[maica]

In today’s dollars, what would a coach class ticket have cost in 1961? Air travel was a rare luxury for the upper class in those days...

It might have seemed like a lot of money compared to normal salaries, but I crossed the Atlantic ocean and returned for $300. in 1964 - and that was not a special price, but a normal coach fare. And I was not in the rare "upper class".

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The BLS CPI Inflation Calculator says that it takes about $2,100 of today's dollars to buy what $300 did in 1964. I rest my case. (I was off by 2x, but not bad for plucking a number out of thin air. And I'd gladly bet the CPI is underestimating inflation over 45 years -- the value of our currency has easily gone down 90% from 1964 to today -- that's why nobody bothers to pick up a dropped penny)