Actually, payphones are no longer free, as anyone with a calling card can tell you. A few years ago the payphone owners won the right to charge for "toll-free" calls. They do this by charging the callee, be it United Airlines, your personal 800 number, a calling card #, etc.. THat's why there is upwards of a 30 cent surcharge to make a calling card call from a payphone. Others, such as the airlines or your credit card company get hit with the charge when you call them, but guess who pays for it in the end.