How Travel Has Changed: 1970s To Now

TMP 83 - Travel through the years
===

Jenn: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Travel Mug podcast. This is Jenn, and I'm joined with my podcasting partner, Meggan, here today, and we're gonna do something a little bit different. We haven't done a show like this before, but we're gonna go back in time.

Meggan: Mm-hmm.

Jenn: So we thought it would be fun to rewind a bit and see how travel has changed over the last, like, five-ish decades. So, Meggan, let's dive in. Take us back to the 1970s.

Meggan: Oh, it was a good decade. It was when I was born guys, so, it's good that I'm doing this one. The seventies, I mean, it was a big decade of change.

So not just in the world, but in the travel sector in particular. Up until this time in history, traveling by ship across the big old ocean was the way to go. That kind of remained in place during the early seventies, but the 1970s did usher in airlines taking over the reigns as the most popular way to travel.

It's kind of crazy that, that's like in my lifetime.

Jenn: Right?

Meggan: I just, something boggles my mind. It is hard to believe that the decade I was born, the planes became more popular, so it wasn't that long ago. And it was also a time where jumping freight trains and hitchhiking were really in. So not just were airplanes taking over, but things potentially we're a bit safer. Maybe I'm not talking freight trains, but maybe hitchhiking, freight trains just to me sounds like a bad idea. But they were popular at that time as well as a mode of transport, transportation as well.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: Also popular at this time. And Jenn, you and I have discussed this a lot on the podcast and that was travel agencies.

And the hard work back then was really valuable in particular. Obviously it is today, but I would say only more so there weren't computers. They weren't living in the computer age in the seventies, so human actually relied on human. So actual help back in the day. And travel, of course, was no exception. Travel agencies were super valuable.

Surprisingly not really though, but people weren't traveling to Asia, due to the Vietnam War, yet they were traveling to the mostly peaceful part of the world, which was the Middle East, and that includes Turkey, Afghanistan, and Syria, plus others. Hard to believe really in this world, and it's kind of sad too that those are parts of the world we might not be able to access due to safety.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So it's kind of interesting that at that time those were the places to go and I thought that this was interesting as well. At that time, there were no UNESCO World Heritage site lists in the seventies. And when you traveled for those anxious water folks such as myself out there, bottled water wasn't even a thing yet.

Jenn: Hmm.

Meggan: I don't, know if we were drinking from fountains or taps only what we were doing, but it sounds stressful.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: That was air travel cheaper in the seventies? Great question. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of people kind of weren't convinced that it was the safer mode of transportation yet, and it was also seen as a bit of a luxury, especially in the early to mid seventies. An average New York City to London, England ticket was around $550, which today translates to about $3,200.

So that's really not cheap.

Jenn: Mm-hmm.

Meggan: However, back in the day before every single penny was squeezed from our hands economy class actually had a lot of leg room. Full meals were served. It was comfortable and it wasn't a cramped, unpleasant experience. A lot of things I read actually said Economy me class back in the day is kind of like what business class might be today.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: Planes even looked really different. I saw some pictures and there were like you know, in trains where they actually have separate compartments for people to sit in. Planes actually had those back in the seventies, some planes at least. So it allowed for some privacy. Some planes had like a conference table in the middle of them, so if people needed to have like a meeting during the flight, there was a conference table available.

And then in some pictures I saw like there were actually two chairs facing two chairs, and then there was a fold down table in between so people could actually enjoy their meals as if they were sitting at a table. So the 1970s kind of airline ish sounds like the lap of luxury. Honestly.

Jenn: Crazy

Meggan: Mind boggling.

The downside was, of course people were still allowed to smoke on planes.

Jenn: Of course.

Meggan: So I guess there was still smoke in your food, so there's that. Yeah. As for hotel stays if you discount like terrible decorating from the 1970s hotels could range anywhere from like $20 US per night and upward.

So as an example, the average Hilton hotel room was around $24 a night. Now, of course, and, and I think I mentioned this later too, but this is all keeping in mind inflation over the years and this was the seventies. Indeed. So this was also a time really of eco change when people were being asked in their hotel rooms to actually turn off the lights and the air conditioning when they left their room.

So they were starting to think in that way back in the seventies. Not sure how much that's helped us today, but it was something, you know?

Jenn: Something.

Meggan: So the overall travel vibes of the 1970s were that international travel wasn't as big as it is now. The infrastructure in a lot of countries wasn't really there, and only true travel buffs were venturing out into the world to places like South America and Australia.

Smallpox was actually still a thing until 1979. So vaccination for that was really key for travel. And travel actually took a lot of planning. And there was political awakening happening all across the globe that people had to really keep in mind. And of course news wasn't as easily accessible, so they really had to try to keep track of all that as well.

And in a decade where air travel only started to get popular sort of later on, the world was much more unexplored and regular folks were actually just starting to poke their heads out and wonder like, what's out there? You know, can I see the world? Mass tourism was not even a thing yet, right? And then it wasn't until like 1978 that the US airlines were actually allowed to set their own fares and routes.

The government had actually been doing it to help them get up and going up until that point. So this change was actually really immense for the industry when they could start setting their own fares and a bit more competition came into place. So the seventies were huge for change, and yet travel was still rustic.

So of course, paper plane tickets, maps, and guidebooks were the way to go. Pretty much non-existent airport security.

Jenn: Hmm.

Meggan: So all in all, you really had to want. To travel in the 1970s 'cause it was a lot more work to make it happen. But in some ways I bet it was a really cool time if you were to get out into the world.

And some of these places that are, you know, sort of suffering from mass tourism now are probably virtually untouched, it's hard to believe. And some of the first everyday folks were actually just starting to explore. It must have been really something it looking into, this was super interesting 'cause it's hard to imagine today.

Jenn: Yeah, it's totally hard to imagine for sure.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: So before we move on to the next decade, I thought it would be interesting to also check out Disney World prices through the decades too. So Magic Kingdom in Florida opened in 1971, and at that time, general admission was $3.50

Meggan: Oh, wowzers.

Jenn: I know. And by 1979 it was up to $7. But at that time, that was just the entrance fee that got you into the park. You did have to buy tickets to ride the rides, so they had. It kind of divided up based on the, I don't know, popularity of the ride or like the thrill of the ride. So A, A tickets were 10 cents and E tickets were 90 cents.

Meggan: Mm-hmm.

Jenn: And you'll still actually hear Disney people use the term E ticket attraction to describe the. Like the most popular rides in each park. Also, that doesn't exist anymore, but

Meggan: Right. A carryover from the seventies.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Oh, that's really cool.

Jenn: I know. Alright, let's, let's usher in the eighties. So similar to the seventies, you could smoke on airplanes, but, it was split into smoking and non-smoking sections Meggan.

Meggan: Sure, sure.

Jenn: That, that definitely worked. Super.

Meggan: Yeah, definitely.

Jenn: And to book the flight, you had to call the airline or go to a travel agent, which I can only imagine made comparison shopping a nightmare. Like, I mean, you didn't really have that many choices anyway, but like, You didn't really shop around and at that time for entertainment on the flight, there might have been like one screen at the front for everyone to watch.

And I read that renting headphones cost $7, which like seven.

Meggan: That feels like a lot

Jenn: Got you into Disney world.

Meggan: I know. But here's some cruddy headphones we probably took from the last person.

Jenn: I know that you're going to give back like right.

So like the 1970s air travel was more expensive in the eighties compared to now, but prices were starting to fall, so that same New York to London route fell by quite a bit.

So it was in 1980s it was $1,250 in today's mm-hmm. Dollars. So that's down from $3,500 in today's dollars. So it, it's coming down, but still like pretty pricey. So some of the most popular travel destinations in the eighties were Australia, thanks to Crocodile Dundee. Thought that was funny. Madeira in Portugal, Berlin mostly for the partiers. Goa India, which was famous for its full moon parties, and New York was also popular also for the partying. Are you seeing a trend here, Meggan?

Meggan: The partiers were out and about.

Jenn: The partiers were out traveling and I was reading that the cruise industry, this was also flourishing in the eighties and there were actually these cruises to nowhere where like you would literally just stay on the boat the entire time 'cause it had like, everything you needed. And I mean,

Meggan: that's my worst nightmare,

Jenn: right? I, I just, no thanks.

Meggan: I mean, if that's your thing, live it up. But that is not my thing.

Jenn: That sounds horrible.

So hotel chains were starting to expand across the U s A and the Globe in the eighties. And in 1986, Four Seasons did something that was unheard of in North America. It opened a hotel with a full service spa.

Meggan: Ooh,

Jenn: I know. So in general, a standard hotel room costs about $40 to $60 per night, or approximately $148 to $222 in today's dollars. But luxury hotel rooms cost about a hundred dollars or more per night. So $370 in today's dollars and upwards. And let me tell you, I booked a hotel in Halifax for like $500 recently, and it was not a luxury hotel room,

Meggan: let me tell you,

Jenn: and it was in Halifax. So even with the inflation, the eighties were cheaper for hotels.

Meggan: Right?

Jenn: Okay, so let's talk about the Disney prices. So in 1980, general admission was $8 plus the ride tickets. In 1982, Epcot opened and they replaced the ticket book system with the daily admission that we have today, basically, that included the rides.

So a one day ticket costs $15 in 1982, and then by 1989, disney, M G M Studios was open, which is now known as Hollywood Studios, and a one day ticket cost $29 at that time.

Meggan: Interesting. I think it must have been so much easier for them when they just moved to the one day ticket cost rather than delving out tickets per ride.

Jenn: I know. Like how It must have been so annoying.

Meggan: It really must have been, oh, we don't have enough tickets for this ride. We've gotta go buy more like, Yeah, no thank you. I'm not at a arcade.

Jenn: Alright, Meggan, bring in the decade that I was born.

Meggan: Oh gosh. Well let's talk about the nineties. It was a good decade and each so far like so much world change was happening as still occurs today. But then back then it was the cooling of the Cold War grunge rock changed music forever. And then later in the 1990s, the introduction of email and regular computer use of course occurred. But what was up with travel in the nineties? Well, How do people get around?

So they did it by looking at maps. So the technology wasn't available yet for GPS mainstream, let's say. So guidebooks and maps were the Bible of travel still in the nineties, the pre-internet days, and I'm not gonna lie, paper maps were probably the cause for a lot of wrong turns. And a lot of family arguments along the way.

Gas was cheaper at least, so there was that for the road trip. And one bonus to paper maps. I mean, you never lost reception on those.

Jenn: That's true.

Meggan: That paper was always there for you. Back in the day too, in the nineties, cash was king. And if you went overseas, much like I did in 94 for my grad trip to England, you headed to the bank. You got yourself some travelers checks, and I don't miss those. Photos you took were saved for the most precious memories because there was a limited supply of film. Does anyone out there remember having loaded their camera incorrectly and then getting home thinking you had all these amazing memories and then there was nothing like that was truly devastating times.

Jenn: Did that happen to you?

Meggan: Yes, of course it happened.

Jenn: Oh no!

Meggan: You get the thing in wrong and your pictures. Oh, it was terrible. And I lived for developing pictures. What a terrible time. But one thing I can say is we were living in the moment without social media. What a time to like be alive. And I know you were younger, but in terms of myself, like I was in sort of late teens, early twenties, and I'm so glad I didn't have the internet.

It was, it was a beautiful way to grow up. Happy to be where we are now, but to look back.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: I'm glad there was no internet when I was growing up.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: And smoking on planes. Well, blissfully in the early nineties it was halted on planes, but of course it was more prevalent than ever everywhere else.

People were starting to become more educated about the effects of smoking and then gratefully not on planes.

Jenn: Hmm.

Meggan: So on the topic of flying in the nineties, so average basic round trip was $288, so about $554 in today's money, which is actually a lot for the times, especially in the US where you can get much cheaper airfares than let's say in Canada.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: Another thing to note that the economy class, like I mentioned back then, the comfort level was just higher. So I feel like even still in the nineties you were still getting more for your buck.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Especially than today. So you got what you paid for, so that was still a thing in the nineties. We weren't quite as cramped yet then.

Accommodations, so average basic motel rooms cost anywhere. We're anywhere around $50. So a lot of the data, of course, I found was based on US pricing. But prices would of course vary from small towns versus big cities. Places with pools versus no pools. Higher end hotels could cost you in the nineties money, $85 to $100 per night. And again, that would be more if you were staying in fancier places. And yes, prices were rising, but still pretty reasonable in the nineties, I would say.

Some popular nineties destinations which I found really interesting were Moscow, south Beach Miami, again, still Australia was booming thanks to Crocodile Dundee. Still, I tell you, I hope that man got some kind of like country medal.

Jenn: I know.

Meggan: Our Australian listeners need to reach out and like tell us how much Paul Hogan is revered in your country. Also people are going to China, Chile, Cancun was most popular destination in Mexico and also Hungary to name a few.

I mean, some things remain the same while others really change. History really is fascinating 'cause there's a few places on there people are not going right now.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So overall travel vibes in the nineties, like I said, you relied on maps, other people. And advice from locals to get around places.

Your pictures made their way into albums and not a database on your computer. And people were exploring parts of the world that here in the 2020s aren't even really accessible to us. People sent postcards instead of texts. They used landlines or payphones very sparingly to check in with loved ones at home.

Those overseas calls were not cheap. Now as the 1990s of course progressed, the internet did start to play more of a part in our lives, including email and some instant messengers. So internet cafes also started to pop up around the world. And as we didn't have laptops or cell phones or whatever that we were taking with us.

That was still years away. So internet cafes were big for a while.

Jenn: Mm-hmm.

Meggan: And I would say too, the differences between life in 1990 versus 1999 was actually huge. So this decade really started ushering us quickly into technology and the internet age and the overall effects on travel and how much easier it became to plan were huge.

Jenn: Hmm. Yeah, it's, it's a lot of changes.

Meggan: Yeah, definitely. The nineties were huge for that.

Jenn: Yeah. So for Disney In 1990, a one day ticket was $31. In 1998, the price of a one day ticket was $42. And then Animal Kingdom opened, opened, and that one initially cost $45. So it was a couple dollars more. So we start to see the pricing kind of changing a little bit.

But let's enter the new millennium and the time.

Meggan: Take us into it, Jenn.

Jenn: And the time when I start to travel, because I didn't do much traveling in the nineties when I was zero to nine.

Meggan: No?

Jenn: So, of course, Everything changed in 2001, and I think anybody of our age remembers this. So airport security and in Canada in as well actually hadn't changed much from the 1970s until post 9/11, which is crazy to me.

Meggan: It is.

Jenn: And I'm sure, I mean, I know you traveled, air traveled pre 9/11, so you remember the like being able to like go up with someone to the gate and like all that stuff.

Meggan: Even airports as big as Los Angeles, people were able to walk me to the gate. Like it still blows my mind that that even happened.

Jenn: Yeah. Like I, I cannot believe it. Yeah. Just because I, like, I've never experienced it. So. In November of 2001, then President George W. Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the Transportation Security Administration and handling passenger screening, went over to federal employees.

I. Because it wasn't before and it was actually only post 9/11, that knives and other sharp objects weren't allowed with you in the cabin. And, and it was also in 2001 when you had to start removing your shoes for screening due to a failed shoe bomber plot as,

Meggan: wow, not 2001,

Jenn: 2001 crazy times. And then it actually was, I didn't realize this, it wasn't until 2006 that the liquid gels and aerosols restrictions started.

Meggan: I think it was on Christmas day or Christmas Eve.

Jenn: It was around Christmas. Yeah. British officials stopped a terror, terror plot. They were gonna bring liquid explosives on, on a flight. So yeah, I, the first time I traveled by plane, was in spring-ish of 2002. So we're six plus months outside of 9/11.

And I remember going through airport security and like they went through your checked luggage and then they also go through your your carry-on luggage. And I remember having to like turn on my Walkman to prove that it was like a working electronic device. And I wish I knew like how long it took us to go through security.

I think it was a very long time.

Meggan: Yeah, and I mean, things have relaxed a smidge from then, but it was, it was heavy duty for a while.

Jenn: I mean, we have better technology now with like x-rays, you know, they, they x-ray your checked luggage. It's not like that they're going unchecked.

Meggan: No, thank goodness.

Jenn: It's not an actual person unzipping it and going through it unless they see a problem with it, but.

So all of this, all of 9/11 and post 9/11 had really big consequences. Consequences on the profitability of the airline. So US Airlines lost $8 billion in 2001.

Meggan: Wow.

Jenn: Wild. And then the industry wasn't profitable again until 2006. So loss is top topped $60 billion over that five year period. And then airlines again, lost money again in 2008 during the recession then, so,

Meggan: oh, decades.

Jenn: Right? So to make more money, airlines added more seats to planes and stopped providing all of this free food and then started charging for checked bags. So first for overweight bags, and then for second bags. And then in 2008, all checked bags.

Meggan: Great. So like essentially thank you terrorists and the financial crisis of 2008.

So what about some hotel rooms back then, the two

Jenn: So, for hotel rooms. So the, the average room rate in 2000 was $85.89. But things started changing in 2008 when Airbnb entered the game. 2008.

Meggan: They been around that long?

Jenn: Yes.

Meggan: I didn't think they'd been around that long. Wow.

Jenn: Like a long time. So March, 2009, Airbnb had 2,500 listings and close to 10,000 registered users, and now there are four plus million Airbnb hosts worldwide and six plus million active listings on the platform. And they're in over a hundred thousand cities worldwide. Like it, I mean, no matter how you feel about Airbnb, I, we've talked about the, the qualms that we have with it as well.

Meggan: Yep.

Jenn: Like housing crisises and such. But it changed the game for sure.

Meggan: It did. It did. Good for them for thinking of it.

Jenn: So technology, like we said in the late nineties, also into the 2000 is, is another big force that's changing travel. So Expedia and Travelocity began accepting online bookings in 1996. Isn't that crazy?

Meggan: Wow.

Jenn: But the phenomenon of using the internet to routinely book and plan has obviously exploded since then. And I saw the stat in 2022. 2022 last year, 68% of all sales of in travel and tourism are made online, and I thought it would be higher.

Meggan: Yeah, me too.

Jenn: Where is the 32% who are not booking?

Meggan: Where are you booking it, if it ain't online?

Jenn: I guess they're calling.

Meggan: Using the phone?

Jenn: I guess.

Meggan: Ew

Jenn: I know. So popular destinations in the two thousands were Argentina, South Africa and Dubai. I thought those were interesting.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: In 2010, many people were visiting China. Iceland was entering the game. My first trip to Iceland was 2013, so right around this time. Egypt, Northern Ireland and Germany we're all all popular. And then in today, in the 2020s, some of the most popular destinations have been London, Cancun, Paris, and Rome.

Meggan: Cancun never lost its shine over the decades.

Jenn: Oh, people love it there.

Meggan: They do. They really do. Alright. What about Disney prices? In these two, two thousands,

Jenn: things have changed. So January, 2000, a one day ticket was $46, but then

Meggan: that still seems cheap.

Jenn: Still is. My first Disney trip was 2003, so it was, probably pretty good.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: By the end of 2009, a one day ticket was $79, and then in 2013, Disney World switched to a tiered system, so Magic Kingdom was more expensive than the other parks.

So Magic Kingdom was $95 and the other parks were $90, which I'll give them that. Magic Kingdom has a lot more rides than the other parks and like, I think it's fair.

But then in 2016, date-based tiers were introduced. So by the end of 2019, the prices were $159 a day for the holiday pricing, which would be like mm-hmm. Christmas, 4th of July, Easter, like those types of holidays, $139 for peak times, $125 for regular, $117 for value, and $107 for low. So it all over the place. You could,

Meggan: what did low mean? Like you could maybe ride. Three outta six rides

Jenn: low, like low season. So like,

Meggan: oh, low season. I see.

Jenn: Yeah. So, and currently in 2023, prices range from $109 to $189. So a very long way from the $3.50 in the 1970s.

Meggan: Well, there you go. Wow. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for summing this up here in the, the two thousands and beyond. I mean, as a listener, we hope you enjoyed this trip through time. We both had a lot of fun researching. I know I learned a lot, even though I've lived through all, although I was born more in the late seventies, but through all the decades we talked about it.

So it's been fascinating. Don't you think, Jenn, to sort of understand what all these experiences traveling through the last few decades?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Definitely. So if anybody out there listening has any fun experiences traveling over the last few decades themselves hit us up on social media and let us know.

We would love to hear from you, especially in the old pictures or anything you can share would be incredible. I'd love to see some real life pictures of those old airplanes.

Jenn: I know.

Meggan: That was freaking crazy. You can find us, of course, on Facebook and Instagram to share that stuff at Travel Mug Podcast.

As always as well, you can find out more information and visit us on our website travel mug podcast.com or watch us on YouTube, if you don't prefer to listen. You can support the show through buy Me a Coffee and you'll get access to fun bloopers and stuff like that. And please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or spart Spotify.

Jenn: There's bloopers. Yeah.

Meggan: Speaking of bloopers. Please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and sharing the show with a travel loving pal. Until next time. Bye.