The Golden Age Of Travel: This Is What Your Flight Used To Look Like (And It’s Actually Crazy)

You might have paid up to 5% of your salary for a ticket.

In the 50s, a flight from Chicago to Phoenix could cost $138 round-trip — that’s $1,168 when adjusted for today’s inflation. A one-way to Rome would set you back more than $3,000 in today’s dollars.

Domestic Rates

• Los Angeles to Kansas City — $68 in 1955, $575 adjusted for inflation
• Chicago to New York — $33 in 1955, $279 adjusted for inflation
• San Francisco to Chicago — $76 in 1955, $643 adjusted for inflation
• Boston to Los Angeles — $106 in 1955, $896 adjusted for inflation
• Kansas City to New York — $52 in 1955, $440 adjusted for inflation
• Pittsburgh to San Francisco — $96 in 1955, $812 adjusted for inflation
• Las Vegas to Los Angeles — $13.70 in 1955, $116 adjusted for inflation
• Phoenix to Chicago — $69 in 1955, $584 adjusted for inflation
• Amarillo to Kansas City — $22 in 1955, $186 adjusted for inflation
• New York to Columbus — $23.90 in 1955, $202 adjusted for inflation
• Washington, D.C. to Kansas City — $46 in 1955, $389 adjusted for inflation
• St. Louis to Los Angeles — $73 in 1955, $617 adjusted for inflation
• Wichita to Philadelphia — $68.55 in 1955, $580 adjusted for inflation
• New York to Pittsburgh — $16 in 1955, $135 adjusted for inflation

International Rates (all from New York)

• Paris, France — $310 in 1955, $2,622 adjusted for inflation
• Rome, Italy — $360.20 in 1955, $3,046 adjusted for inflation
• Frankfurt, Germany — 328.10 in 1955, $2,775 adjusted for inflation
• London, England — $290 in 1955, $2,453 adjusted for inflation
• Madrid, Spain — $320.30 in 1955, $2,709 adjusted for inflation
• Shannon, Ireland — $261 in 1955, $2,207 adjusted for inflation
• Lisbon, Portugal — $296 in 1955, $2,503 adjusted for inflation
• Geneva, Switzerland — $328.10 in 1955, $2,775 adjusted for inflation

(Source: Paleo Future)