Cunard Ticket Prices 1950 vs 2010

[S-I-L of Ladlyl1]

Given the Cunard prices today I thought I would have a look at minimum passenger transit costs from 1950. These are in Dollars and one way except where expressed as round trip. A 1950's dollar is now worth 10c. So if you take the Cunard price for say Aquitania Tourist Class at $124.00 one way this is $1240 today or £800 (ish) or c 3times the cost of QM2 Transatlantic one way no flight to the states.

 

Ridiculous......how the people of the 1950's were ripped off huh

 

Past this link into a new web page and have a look.

 

http://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/ocean-liner-rates126web.jpg

[Colin_Cameron]

Am I reading this right?

... £800 (ish) or c 3times the cost of QM2 Transatlantic one way no flight to the states.

£266 (ish) for a crossing? Where do I sign?

 

Regards, Colin.

[balf]

Yes, certainly something wrong with the maths (math) here. Assuming all the other conversions are correct it looks about the same price to me.

 

David.

[balf]

Double post

 

David.

[LadyL1]

Am I reading this right?

 

£266 (ish) for a crossing? Where do I sign?

 

Regards, Colin.

 

 

On a very prominent UK cruise site, deals are being offered from £298.00 on the 1st November crossing.

 

It is just a shame I have no holiday entitlement left this year!

[BigMac1953]

On a very prominent UK cruise site, deals are being offered from £298.00 on the 1st November crossing.

 

It is just a shame I have no holiday entitlement left this year!

 

What a rip off.

 

Cunard are actually only charging £284 inc flights for WB crossing 19 October.

[S-I-L of Ladlyl1]

David

 

I couldn't believe my eyes £298 for a WB crossing when the dear 1950's lot were actually paying about 3 times that 60 years ago.......

 

amazing times........and negative Cunard inflation.....

[Cat001]

Cunard are actually only charging £284 inc flights for WB crossing 19 October.

 

Their web site does indeed say £284, but that does not include the flight. It's £599 with a flight - which is still cheap as chips.

[S-I-L of Ladlyl1]

Cat001

 

Call them direct today and they will add the flight for £50 it really is crazy

[LadyL1]

On a very prominent UK cruise site, deals are being offered from £298.00 on the 1st November crossing.

 

It is just a shame I have no holiday entitlement left this year!

 

That same website is now showing all categories as full!

[pepperrn]

Given the Cunard prices today I thought I would have a look at minimum passenger transit costs from 1950. These are in Dollars and one way except where expressed as round trip. A 1950's dollar is now worth 10c. So if you take the Cunard price for say Aquitania Tourist Class at $124.00 one way this is $1240 today or £800 (ish) or c 3times the cost of QM2 Transatlantic one way no flight to the states.

 

Ridiculous......how the people of the 1950's were ripped off huh

 

Past this link into a new web page and have a look.

 

http://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/ocean-liner-rates126web.jpg

 

Thanks for posting, very useful.

Looking at the names of the ships I think this list dates from around 1936-38.

 

Thanks again.

[Cruachan]

Looking at the names of the ships I think this list dates from around 1936-38.

 

Certainly pre-war. Queen Elizabeth doesn't get a mention.

 

J

[Cat001]

Cat001

 

Call them direct today and they will add the flight for £50 it really is crazy

 

£50 ! Mind you, you have to sit next to the rear-gunner !!!!

 

We only went TA back to back in the summer, so I can't really book another one just yet. But thanks for the information.

[Cat001]

The Cunard web site has some odd pricing I find :

 

For example, 1st of November, NY to Southampton is £589 ( inside ). But, if you select the NY to Cherborg ( i.e just the same cruise, but with 1 extra day ) its £1254 ( inside ). So £665 for 1 extra night and, I assume, a flight to get you to UK from France. Why would you bother ?

 

And here's another odd one :

 

12th of October : QM2 : Inside : £599, QG : £7523 ( i.e the QG is 12.5 times the Inside cabin )

 

19th of October : QV : Inside £1789, QG : £2499 ( i.e. the QG is only 1.4 times the inside cabin ).

 

So why on one cruise the QG is 12.5 the inside by on another it's only 1.4 times ?

 

Do they make it up as the go along ?

[pepperrn]

Certainly pre-war. Queen Elizabeth doesn't get a mention.

 

J

 

Queen Mary is there so after 1936. Berengaria is also there and she retired in 1938.

[KenC]

Given the Cunard prices today I thought I would have a look at minimum passenger transit costs from 1950. These are in Dollars and one way except where expressed as round trip. A 1950's dollar is now worth 10c. So if you take the Cunard price for say Aquitania Tourist Class at $124.00 one way this is $1240 today or £800 (ish) or c 3times the cost of QM2 Transatlantic one way no flight to the states.

 

Ridiculous......how the people of the 1950's were ripped off huh

 

Past this link into a new web page and have a look.

 

http://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/ocean-liner-rates126web.jpg

 

One problem with this calculation - in 1938 (which seems about the right date of this list) weren't there something like $4 to £1??? In which case the Aquitania's tourist class fare would equate to £31 - which today would be worth £1550 (or $2325)!!!! Link to historic inflation calculator below

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/historic-inflation-calculator

 

Ken

[Ray66]

12th of October : QM2 : Inside : £599, QG : £7523 ( i.e the QG is 12.5 times the Inside cabin )

 

19th of October : QV : Inside £1789, QG : £2499 ( i.e. the QG is only 1.4 times the inside cabin ).

 

So why on one cruise the QG is 12.5 the inside by on another it's only 1.4 times ?

 

Do they make it up as the go along ?

 

The QM2 QG you quote on 12th October (7 nights) is a Q3 Royal Suite. (Q7 is £1,999)

 

The QV QG you quote on 19th October (12 nights) is only a Q7. (Q3 is £5,799)

[Cat001]

One problem with this calculation - in 1938 (which seems about the right date of this list) weren't there something like $4 to £1??? In which case the Aquitania's tourist class fare would equate to £31 - which today would be worth £1550 (or $2325)!!!! Link to historic inflation calculator below

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/historic-inflation-calculator

 

Ken

 

But that link ( which is very useful ), only applies to UK inflation, not US.

 

What you have done is to convert $ to £ in 1950 and then apply UK inflation.

 

What you need to do is apply US inflation.

 

Try using this site :

 

http://www.measuringworth.com/exchange/

 

 

If you put in $124, starting at 1950, ending in 2008 you get £814.

[Cat001]

The QM2 QG you quote on 12th October (7 nights) is a Q3 Royal Suite. (Q7 is £1,999)

 

The QV QG you quote on 19th October (12 nights) is only a Q7. (Q3 is £5,799)

 

Ah, I see. I only used the figures on the main page and assumed ( wrongly ) they would be displaying the same grade.

[balf]

What a rip off.

 

Cunard are actually only charging £284 inc flights for WB crossing 19 October.

 

So seven nights aboard the Cunard flag ship and a TA flight for 40 quid a night. Where's the profit? Do they take ch..ves.

 

David.

[Ray66]

So seven nights aboard the Cunard flag ship and a TA flight for 40 quid a night. Where's the profit? Do they take ch..ves.

 

David.

 

See post number 8. It doesn't include the flight.

[Host Sharon]

You cannot compare 1950 prices with those of today without taking into account average annual salaries as well as inflation though. It is a better comparision if you can relate the 1950 cost with say one month's wage or whatever.

[KenC]

But that link ( which is very useful ), only applies to UK inflation, not US.

 

What you have done is to convert $ to £ in 1950 and then apply UK inflation.

 

What you need to do is apply US inflation.

 

Try using this site :

 

http://www.measuringworth.com/exchange/

 

If you put in $124, starting at 1950, ending in 2008 you get £814.

 

Firstly I think we have established that the rates relate to 1938 not 1950 and secondly only by establishing the value of the fare in 1938 £'s can you get a meaningful inflation value in £'s for 2010 - which is what I was trying to do. Using the above mentioned site to convert $124 to 2010 prices, it states ~

 

" When using the CPI/RPI, the (average) value in 2009 of $124 from 1938 is £1370.00. The range of values is from £943.00 to £1930.00. This answer is better if the subject is a consumer good or something else of interest to an individual.

 

When using the GDP deflator, the (average) value in 2009 of $124 from 1938 is £1340.00. The range of values is from £791.00 to £1960.00. This answer is better if the subject is a capital investment or government expenditure "

 

I estimated £1550 which is in the middle of the range. I think the value of the dollar to the pound in 1938 may be more relevant to the calculation than the differences in inflation between the currencies.

 

Cheers

 

Ken

 

PS I see that there were nearly $4.89 to £1 in 1938 - based on tales from my father, I believe that in the UK a 'dollar' was slang for 5 shillings through the 30's and 40's, because this is what they roughly equated to!!

[Cat001]

I was using 1950 because that was the title of the thread, then it changes to 1938.

 

Using the http://www.measuringworth.com/ site:

 

In 2008, the relative worth of $124.00 from 1938 is:

 

$1,890.00 using the Consumer Price Index

$1,550.00 using the GDP deflator

$4,310.00 using the value of consumer bundle

$4,080.00 using the unskilled wage

$5,010.00 using the Production Worker Compensation

$8,880.00 using the nominal GDP per capita

$20,800.00 using the relative share of GDP

 

The site also lets you look at wage rates in the US.

 

In 1938, the average production worker's rate was 64c an hour.

 

In 2008 it's $25.87.

 

Taking the figure of £600 for a crossing, that's about $900.

 

So, 1938 : $124 / 0.64 = 193 hours

So, 2008 : $900 / 25.87 = 35 hours

 

Which means a worker in 1938 would have to work 5.5 times as many hours as one today to buy the same thing. ( And the $900 includes the air fare back ).

[KenC]

......In 1938, the average production worker's rate was 64c an hour.

 

In 2008 it's $25.87.

 

Taking the figure of £600 for a crossing, that's about $900.

 

So, 1938 : $124 / 0.64 = 193 hours

So, 2008 : $900 / 25.87 = 35 hours

 

Which means a worker in 1938 would have to work 5.5 times as many hours as one today to buy the same thing. ( And the $900 includes the air fare back ).

 

That's a much more relevant comparison!!! No wonder only the very rich could afford to travel and it might explain why transatlantic liners took two or more days on a turnaround rather than the 9 hours they take today. I'm sure they didn't have an inch of gold sale on Aquitania either!!!

 

Cheers

 

Ken