I collect airline postcards. That’s right – postcards that feature commercial airliners as their subject. I’ve been doing so since I was 11 years old and now, many years later my collection is one of the largest in the world. As hobbies go, collecting airline postcards is pretty eclectic – so much so that this might be the very first time many of you have ever heard of such a thing.
I grew up in an era when not just travel but specifically air travel was super exciting. New jets were being introduced every couple of years and the inflight service here in America was the best in the world. Airlines invested a lot of time and money promoting their new jets with colorful ads and brochures highlighting innovative inflight services. Onboard the aircraft, postcards, stationary, playing cards, pilot wings and even cigarettes were all free. Many airports also had postcards, most featuring a picture of one of the new jets parked on the tarmac. For a young air travel fan like myself, there was a lot to enjoy and collect.
As a schoolboy back in the early 1970s, I spent many an hour writing letters to airline sales offices requesting postcards of their new widebodied jetliners and brochures describing the innovative and exciting inflight services inspired by all that extra space onboard. I’d look over those pictures of nicely dressed passengers mingling over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in spacious and stylish onboard lounges or enjoying seven course meals served seat side from the trolley, and of course it was ever so easy to imagine myself as one of those passengers, climbing the spiral staircase up to the upstairs lounge or watching with anticipation as pretty stewardesses served up plates of delicious foods from the trolley.
Air New Zealand’s DC-8 First Class
Passengers enjoy lobster and salmon aboard BOAC’s VC10
Anticipating SAS’ First Class Smorgasbord
Cocktail Hour in the Captain Cook Lounge aboard Qantas’ 747
Table for 4 aboard American’s 747 Luxuryliner
As for postcards, once my fledgling collection had grown to about twenty cards, something clicked and the collection took on a new life for me. I took my postcards out of the box I’d stored them in and installed them in a proper binder. Meanwhile, the letters to airline sales offices continued. By the time I graduated high school, my postcard collection numbered over 400 cards.
In 1980 I purchased another collector’s collection, one much larger and more impressive than mine. It was then that I discovered the world of independent postcard publishers, i.e. companies other than the airlines that also created airline postcards. From then on my collection then began to grow in leaps and bounds. Today it numbers over 30000 cards housed in 83 binders complete with sheet protectors. I reckon I’ve got about $2000.00 invested just in the books and pages to house all those cards.
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Most FlyerTalkers are into things like upgrades and free travel. Indeed, of the 700000+ people that currently populate FlyerTalk’s membership rolls, I should imagine only a handful have more than a passing interest in airline memorabilia and collectibles such as postcards, menus, models, service brochures, timetables and playing cards. Amongst those of you who actually read my trip reports, the number is probably even less - maybe only two or three. Perhaps four. Maybe.
If there are more of you with an interest in airline memorabilia out there, let me know. Maybe we could plan a FlyerTalk get-together around
a show someday.
The focus of this report will not be on airline collectibles shows. Rather, it’s about
my trip to the Amsterdam Aviation Collectors Fair – the largest airline collectibles show in Europe. This trip, which started out ostensibly as a simple weekend excursion to Amsterdam, eventually morphed into a 20,520 mile extravaganza that included eleven flights on four airlines to points as far flung as Tel Aviv, Israel and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Allow me a moment to describe how this all came to be.
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It’s been a long time since I’ve sold cards at an airline collectibles convention. Back in the 1980s and 90s I was a well-known seller on the show circuit and I still have a few friends and acquaintances who sell everything from t-shirts to wings to airline china to inflight menus. The last time I actually rented a table and sold cards at a show was in 2002.
These days you’ll generally do much better selling rare or valuable airline postcards on eBay. Back in 2004, I made over $3000.00 selling a small batch of cards on eBay. Bidding was hot and heavy from all over the world, and I was mailing off stacks of small manila envelopes every week to such diverse locales as Germany, Singapore, Brazil and Portugal as well as addresses all over the U.S. The highest winning bid for one of my cards was $68.00 USD for an airline issue Cathay Pacific Lockheed Electra. In general, most of the older airline issued cards sold for anywhere from $5-15.00 each whereas were I to sell them at a show I’d get perhaps a third as much.
These days, most of the serious collectors have already found what they want on eBay (airline issued cards mostly) and good, competitive bidding of the type I experienced fifteen years ago is but a distant memory, especially on non-airline issued cards. Meanwhile, I’ve got about 4000 spares lying around – most of them garden variety commercial publisher issues that I can sell at shows for about $.75 USD each. I could list them on eBay and get maybe a buck or two for some of them but it’s just not worth the time and effort to do so.
So to that end, I’m looking forward to setting up shop at a convention one more time and hopefully selling a few hundred cards.
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I’d been aware of the
Amsterdam Aviation Collectors Fair for some time and, since it takes place during the winter months, it would be a great opportunity for a brief break from the cold temperatures and short days that are a hallmark of Alaska winters. Not that I really need a break, mind you. I love Alaska in the winter - short days, cold temperatures and all. That said, I also love traveling any time of year, regardless of the season. I especially like short trips to far off destinations. As such, a quick trip to the Amsterdam Aviation Collectors Fair is right up my alley.
A check of the schedules back in December revealed space available in Business Class aboard an American 767-300 between Philadelphia and Amsterdam. That’s a rare find because Premium Class redemption on American via Alaska’s Mileage Plan is not easy to come by. Still, I held off booking for a couple of reasons.
First, I am innately leery when it comes to Premium Class travel aboard U.S. airlines. Where once U.S. carriers like Pan American and TWA were the standard bearers for quality inflight service, these days the U.S. carriers are uniformly mediocre. The international air transport rating organization SkyTrax currently rates American, Delta and United no higher than 3-Stars out of five. Even Alitalia rates higher.
Back in 2015 I had flown First Class domestically aboard an American 767-300 configured in a 2-class international layout offering Business and Economy. I was not impressed with the hard, narrow seating in the forward cabin – even on the short three hour flight between San Francisco and Dallas. Based upon that experience, I would likely have not flown to Amsterdam at all if American’s 767 as configured in 2015 was the only option.
The second reason I held off booking was that I was hoping to try out the Business Class service on Aer Lingus or Finnair, both of which had recently joined Alaska’s frequent flyer program (Mileage Plan). Unfortunately, the seats never became available on Finnair while Aer Lingus, whose addition to Mileage Plan was first announced back in March of 2018, has yet to expand its membership to allow mileage redemption. We’re told it’s going to happen soon, but when is anybody’s guess.
Fast forward to a month later. It’s early January and another check of the award mileage availability between the U.S. and Amsterdam shows that nothing had changed. Business Class award space was still available on that 767 out of Philly, as well as space on long time Alaska partner British Airways. That BA space came at a steep price however, given all of the extra taxes and security fees intrinsic to bookings aboard any British airline. Icelandair had Business Class seats available, but given its budget rate Saga Class service and seating that’s no better than what you’d find on domestic First Class here in the U.S., I determined that I would only fly with it on westbound, daytime flights when sleep was not at a premium.
I also looked at availability into nearby cities in Germany or Belgium from where I could catch a train or purchase a discounted flight to Amsterdam. In fact, I looked at most all of the major European cities and found nothing noteworthy save for a bizarre Condor routing that offered Business Class seating to Frankfurt connecting to Economy Class flights to Dusseldorf in the middle of the night via Ankara, Turkey
No thank you.
Still, I really wanted to make this trip. So what the heck… let’s have another look at American. I pulled up some reviews on AA’s latest Business Class product and that’s where I discovered via The Points Guy’s excellent website that American had
refurbished its 767s since I’d last flown on one. Ben Schlappig’s excellent site One Mile At A Time also provided
a review of a flight on AA’s refurbished 767.
As you can see from these two reviews, American’s 767s still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to a well-rounded international standard Business Class product. This is especially true in light of American’s surprising decision to not install a proper personal inflight entertainment (IFE) system onboard its 767s. In its place was a tablet better suited to domestic flights here in the U.S.
That said, the flight to Amsterdam was scheduled to depart Philadelphia at 9:15pm. I reckon all I’d want out of that flight would be a nice dinner and a comfortable bed for the night. Even if AA were to provide an Emirates ICE quality IFE, I doubt I’d even use it. Since AA’s new Business Class suites looked to be a considerable improvement over the stiff grey seats I’d endured four years earlier, I decided to pull the trigger and book myself a seat.
Alright then, so this trip is halfway booked.
Or so I thought. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was only just getting started.
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The original plan had been to fly to Amsterdam, sell a few cards, and then head back home. I’ve been to Amsterdam before. It’s a wonderful place but I wasn’t really looking for the big city experience on this trip. Instead, I’d envisioned returning home on a Business Class award with Alaska Mileage Plan partner Icelandair and taking advantage of the free stopover provision for a brief visit to the comparatively rural splendors of Iceland.
Icelandair’s Saga Business Class is a less expensive and fairly basic product compared to the more refined Business Classes offered by its European competitors. This is particularly evident in its Business Class cabin where the seats and their 40” pitch rate no better than most U.S. domestic First Class recliners. For eastbound overnight flights to Europe, the lack of a proper lie-flat seat simply would not fly for me.
On westbound flights from Europe back to North America however, the midday departures from European capital cities and beyond to North America mean I wouldn’t need to sleep, thus mitigating somewhat those cheap recliners up front. I also liked the idea of the inbound flights from Europe arriving Keflavik at a decent hour in the mid-afternoon with plenty of time to check into a hotel. Additionally, the late afternoon departures out of Reykjavik to North America allowed for plenty of time to visit Icelandair’s good looking Saga Lounge in advance of the flight.
Business Class space from Amsterdam to Reykjavik and beyond to various North American gateways was available all the way through – including a four day layover in Iceland. I was sorely tempted to book it but still, Alaska’s Mileage Plan has a lot of partner airlines that offer a wide variety of options from Europe back to America. A big part of the fun in putting a trip like this together is checking out the veritable buffet of possibilities. I loaded up a big tumbler full of ice and filled it to the rim with Woodford Reserve. Now properly fortified for the task at hand, I forged on to consider the Alaska website’s myriad schedule displays.
Where great trips are planned
Hmm… what’s this? British Airways First Class is available from Copenhagen back to North America for 70000 miles and just $266.00 in taxes and fees. That’s only $64.00 and 15000 miles more than I’d be paying for the Icelandair award ticket. It was also less than half of what I’d pay in taxes and fees for award travel to Europe on BA originating in the United States. Well gee, if I could ride in true International Standard First Class for just $64.00 and 15000 miles more, I was definitely interested. A quick check of fares on Skyscanner showed that I could get to Copenhagen from Amsterdam for about $100.00 USD. Hmm…
Further investigation revealed that from Amsterdam Dutch low fare carrier Transavia offered some great low fares to a wide variety of European capital cities, as did a few other airlines such as Czech Airlines, Air Serbia or WizzAir. One of the things I was hoping for was a chance to add a new airline or two to the 201 airlines that I’ve already flown. I decided to explore BA’s options a bit further.
It’s worth noting that the taxes and fees vary from one country to next when booking BA awards back to North America. The taxes and fees for travel from most Central European countries such as Germany, Belgium and France was generally more expensive – approaching $400.00 in some cases. The lowest taxes and fees were out of Prague – only about $240.00 USD. To that end, I almost pulled the trigger on a $78.00 Czech Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Prague where I could have spent a couple of days enjoying Prague along with a few fine Czech pilsners before heading home. I also gave serious consideration to routing through Stockholm so that I could spend a night in the famous
JumboStay Hotel, located in a converted 747 parked on the grounds of Stockholm’s airport at Arlanda.
One point of concern about BA’s First Class awards originating out of continental Europe is that I’d have to fly Business Class to London. Business Class within Europe is one of the biggest rip-offs in commercial aviation. Why Europeans continue to pay the big bucks and accept Economy Class standard seating with so-so meals is beyond me. Oh, I forgot! The European airlines do at least block the middle seat in Business Class. Dang! What a bonus!
The single aisle Airbus equipment that BA operates on its European flights offers a tight 29” pitch in Economy Class. In Business Class, the seats are the same as Economy and the pitch increases by just 1 inch to 30”. By comparison, on my hometown Alaska Airlines the Economy Class pitch is 32”, while Premium Economy checks in at 35” and the much larger 2-2 seating in First Class is 41”.
Wanting to get the most value for my hard earned mileage expenditure, I decided I’d do a search to see if BA were operating any internationally configured 3 or 4 class aircraft on any of its European flights. I found nothing out of continental Europe. How about Turkey? Nada. Moscow? Nyet. How about Tel Aviv? Oy vey! BA was offering two First Class equipped 777s between Tel Aviv and London each day!
Well alright then, but how much will it cost to fly from Amsterdam all the way over to Tel Aviv – a distance of 2020 miles? A quick check of the possibilities on skyscanner.com revealed that Transavia had a one-way fare of just $100.00 USD!
Yeah, but the flight was scheduled to depart at 6:00am. I’d have to be up at 3. No thanks. Turkish carriers Pegasus and Atlas Global offered one stop connecting flights in the $140.00 range, but in one instance I’d have to collect and recheck my bag for each leg. Plus, neither of the flights arrived into Tel Aviv until after midnight. I’ll pass.
Hmm… what’s this? A mid-afternoon nonstop aboard Israeli airline Arkia was available for just $163.00 all-in. There were no extra baggage fees and – unlike the Turkish carriers - its flight arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport at the civilized hour of 8:00pm.
Now then, how about those BA flights? Could I arrange four or five days in Israel and then fly home? Unfortunately, no. There was First Class space available on a 4:40pm departure to London the next afternoon but after that, there was nothing for nine days – even in Economy. Well dang! But still, this is exactly what I’d been looking for. I’d found a nicely timed flight out of Amsterdam aboard a new airline for me and then I found availability aboard a pair of international standard First Class flights on BA back to the U.S.
Book it, Danno!
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Alright then, so now I’d booked First Class seats aboard British Airways from Tel Aviv to London followed by a late-afternoon departure the next day to Newark aboard the new 787-9. I’d heard good things about the First Class suites on BA’s largest 787 and I was looking forward to trying it out. Additionally, I’d read a couple of reports here on FlyerTalk that suggested BA’s First Class meal service had improved somewhat. To be honest, I never thought it was all that bad beforehand, but if it truly has improved - well hey, so much the better. As an added bonus, the late afternoon departure out of Heathrow would allow me plenty of time to enjoy a couple hours of lounging and perhaps even a preflight meal in BA’s well regarded T-5 Concorde Room.
It would have been nice to stop over in London for a couple of days - I’ve got an old friend who lives about an hour out of London - but doing so would have added considerably more in taxes and fees. Then I remembered that the San Francisco Airline Memorabilia Show was taking place on March 2nd. Well gee, I’d be arriving in the U.S. on February 27th and continuing on across the continent on the 28th. Perhaps I could route through San Francisco for a brief stopover…
Indeed I could. Better yet, with a couple free days to spare, I could rent a car and drive down to Fresno where cold beer and a hot meal would await at Fresno’s Sequoia Brewing Co. I’d spend that night at one of my favorite California hostelries - the Day’s Inn out on Olive Ave. and Hwy. 99 – and then drive back up to San Francisco for the show on Saturday.
Right. Make it happen. I booked a hotel for my overnight in Newark and then was able to confirm a First Class seat departing the next morning aboard an Alaska 737-800 across the continent to San Francisco. I found a good price on a midsize SUV for two days out of SFO and an even better price on a room for the night at the Fresno Days Inn.
With the heavy lifting now completed, it was a simple matter to book flights home from San Francisco to Fairbanks. All that was left was sit back and enjoy the anticipation that precedes all of my trips.
And for you, dear readers, if this sounds like the kind of trip you’d be interested in reading about, well, you know the drill by now. Find yourself a comfy chair, a plate of something tasty to nibble on and of course an appropriate libation to accompany you on the journey.
Ready? Let’s go!