Current cost of flights compared to yesteryear

[klfrodo]

Was just watching a YouTube video about December 7th, 1941

 

It showed a ticket for one of the dependents who was evacuated off the island back to San Francisco.

The cost of the ticket for a one way from HNL to SFO on the Pan Am Honolulu Clipper was $278.

In todays $$$, that would be $4505.99

[iancal]

We find airfares today are incredibly cheap.  Especially transatlantic and transpacific.    Our Europe tickets booked last month for a departure in two weeks are about the same as last year.    About $25 USD per hour of flight time. 

 

 Our Oct  flight from Cyprus to London, a four hour flight,was booked two weeks ago, on a national carrier was 95E ($105 USD).   That is about $25 USD per flight hour. 

 

We have paid about $15-$20. per hour of flight on our flights to SE Asia in each of the past four years.

 

 We find these numbers astounding.  Even more so when you consider that they are inclusive of all tax.

 

We pay considerably more for flights within North America.

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by iancal

[CruiserBruce]

My Grandfather was a land based navigator for the Pan Am Clippers, and my mother (a 2 year old at the time, born in Hawaii) and grandmother were among those evacuated by Clipper. My Grandfather stayed and helped for a year providing the same navigation to military flights.

[Zach1213]

And it’s safer than ever too. But I’ll wait the daily thread on here about how expensive tickets are... 3...2...1...

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

And it’s safer than ever too. But I’ll wait the daily thread on here about how expensive tickets are... 3...2...1...

 

These prices are CRAZY......OMG.

 

🙂

[msmayor]

I still remember taking a trip to spend the summer in San Diego with my aunt - I had to pay for half the ticket, my parents were going to pay for the other half.  It was 1976...and my very first plane ride at age 14, all by myself.  

 

Back then, you could buy a round trip 'open end' ticket and name the return date later.  Prices were pretty much standard across all airlines - if I remember correctly, the agent used a phone-book type list to look up the pricing.  The ticket cost about $475 round trip, and if you look hard you can probably find a similar fare today.

 

I remember a significant issue on the outbound - flight was supposed to be non-stop but a mechanical issue forced us to land in Dallas and they had to scramble to find alternate flights for us all.  I ended up being routed first to LA and then to San Diego, a bit of a challenge for a first time young flier, and my parents were furious they were never notified.  My Dad was so upset he ended up changing my return booking to United Airlines...something that was easy to do back then because pricing was all the same and airlines were heavily regulated.

 

That scenario would have been vastly different today.

[Gardyloo]

3 hours ago, msmayor said:

...if I remember correctly, the agent used a phone-book type list to look up the pricing.  The ticket cost about $475 round trip, and if you look hard you can probably find a similar fare today.

 

It was called the Official Airline Guide, or OAG.  

 

[iancal]

Our Cyprus -London flight referenced above cost was actually $112 USD each for a four hour flight.

 

 I had occasion to look at the invoice this morning (2 fares).  The total was 205E - 110E for the flight, 101E for 'Airport Charges'.     Mind you, some Aegean revenue may be buried into the airport charges amount in order to make the fare appear more competitive with some of the regional discount airlines.

Edited August 27, 2019 by iancal

[travelplus]

Back in 1998 my Parents and I were in Europe for 3 months and we enjoyed it. So in June 1999  I was reading our local Newspaper's Travel Section and saw a tour package with Nouvelle Frontiers CorsAir for $680 per person with 5 nights hotel in Paris. for July 1999.  So my Father jumped on it and my Brother and I even got our own hotel room for the cost.

We then went to Switzerland and back  to Paris a night back home. It was on the nonstop Oakland-Paris-Oakland flight. Now you tell me today can you find this deal?  

 

Last July I went to Israel for $970 on Untied via LAX from SJC. I had a free ticket on Alska using a Travel Voucher I flew in First Class down to LAX and skipped the SFO-LAX flight and went home.   If I started the flight in SFO it would have been $1300-$1500.  I had a fun day spending time at the Alaska Club and United Club and then flew up to SFO. I  did not mind this routing especially with the free Alaska First Class flight!

 

Plus I got United Economy Plus on all flights and got the first row on the 777 in the Y cabin behind Polaris on both flights and the bulkhead from LAX-SFO!   The checkin of my luggage at LAX was painless as there was no line and security was easy.  I then was able to connect inter security at SFO to my gate and was the first person through the Extra Security screening!

 

Back in 2015 my Father and I had to go to Israel at the last minute in February so I got us an airfare with a weeks notice for $770 on Air France/Delta,

 

This year we are going to Europe or a B2B Med/Trans Atlantic Cruise we paid $280 o/w for a nonstop flight to Barcelona from San Francisco and $148 from Tampa-San Jose CA on Southwest.  The cruise is $880 per cruise +$600 for my Mother. The cost of the flight is less than going to Hawaii where I paid $500 to go to Hawaii! Yes its off season but still Hawaii can be more!  

 

This April my Father and I are going to China on a Tour Package from LAX for 16 days with Yangtze River Cruise, 4-5 Star Hotels and flights for $1500 per person with tips included! 

 

Two years ago my Father and I went to Thailand from LAX for $1100 with Air and Hotels for 14 days. 

I love finding good airfare deals and avoid Basic Economy! 

Edited August 28, 2019 by travelplus

[iancal]

The best fare that we have snagged lately was a flight this past winter.

 

Krabi, Thailand to Gold Coast, Australia via Singapore.  About  12 hours of air time.  Base fare was $130 USD,  with upgrades we paid $170 USD.  Booked about three months in advance on Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.  Flights were perfect in all respects.

 

 

[travelplus]

On 8/28/2019 at 8:06 AM, iancal said:

The best fare that we have snagged lately was a flight this past winter.

 

Krabi, Thailand to Gold Coast, Australia via Singapore.  About  12 hours of air time.  Base fare was $130 USD,  with upgrades we paid $170 USD.  Booked about three months in advance on Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.  Flights were perfect in all respects.

Wow that is a good deal but I am not surprised as you can get good deals in Asia but this low is amazing? May I ask what upgrades did you get or $170?

 

On 8/28/2019 at 8:06 AM, iancal said:

 

 

[iancal]

As I recall we got better seating on the second leg, by far the longest, from Singapore to Gold Coast.  I think entertainment as well.    We did a similar trip two years prior on Air Asia from Kuala Lumper.  It was $250 USD BUT we only booked that a few days in advance as I recall.     Our friends in Australia gave us a heads  the fare.  I thought the Krabi-OZ fare was a mistake however it was at that price point for about two weeks after we booked.  We have been doing Sydney-Honolulu for about $225-250 USD but that is booking anywhere from a few months in advance to a month or so in advance.  We only go with carry on so we never  incur baggage charges.

 

AIrfare in in that part of the world is not as expensive as NA.   When flying AIrAsia ,Nok,  Jetstar in Thailand,  Malaysia, etc  we have typically been paying  $45-65 USD for shorter flights of 1 hour or so over each of the past four or five years.

Edited August 30, 2019 by iancal

[Keith1010]

Yes it is cheaper to fly today than yesteryear.

 

That is the positive.

 

The negatives are service, less and less legroom and feeling at times that you are on a cattle car.

 

In the end I am glad that prices are competitive and more people can fly than ever before.  However, when people complain the experience is no longer what it was this is a reminder why.

 

Keith

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Yes it is cheaper to fly today than yesteryear.

 

That is the positive.

 

The negatives are service, less and less legroom and feeling at times that you are on a cattle car.

 

In the end I am glad that prices are competitive and more people can fly than ever before.  However, when people complain the experience is no longer what it was this is a reminder why.

 

Keith

The great thing is, the same flight can be both less comfortable than it used to be, and more comfortable than it has ever been. It’s all a matter of what you’re willing to pay and where you’re wanting to sit. The options are more then ever before. 

[fbgd]

6 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Yes it is cheaper to fly today than yesteryear.

 

That is the positive.

 

The negatives are service, less and less legroom and feeling at times that you are on a cattle car.

 

You can't compare apples with oranges. Domestic FC prices today (on non-premium routes) are generally speaking cheaper than coach of years past once you account for inflation. 

 

[Keith1010]

4 minutes ago, fbgd said:

 

You can't compare apples with oranges. Domestic FC prices today (on non-premium routes) are generally speaking cheaper than coach of years past once you account for inflation. 

 

In general, when you account for inflation it is much cheaper to fly today than many years ago.  That is what I said.  And that is the positive.  And many more people today can fly than yesteryear because they can afford it.  That's the positive.

With the positive  came the negative that some complain about.

 

Keith

[iancal]

Today you  can fly return to Europe from some gateways for as little as $400 or less.  You can snag a seven day Alaska or Caribbean cruise for $399, sometimes less.  

 

That is roughly equivalent to $200 in 1990 dollars assuming average inflation of 2.4 percent.

[teecee60]

Both cruises and airfares are about as cheap as they have EVER been...

 

I am looking at a 29 night transpac (Sydney to LA) on Golden Princess in Apr/May of 2020...

 

Not only is the cruise VERY reasonable... $1999pp with $500 OBC...

 

The return flight from Syd to LAX is only $470pp through Princess EZ Air!  I can't afford to stay home for THAT price!

 

The craziest airfare I ever got was from Royal Caribbean... Tucson to Amsterdam to Zurich... for only $287pp!!!