My dad's RTW in the 1970s
 

The other day, my mum and I went through some old papers, and among other things, we found the itinerary for my late dad's RTW out of ARN, and I thought I'd share it. His employer sent him to a conference in Melbourne, and paid for an RTW ticket in F.

The itinerary is neatly type-written by the TA. It doesn't have a year on it, but I think it would have been around 1976. All the carriers exist today, except Western Airlines and Northwest, both of which merged with DL. A small detail which amuses me is that the only airport that needed to be specified by name by the TA was ARN — little Stockholm was the only one that had two active airports and, come to think of it, probably still is.

All routes also still exist today AFAIK, except SK's SEA-CPH route which did survive until quite recently, and the use of Mauritius as a hub from Europe to Australia. Actually, based on the mileage, it seems quite perfect; both legs are roughly 5,200 miles. Another exotic detail is Air Tahiti Nui service between Melbourne and Sydney.

I have memories of the excitement of this trip, and the photographs and stories that my dad brought when he returned. Among the things he brought back was a deck of Northwest Orient-branded playing cards, which we used in card games in my family for years.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32463009/rtw.jpg

Brilliant!

My Dad did an extensive trip around that time...maybe a little earlier... and it was pretty vanilla... until he was asked to attend one more conference before returning....

He agreed... but insisted on being home by the previously planned date.

As it turned out the only way that could happen apparently was to book him in First on QF for the last leg....

This was before Business class... and upstairs on the 747 was a lounge....

the only other passenger in First was a QF senior pilot.... who asked Dad if he had any flying experience.... when Dad mentioned that he had started flying training as a young man but only did 8 or so hours in a Tiger moth he was dragged to the Flight Deck for a good look around...yes... inflight.

Those were the days...

Wonderful! I guess he met the pilot over a drink in the lounge?

Yes! And with no one else around they got to chatting.... similar age.... both WW2 vets...

Of course the SEATS in First then wouldn't pass muster in Business these days!

Melbourne to Sydney on TN would have been Trans-Australia Airlines.

Aha! That makes more sense.

TN - Trans Australia Airlines known locally as TAA

became Australian Airlines - then merged with Qantas, in 1993.

I'm curious about soft offerings in those days. I have seen the pictures of carving a roast seat side, wonder if that was true to form or not???

Thanks for sharing the memory here!

Thanks for posting this. Nice to see some nostalgia on occasion!