Anyone know how much it cost to fly from New York to London circa 1935 or 1946 or 1955? Or from any place to another for that matter.
I’ve always assumed that the relative cost of flying has gotten cheaper over time but was curious if anyone had specific data or references to back this up.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
According to this Pan Am wiki entry, Pan Am didn’t start flying across the Atlantic in regular service until 1939. Fare bolded below by me:
Transatlantic (not necessarily to London) fares were US$461 in 28, $375 in 1938. Cite.
According to the ever reliable Wikipedia flight from Germany to New Jersey in 1936 cost US$400 (about US$5900 in 2008 dollars)
You could fly by airship before that.
Not in Pan Am. I was only speaking to Pan Am’s price. (In other words, I limited my info to Pan Am only, because that was the only one I could find a price tag on in the short search I conducted.) 
It appears from other posts that the $400 dollar range was the going rate.
Pan Am was making trips across the Pacific to Honolulu, Australia, New Zealand, and China a few years earlier. No prices were mentioned in the wiki entry, though.
Thanks for replies so far. I should have been clearer. I’ve already seen the wiki stuff and had been hoping that some one might know of something that is a more primary source, i.e., a Pan Am pricing schedule…etc. Any further suggestions?
Were there different airship lines back then or was it just the Zepplin company?
I have seen an edition of the 1934 Bradshaw’s Air Guide detailing transcontinental air routes. From memory, a single journey from London to either India or South Africa took 6 days (with overnight stops) and cost just over £200. The average weekly wage for that time was under £5.
If you can find a copy of this timetable it might also show trans- Atlantic fares. But this publication is rather rare and copies are selling for over £50.
Well you could fly the Hindenberg from the U.S. to Germany in 1936. How much was a ticket for that?
See Peter Morris’s reply.
I am an aviation geek but I don’t have the price schedules that you want. The request seems a little vague unless you are doing some very specific research. Airline travel has definitely gotten cheaper over the years. Airline deregulation in the late 1970’s caused a plummet in fares as well as a number of airlines going out of business and that continues to this day. Free market capitalism brought us cheap fares but also crushing leg room and little to no food. Most people seem to be content to put up with it instead of paying 1st class fares.
Most of us over the age of 30 have heard of the term “jet setter”. That literally meant people wealthy enough on fly on jets around the country or around the world from the late 1950’s to the late 1970’s. Today, people that work blue collar jobs can do that if they save up for a little while.
There is an interesting kids book that focused on the China Clipper operated by Pan Am in the 1930’s. The China Clipper went from the U.S. west coast to Hong Kong but it’s range was limited so it stopped over everywhere from Hawaii to the Philippines. Service was ultra first class for everyone and the stewards donned beautiful clothes and white gloves for the multi-day, multi-stop journey. It is an interesting read even for an adult.
For what it’s worth, and as a comparison, a typical third-class fare to cross the North Atlantic by ship was about $50, and likely hadn’t changed too much by the 1930S.
From a 1949 Newspaper article:
I meant to specify that this was around the time of the Titanic.
Thanks for the lead…I’ll check it out.
Do you have a citation for this article, handy?
I’m not trying to be snarky…i’d honestly like to check it out and possibly use it as a cite for a project. Thanks.
Sorry about the vagueness. What started as a curiosity has morphed into a possible point for a research article. Essentially I’m curious about how much price has dropped over time and wanted a range of routes and dates to see what it might look like over time.
For example, the prices listed by samclem for roundtrip NY to London in 1949 were
$630 ($5700 in 2008 dollars) for 1st class; the same trip now costs (according to Expedia) $2550. But I suspect that 1st class I 1949 was very different than today.
For coach, the roundtrip price was $405 in 1949 or $3650 in 2008 dollars. Expedia lists flights for $866.
So 1st class is only 44 percent the cost as in 1949 and coach is only 23 percent the cost. This is really interesting (although not surprising) as it gives some specifics on price changes. Bigger drops in coach than 1st class.
Anyway…I’m hoping to find other examples like this and maybe put together a ppt slide or table.
Yes and no.
It was from a story written by S Burton Heath, Press-Staff Correspondent, in the 30 June 1949 Sheboygan(WI) Journal pg. 10.
I access these through Newspaperarchive, a paid subscription. About $75+/year. I know the Akron, OH public library has a subscription to this, and I think other libraries may. You probably have to use it in the library. With my paid sub, I can access at home.