. Most of the phone companies offer sign up bonuses ranging from 500 Miles to 5,000 Miles. To introduce its new program sprint is also offering customers 10 Miles credit on trans world airlines for every Dollar spent on Long distance Calls in the first six. Months. Customers must sign up by dec. 31. But Petersen says Consumers should look carefully at the phone company and its rates before switching. Quot if you pay twice As much for Long distance service just to earn Miles you need to re evaluate your  the other Long distance companies offering frequent flier tie ins Are Ala com capital Tele travel metro Media and get air one. Former hostile Hostel just another a amp a from wire reports it used to be a very hostile Hostel but now the former secret police detention Center in downtown Prague czech Republic is just another bed and breakfast with a history. Unitas opened at Bartolome ska Street no. 9 a year ago. Originally. Built As a franciscan Convent in the 1800s, the building was taken Over by the St czech Oslavia s secret police Force in 1948. The nuns got it Back when the communists were overthrown and had the ground floor turned into a hotel to raise funds for renovation. The bars Are gone but rooms retain their minimalist decor a bunks sink and a ladder to the window. The Halls have been painted Orange to brighten up the place. Rack rates so to speak Are about $35 a night for a double $25 single. Former czech president Oun about Vic Lav Havel once slept Here in no. 6 a under lock and key. There s even a plaque on the cell door that says so Only it keeps getting swiped As a souvenir. Contact Unitas 9 Bartolome ska 11000 Prague 1, czech Republic. A a new half Day land tour for military buffs in Oahu Hawaii visits not Only the Arizona memorial site where the battleship was sunk at its moorings during the 1941 japanese attack on Pearl Harbo but includes visits to three Active military installations and an officers dub. Accompanied by a guide in world War ii army air corps uniform. Participants will see flight lines Barracks hangars and aircraft at i Hickam fab Wheeler army a and Schofield army Barracks All of which were attacked during the Surprise japanese raid. Because the air bases Are still Active some areas Are off Bounds to photography and visits Are subject to last minute cancellation. Land Cost on Oahu $69 per adult $59 per child 2-11 lunch not included. Top Cun Tours . Box 25204, Honolulu 96825 Telephone 808 396-8112. Lot polish airlines offers a special family discount program through March 1994 that allows an unlimited number of family members to Fly at half Price when a Parent or spouse buys a full fare ticket $649 round trip to Warsaw. Lot flies five times a week from new York 1 -800-5287208. Grand palais Paris exhibition Hall closes for repairs by the new York times on nov. 21, the grand palais a flamboyant turn of the Century exhibition Hall in steel girders and Glass closed its doors to the Public for at least 18 months. The French culture ministry which announced the move said the building was dangerous. The closure follows an architect s report commissioned after two bolts fell from the Hall s main dome last june. According to Jacques Toulon the culture minister the report showed Quot that we can t continue to use this space until a minimum of work has been  by most accounts the grand palais constructed forthe 1900 world fair was built hurriedly and on partially unstable ground close to the Seine. On the South Side near the River the foundations rest in part on wooden beams that originally crossed the River bed. But part of the River was re channelled a few years ago and the beams Are now exposed to the air and rotting. In addition the Iron girders that support the Glass dome Over the Mam exhibition Hall were not a sealed for rust until 1972, and their bases have become weak. According to Ean our Hubert the chief architect and curator of the grand Pallais some of the girders Are in danger of breaking. The grand palais housed temporary exhibitions and Trade shows. The most recent exhibitions which included l Rameau corps an exhibition devoted to the depiction of the human body in Art and science Over the last two centuries and nazis late 19th-Century works by Pierre Bonnard Maurice Denis and others will be transferred to the provinces possibly Lyons or Lille. Adjacent buildings which housed a Branch of the University of Paris and the palais de to Decou Verte a science museum were not in danger but have been closed As Well because All of their exits required one to walk under the Glass dome. To Access an International Una from Canada and tha linked states dial 011 from Germany dial 00 from Italy dial 00from the Netherlands dial 09 from Spain dial 07 from the United kingdom dial 010 than Didt country code1 Austria 43 azores 351 Belgium 32. Bulgaria 359 Canada 1 Croatia 385 Cyprus 357 czech Republic 42 Denmark 45 Egypt 20 Finland 358 France 33 Paris 33-1 Germany 49 great Britain and Northern Ireland 44 Greece 30 Greenland 299 Hungary 36 Iceland 354 Ireland 353 Israel 972 Italy 39 Kuwait 965 Liechtenstein 41 Luxemburg 952 Malta 356 Monaco 33 Morocco 212 Netherlands 3 v Norway 47 Poland 48 Portugal 351 Romania 40 saudi Arabia 966 Slovakia 42 Slovenia 386 Spain 34 Sweden 46 Switzerland 41 Turkey 90. Unite Aarau emirates 971 United states 1 a amps Susan Harris the phone card Tho Telephone numbers bated below we Access a r v it a r % be operators from. A. Belgium 11-0010 Germany 0130-0010 Italy 172-0011 Netherlands 06-022-9l-h Spain 900-99-0011 t Turkey 99-6001-2277 United kingdom 0800-890011 wait for second dial tone at amp to can Access 600 numbers from overseas for a fee Sci Belgium 076-11-00-12 it Germany 0130-0012italy 172-1022 a Netherlands 06022-9122 Spain 900-99-0014 Turkey 99-6001-1177 United kingdom 08009-0222. J a Walt for second dial tone. Sci can Access 800 numbers from overseas for a fee sprint ,1. A a  078-11-00-14 Germany 0130-0013 Italy 172-1877 Netherlands 06022-9 v19 Spain 900-99-0013 Turkey 99-8001-4477 United kingdom 0800-89 0877 wait for second dial tone sprint currently cannot Access 800 numbers from overseas a amps Nape december 16, 1993 stripes Magazine 25