Jaunted - Tag: Retro Travel

Manchester: Mile High Club or Not, You Could Have Valentine's Dinner on the Concorde

juliab — 2012-02-08T13:25:25-05:00

The Concorde may technically be dead, but airline romance isn’t, if British Airways’ Valentine’s deal is anything to go by.

A couple of years ago, the UK airline did a neat Valentine’s Day party kinda thing on flights between London and New York; this year, the celebration is on a more personal scale, though still rather spectacular: dinner for two on the Concorde.

The bad news? You’ll have to pay for it. The good? It’s for charity! Just bid for it in a blind email auction, and you’ll win dinner for two on board BA’s flagship Concorde G-BOAC at Manchester Airport, in the Runway Visitor Park.

Seven of Our Favorite Defunct Airlines of Yesteryear

jetflyboy — 2012-02-07T14:17:20-05:00

It sure seems like a number of world airlines have been closing up shop recently. Last week, we saw two European carriers cease operations and call it quits. Barcelona-based, Spanair, and the Hungarian flag carrier, Malev, both abruptly stopped flying, stranding passengers all over the continent. Of course, these latest casualties are not the only airlines to make their final approaches.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and reminisce of those airlines we never forget and, secretly, wish we could still fly. These brands never had an iPhone app, some barely had a website, but they will always play a role in the golden age of air travel.

Some of favorite defunct airlines, in no particular order:

Check Out JetBlue's Very First Website, from 2001...

JetSetCD — 2012-02-06T18:19:14-05:00

Okay so JetBlue just finally launched their very first iPhone app, but at the same time, they also pushed out a new mobile of their website, and a new website all around. To prove how far they've come, JetBlue shared with us the above—their first functioning website, from 2001. Wow. Throwback. Now compare it to 2012, below...

Pan Am Episode 12: Smugglers, Spies and a Surprise Prince

JetSetCD — 2012-01-23T12:31:03-05:00

Laura asks for a loan from Amanda

Read our past Pan Am episode recaps here.

Let us first say that this is the episode where the girls have looked their best so far. Kate, Colette and Maggie all attended a fancy foreign party and thus donned killer cocktail dresses, while Laura and Amanda showed off in figure-hugging sweater sets. When will Pan Am inspire a retail collaboration like Mad Men did with Banana Republic? Oh, probably never, but a girl can dream.

Anywho—most of the gang was off to Rome this week, but Bridget (pilot Dean's old/new flame) was conspicuously absent and Ted stayed home to begin playing house with his new fiance, the bi-curious Amanda (played by Ashley Greene). Filling the gap was the newish character Captain Broyles (aka "Sky God"), who we learned last episode moonlights as a smuggler of goods, a fact which comes heavier into play this episode.

The Way We Once Traveled: Postmarks from the Middle of the Ocean

JetSetCD — 2012-01-20T11:45:01-05:00

We'll fully admit that we save our ticket stubs even sometimes our bag tags. Of course travelers of decades ago were no different; in fact, they were worse. Sometimes we dig up vintage gems that deserve to be shared. All week, we'll look at a few lost pieces of ephemera that continue to inspire.

Check out that postmark on the above postcard from 1924. It seems that this little greeting, from folks sailing onboard the SS President Grant of Admiral Oriental Line between Seattle and "The Orient," made it all the way from somewhere off the coast of Japan to a teensy-weensy town in Northwest Ohio. Serious, Google Map Tontongany, Ohio and count how many roads it has on your hands. Then think about it back in the 1920s; it boggles the mind.

The point of all this is really to draw your attention to the words of the traveler who mailed this card, as their situation onboard says all you need to know about the pace of getting from Point A to Point B in the days before airplanes and taxis and turbojet ferries. Here ya go:

The Way We Once Traveled: Helicopter Transfers to the 1964 World's Fair

JetSetCD — 2012-01-19T14:40:55-05:00

The 1960s were a great time to hop a helicopter ride in New York. These were the days when buying a First Class ticket on Pan Am or TWA meant the inclusion of a chopper transfer to the airport, and helicopters weren't yet clogging the skyways above the rivers, causing the accidents and concerns that exist today. In 1964 specifically, families keen on spending a day at the 1964-1965 World's Fair could take a scenic ride on New York Airways' helicopters from Manhattan out to the fair at Corona Park in Queens.

Landing was the fun part, actually; the choppers set down atop the first completed structure for the fair, the Port Authority Exhibit Building, which counted the helipad, a restaurant ("Top of the Fair"), cocktail bar and 360-film feature theater as attractions. Coincidentally, the 360-degree film shown was also shot by helicopter, as the cameras dangled and captured the beauty and geography of the New York region.

The Way We Once Traveled: 'Orchestral Selections' on the Queen Elizabeth

JetSetCD — 2012-01-18T09:50:02-05:00

Water Aerobics. Mixology. A lecture on wildlife photography. Hairiest Chest Contest. These are just a few standard daily activities you'll likely find listed on the schedule of a modern cruise ship. However, it was back when passenger ships were called "liners" that schedules focused on the social, rather than the active and educational, advantages of the journey.

It's within this schedule for the old Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth—her third day of a crossing from New York to Cherbourg/Southampton—that we see this for sure. Where iPad classes would be listed on a 2011 cruise shop activity list, the 1949 version favors watching horse racing or listening to the news broadcast.