How did ppl book flights before the internet?

[Ashyneezz]

Off topic but map quest


nikka really used to print out a piece of paper with step by step directions

Didn't have a printer at the crib so I had to write it out on a piece of paper.

 

[MidniteJay]

K

I’m 31, kids these days will never feel the pain of dial up internet speeds and not being able to use the phone at the same time. Now your phone is the internet, a camera, stop watch, Alarm clock,

Also a handheld TV and depending on specs a gaming console.

As a kid my imagination used to run wild on futuristic devices but if someone told me a phone could do all that in the palm of your hands in just a few years I would have given that person the

 

[Geek Nasty]

Before the internet was the dark ages. The world literally changed with the internet. Pre and post internet are different time periods for real. I think historians in the future will separate the world in this way. I wonder what they will call this new way of living

The progression took a lot longer than most people realize, but on the history scale it was a basically one generation.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

Let me guess they had to call Delta and ask what flights were available

Spirit and Frontiers phone line had a 2 hr wait, that’s if you can get thru with out the call dropping

Travel agent mostly. Or 800 numbers.

Real talk flying was SO much better pre-9/11. Your people could come to the gate. Folks didn't scrap over the bins overhead because checking luggage was fukking free. And food/booze was on EVERY flight. And you got free blankets.

 

[old_timer]

You'd walk into the airport, look up at the big board, and figure out where you wanted to go
Then walk up to the window and get a ticket
You could pay cash
You did not have to show any id

If you traveled frequently, you collected a set of catalogs
Like" holiday inn 1981"
You look up the city and state, then phone a hotel long distance to book a room
Next year there'd be a new catalog, and you'd throw the old one away

Travel books were a big industry -Frommers etc
You could read reviews of restaurants, bars, hotels, etc
So you know where to go in a new city
you would visit something called B Dalton at a place known as the Mall to purchase one of these books

Today it is mostly roadside assistance, but AAA used to have a bunch of brochures and catalogs for popular destinations
They would mail you a fat envelop stuffed with travel guides and special offers

Travel used to have a lot more randomness
Your wife would sit there with a highlighter going through all the paperwork
But eventually, we'd just pack a bag and wing it

I'll spare you the stories about travelers cheques
Ill also spare you my first experience with an atm that gave me an extra $5

 

[J.E.T.S]

Boy I’m glad I wasn’t an adult in the 80s and 90s

 

[Noriega]

My grandma is 81 and goes down south regularly to see her sisters.

She still buys airline tickets over the phone

 

[J.E.T.S]

My grandma is 81 and goes down south regularly to see her sisters.

She still buys airline tickets over the phone

come on grandma.

 

[Noriega]

come on grandma.

Yeah, she refuses to learn anything digital man. Her Simple ass TV remote confuses her sometimes.

 

[Detroit Wave]

Drive to the airport and pay at the counter for the airline

you can still save cheese doing this now at the spirit airlines desk at DTW. $10 off a $70 ticket just for paying in person instead of online

 

[Colicat]

You'd walk into the airport, look up at the big board, and figure out where you wanted to go
Then walk up to the window and get a ticket
You could pay cash
You did not have to show any id

If you traveled frequently, you collected a set of catalogs
Like" holiday inn 1981"
You look up the city and state, then phone a hotel long distance to book a room
Next year there'd be a new catalog, and you'd throw the old one away

Travel books were a big industry -Frommers etc
You could read reviews of restaurants, bars, hotels, etc
So you know where to go in a new city
you would visit something called B Dalton at a place known as the Mall to purchase one of these books

Today it is mostly roadside assistance, but AAA used to have a bunch of brochures and catalogs for popular destinations
They would mail you a fat envelop stuffed with travel guides and special offers

Travel used to have a lot more randomness
Your wife would sit there with a highlighter going through all the paperwork
But eventually, we'd just pack a bag and wing it

I'll spare you the stories about travelers cheques
Ill also spare you my first experience with an atm that gave me an extra $5

Folks used to go to the airport just to watch the planes take off. There was no real security. You could walk all over without any kind of travel plans

 

[acri1]

I think people would either call a travel agent, call the airline, or just go to the airport and buy a ticket

I'm old enough that I was around but I wasn't really buying plane tickets pre-Internet.

 

[Diyhai]

I think people would either call a travel agent, call the airline, or just go to the airport and buy a ticket

I'm old enough that I was around but I wasn't really buying plane tickets pre-Internet.

you gotta be pushing 50
I think even in the early 2000s people were booking online

 

[mbewane]

Like other have said basically travel agencies. You would go there, tell them where and when you wanted to go, and voilà. Good thing is that they did all the work of looking for the cheapest ticket/quickest way to get you there depending on what your priority was, I think their fee was basically the same anyway. Also this was before cheap airlines so prices didn't vary as much. Did it multiple times myself, last time was as late as 2012 iirc.

 

[J.E.T.S]

Yeah, she refuses to learn anything digital man. Her Simple ass TV remote confuses her sometimes.

I understand. lol

my grandma used to press the buttons on that lil ass remote like she was texting on a smartphone.