# Cost of a transatlantic flight in the 1940's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199 "2015-03-04T14:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/1 "2015-03-04T14:54:07Z")
My dad recently forwarded an email about flying on the [Boeing 314 clipper.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314) It featured pics and info about how luxurious the accomodations were, e.g. the ability to sit at a real table for dining, a crew of ten for 74 passengers, and so on. The email paints a pretty picture in comparison to modern-day air travel, but none of the downsides were mentioned, like a cruise speed of less than 200 MPH which basically triples the flight time relative to a modern jet. One other thing not mentioned was the fare. How much would it have cost me (in 2015 dollars) to fly from New York to London in the early 1940’s on a Boeing clipper aircraft? ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/2 "2015-03-04T15:35:45Z")
From your link: > [@](#): > > at $675 return from New York to Southampton, comparable to a round trip aboard Concorde in 2006.[7] Most of the flights were transpacific with a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong, via the “stepping-stone” islands posted at $760 (or $1,368 round-trip) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/3 "2015-03-04T15:53:44Z")
Not so easy to find this: In 1958 BOAC pulled a fast one on Pan AM and started the first pure jet operation across the Atlantic with Comet IVs. Westbound via Gander and Eastbound direct from New York’s Idlewild Airport to London. Passengers had a choice of de-luxe or first class. De-luxe, spaced at 56 inches per seat, cost £173 one-way (£4,200 in today’s money). A first class return, London/New York is around £3,000 today) In the 1940s Pan Am advertised transatlantic flights from $300 to $400 ($5000 to $6,700 in today’s money) [http://www.panamair.org/memorabilia/Ads/1940/1940.jpg](http://www.panamair.org/memorabilia/Ads/1940/1940.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/4 "2015-03-04T15:56:50Z")
> [@donkeyoatey](#): > > From your link: > [@](#): > > at $675 return from New York to Southampton, comparable to a round trip aboard Concorde in 2006.[7] Most of the flights were transpacific with a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong, via the “stepping-stone” islands posted at $760 (or $1,368 round-trip) New York to Southampton would have been on a Liner. That took five days and was the way most people would have made the crossing. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/5 "2015-03-04T18:02:12Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > New York to Southampton would have been on a Liner. That took five days and was the way most people would have made the crossing. Well, I didn’t write the Wiki, but is this easier than reading it yourself? > [@](#): > > The standard of luxury on Pan American’s Boeing 314s has rarely been matched on heavier-than-air transport since then; they were a form of travel for the super-rich, at $675 return from New York to Southampton, comparable to a round trip aboard Concorde in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/6 "2015-03-04T18:26:38Z")
I didn’t write the Wiki either but whoever did seems not to understand that Southampton is a seaport and not an airport. They do have an airport but there are no direct flights to America from there. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/7 "2015-03-04T19:08:36Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I didn’t write the Wiki either but whoever did seems not to understand that Southampton is a seaport and not an airport. They do have an airport but there are no direct flights to America from there. But the Boeing 314 Clipper (which we’re discussing here—see the OP’s link) was a flying boat, not a conventional airplane, so it almost certainly couldn’t land in London proper. If you want a cite, [here’s a BOAC timetable from 1946 showing flights between Baltimore and Poole.](http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/ba2/ba46b/) Admittedly, Poole is closer to Bournemouth than to Southhampton, but the point is that they weren’t always landing at London. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/8 "2015-03-04T19:12:11Z")
Those were flying boats. [This](http://www.flyingclippers.com/timeline.html) has the prices for the first flight: > [@](#): > > 1939 > Boeing delivers the first two B-314’s on January 27th > First scheduled trans-Atlantic airline passenger service began on June 28th on board the Dixie Clipper. Airfare was $375 (over $4000 today) one-way or $675 ($8000 today) round-trip. > > Air Mail service across the Atlantic began on May 20th (Yankee Clipper) ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/9 "2015-03-04T19:20:44Z")
That first flight was New York to Lisbon. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/10 "2015-03-04T19:47:15Z")
[This site](http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/travel-ads-1940s) has some vintage travel ads. A couple of them are for BOAC. One offers round-trip fares of $604-630 (depending on the day of the week) from New York to Shannon or Glasgow. Another offers winter round-trip fares on the same route for about $447. The year is not shown, but assuming the ads are for 1948, the $447 fare is the equivalent of about $4,500, while the $630 fare is about $6,100. So not far from present-day business or first-class fares. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/11 "2015-03-04T20:10:22Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The email paints a pretty picture in comparison to modern-day air travel, but none of the downsides were mentioned, like a cruise speed of less than 200 MPH which basically triples the flight time relative to a modern jet. Or the never-ending vibration from the engines, or draftiness, or cold from uncertain cabin heating, or the turbulence from being unable to fly over storms, or around them due to shaky meteorology … All it offered was speed, and the \*image \*of luxury and exclusivity, just like the Concorde. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/12 "2015-03-04T22:11:28Z")
> [@donkeyoatey](#): > > From your link: > > > [@](#): > > > > … Most of the flights were transpacific with a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong, via the “stepping-stone” islands posted at $760 (or $1,368 round-trip) So Indiana Jones was fairly rich? Must have been the sale of that golden idol. (Or did he lose it? I don’t remember…) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/13 "2015-03-04T22:37:47Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > … but none of the downsides were mentioned, like a cruise speed of less than 200 MPH which basically triples the flight time relative to a modern jet. Although the Lockheed Constellation didn’t make its first flight until 1943, it brought a 325 to 340 MPH cruise to the skies. That’s quite an improvement to the 200 MPH you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/14 "2015-03-05T00:37:07Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > So Indiana Jones was fairly rich? Must have been the sale of that golden idol. > (Or did he lose it? I don’t remember…) lost it ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/15 "2015-03-05T02:13:30Z")
FYI, in 1964 my wife and I flew NY to London and return on a prop for fares of $250 each. This was really cheap in those days. It made the eastbound trip non-stop. On the return, they carefully weighed all the baggage, all the passengers with their carryon, that flew London-Glasgow, refueled, and flew non-stop to NY. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-a-transatlantic-flight-in-the-1940s/714199/16 "2015-03-05T12:40:11Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Although the Lockheed Constellation didn’t make its first flight until 1943, it brought a 325 to 340 MPH cruise to the skies. That’s quite an improvement to the 200 MPH you mentioned. I suppose so, but my dad’s email was specifically referring to the Boeing clipper.