I REMEMBER WHEN…

POST:

RetiredLawyer

DATE:

Oct 28, 05:57

There are so many aches and pains in air travel today. I thought it might be enjoyable to post a recollection of an experience that was glamorous and exciting. I remember going to and from university on United Airlines in 1966-68. Flight 647 from Chicago O’Hare to Capital Region International [in Michigan] was an all-first class DC-6 (four-engine propeller) plane. The rear had a lounge with about seven comfortable seats around a circular table. Dinner was a choice of filet mignon or lobster tail. And the fare for using my student standby card was a whopping US$7.82.

openfly Oct 28, 06:41

I remember when BA’s Club Europe seat pitch was 34 inches… Was that only last year?

Ekond222 Oct 28, 16:05

When I would qualify for a gold card with BA year in, year out, for 15 years in a row. Now I have a lifetime BA gold card – this has simplified the travel selection process.

JohnHarper Oct 28, 16:10

You could board a flight without going through security checks at airports. It was all so easy. I also remember flying to Nicosia with British European Airways and the air hostesses did the washing up in the galley after lunch.

LuganoPirate Oct 28, 16:13

Travel in the sixties and seventies was so different and, dare I say, more civilised? I remember Swissair would provide a hotel room with dinner and taxi transfers when transiting Geneva or Zurich on a long-haul flight in first class. They would also post letters and provide business cards, for free, in Mandarin or Arabic when flying to those areas.

esselle Oct 28, 17:05

Free ciggies on the sideboard in the BA executive lounge in Copenhagen airport. Concorde jump seat for take-off.