4 ms·

Travelling long haul in 1939: Melbourne to New York (2015)

11 points by benbreen 6y ago

walrus01 6y ago
Anyone interested in travel from this era should like these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Empire I am not certain on the exact economics of it, but have read that the inflation adjusted round trip ticket cost of flying from Los Angeles to Australia by flying boat in the late 1930s would be similar to, or slightly higher than, the very top tier of first class long haul airline travel today. https://www.etihad.com/en/fly-etihad/our-cabins/the-residence https://www.etihad.com/en/fly-etihad/our-cabins/the-residenc...
- deleted 6y ago
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- 4cao 6y ago
  The article doesn't have the cost for the whole journey by air in June 1939. They quote the price of the transatlantic Pan Am flight, which cost (US)$375 in June 1939 one-way, and from the linked newspaper scan, the round trip was $650, so roughly $12k in current dollars. [1] On the other hand, in June 2018 the cost for a Sydney-London round-trip (a significantly longer route that also faces less competition than transatlantic flights) in first class on Qantas was (AU)$10,700 [2], an equivalent to (US)$7-8k now (depending on whether we take current or historical [3] exchange rates). "First class" nowadays can mean different things on different airlines, routes, and equipment but prices are generally well south of $10k, with the possibility of paying a lot less if you're willing to do your research and are somewhat flexible. This was not an option at the time. I think only the Concorde could compare to these 1939 prices: a NYC-London round-trip would be $13k if it still operated. [4] But other than that, the current first class offerings are less expensive. 1. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=650&year1=193906&year2=202004 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=650&year1=1939... 2. https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/the-cost-of-flying-first-class-how-can-anyone-afford-it-20180419-p4zait.html https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/the-cost... 3. https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#exchange-rates https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#excha... 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde
- deleted 6y ago
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spsrich2 6y ago
I've wondered about how churchill and roosevelt got to Yalta in wartime. Also the number of trips churchill made to the US risking U boats
- deleted 6y ago
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- 4cao 6y ago
  Roosevelt traveled aboard USS Quincy. Churchill joined him in Malta. (For the record, Stalin took a train.) https://archive.org/details/secondworldwar00beev/page/709/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/secondworldwar00beev/page/709/mo...

11 points by benbreen 6y ago

Anyone interested in travel from this era should like these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Empire I am not certain on the exact economics of it, but have read that the inflation adjusted round trip ticket cost of flying from Los Angeles to Australia by flying boat in the late 1930s would be similar to, or slightly higher than, the very top tier of first class long haul airline travel today. https://www.etihad.com/en/fly-etihad/our-cabins/the-residence https://www.etihad.com/en/fly-etihad/our-cabins/the-residenc...

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
4cao 6y ago
The article doesn't have the cost for the whole journey by air in June 1939. They quote the price of the transatlantic Pan Am flight, which cost (US)$375 in June 1939 one-way, and from the linked newspaper scan, the round trip was $650, so roughly $12k in current dollars. [1] On the other hand, in June 2018 the cost for a Sydney-London round-trip (a significantly longer route that also faces less competition than transatlantic flights) in first class on Qantas was (AU)$10,700 [2], an equivalent to (US)$7-8k now (depending on whether we take current or historical [3] exchange rates). "First class" nowadays can mean different things on different airlines, routes, and equipment but prices are generally well south of $10k, with the possibility of paying a lot less if you're willing to do your research and are somewhat flexible. This was not an option at the time. I think only the Concorde could compare to these 1939 prices: a NYC-London round-trip would be $13k if it still operated. [4] But other than that, the current first class offerings are less expensive. 1. https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=650&year1=193906&year2=202004 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=650&year1=1939... 2. https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/the-cost-of-flying-first-class-how-can-anyone-afford-it-20180419-p4zait.html https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/the-cost... 3. https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#exchange-rates https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#excha... 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

spsrich2 6y ago

I've wondered about how churchill and roosevelt got to Yalta in wartime. Also the number of trips churchill made to the US risking U boats

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
4cao 6y ago
Roosevelt traveled aboard USS Quincy. Churchill joined him in Malta. (For the record, Stalin took a train.) https://archive.org/details/secondworldwar00beev/page/709/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/secondworldwar00beev/page/709/mo...