Originally Posted by
horse glasses
... What were typical prices for routes you flew?
When I was a kid in the 1960s, round-trip airfare between TPE and HKG was around TWD 6,000 in full Y, which was expensive in those days considering the average wage at the time, and with no B, M, K, L,... airfare buckets available like today. The round-trip fare can be as low as TWD 4,000 including all taxes nowadays. Unbelievable!
During my junior year in college in the late 1970s, a "student budget fare" between IAH and LGW round-trip was around more than USD 300, and the minimum wage was at around USD 2.60/hour. I had to work many hours to save enough money for the USD 300+ airfare and the one-month summer school tuition, room and board in France (I traveled on a
Eurail Pass between England and France). What's the cheapest fare available between IAH and LHR now? Crazy.
I remember buying a used car for USD 500 and I felt like I was splurging.
Looking at some of the airfares today, they seem cheap in comparison to 20, 30, 40 years ago.