Happy 50th Birthday to the Boeing 747!

That plane was so "modern" looking!

Thanks for the link - love looking at the old pictures.

And sorry about your weather! Radar looks like you all are continuing to get hammered.

Thanks Lola! The 747 is still my favorite plane. Fond memories: Seattle to the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Darn, wish we could attend but we are "hunkered down" with at least a foot of snow and more on the way in a couple days. Be safe.

The old 747 was great. At one time a lounge on the upper level. At first they actually provided room between seats but the current set up is no better than a 737. Probably my last trip on a 747 was last year with Lufthansa in business class. With four engines they are expensive to operate. Another era has passed.

I'll be taking my first flight on a 747 in September on British Airways. We'll be in Club World, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the expense to pay for seats on the upper deck.

British Airways will be putting one of its 747s into a replica of the BOAC livery later this month. More as a celebration of its 100th year than the plane's 50th but no doubt a good coincidence.

The 747 celebration event at the MOF has been postponed. Not too many people are up for braving the streets in the Seattle metro area right now. Snowpocalypse.

My 1st flight ever was on a 747 ( SEA-ORD)

Most recent on BA (LHR-YVR)

Was in Club World and both ways got seats on upper deck when the 24 hour free window opened. Really nice , 20 seats 2 bathroom and 2 flight attendants. Very well cared for and not much 'traffic' in the aisle. No idea what the fee to pre-reserve is, but if you really want there, I do not think you will have regrets. ( the FA do not help you with your bags up the rather narrow stairway)

Thanks joe32f.

I bit the bullet and paid for upper deck seats on our outbound flight. On the flight home, I'm usually too tired to care where we're sitting.

What a milestone! I can't recall any other passenger aircraft that is still in service after 50 years. I've always wanted to take a flight on a 747, but that hasn't happened yet. I normally use Air Canada for flights to Europe and their last 747 was retired in 2004 in favour of more modern and fuel efficient models.

When I could fly business class, either for work or on miles, I loved the upper deck. So peaceful and quiet.

My first trans-Atlantic--and first wide-body--flight was on a Lufthansa 747, O'hare to Frankfurt. This was in my travel infancy, before I knew you could check what planes flew what routes, and I was so happy to see that big plane pull up at our gate--I even snapped a picture. Loved it--it seemed so big and roomy, and I remember what appeared to be an army of flight attendants boarding in O'hare. Too bad that time and economics have mostly driven it from the ranks of passenger jets.

David, thank you for mentioning the postponed celebration. As of last night they had not done that yet, but the volume of snow seen this morning must have convinced them. We have a foot of snow on Mercer Island too. My husband went to work at the VA this morning and said it was eerie--- empty freeways and unplowed side roads. No other cars anywhere.

We just went out for a long walk through several parks here and saw a number of people on skis and snowshoes.

Trayla, I think you will enjoy the upper deck. We were given seats up there in 2003, our first trip to Europe. Seats were assigned at the airport in those days. And one could actually get Club World seats with Alaska Airlines Miles, which has become increasingly difficult. Now we use British Airways Avios, and always pay the extra to sit in the bubble. If you are in Row 63 you can get to the aisle from the window seat ( which I choose) without stepping over the legs of the reclined person in the aisle seat of row behind.

There were a couple of trips, maybe 2014 and 2015, when BA had a 777 on the Seattle route. We actually chose to fly out of different airports in 2017 to avoid the 777 that was scheduled for Seattle. We flew over from San Jose on a 787, and back to Vancouver on an A380. After I booked our flights they brought back the 747 to the Seattle route for our trip dates.

Odd to think that originally BA had World Traveller seats upstairs in the 747-400 series.

I remember when we changed from the 707, noisy, small inside, incredibly noisy on the ground under the flight path (we lived under the Idlewild (now JFK) flight path), but a whole lot faster than the transatlantic liners we were used to -

and then the first ride on a 747. Oh my goodness... what a plane!!! It was quiet, lots of space and open air feeling on board, room to do laps to keep the legs moving on a long flight, and all those doors!

I used to really like flying on 747s.

Then we got the L-1011s (anybody remember them?) and DC-10s, and then my final transatlantic flights were on 777s. Nice plane, I knew a man who helped design the 777 overhead bins, for better or worse, but no 747.

Thanks, Lola, for bringing back great memories....

What a milestone! I can't recall any other passenger aircraft that is still in service after 50 years.

Well the 50 years is since the first ones entered service, none of those planes are flying still. The 737, 727, 717, and 707 models of course came out earlier, they keep coming out with new variants of the 737 even today.

If you want to talk specific planes, the last I knew there was a 737 that entered service in 1970 still flying, in fact several 737's are the oldest commercial passenger planes still flying, however a 1977 vintage 747 is still out there. Worth noting though maybe that most of these older planes are flying in Africa and South Asia, many are not allowed in US and EU airspace.

There are still a handful of DC-3 aircraft (first produced in 1935) in commercial operation around the world. The Columbia regional airlines have some of them, IIRC.

l be taking my first flight on a 747 in September on British Airways. We'll be in Club World, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the expense to pay for seats on the upper deck.

YES!

I choose my flights so I can get the upper deck. I always take the morning BA flight JFK-LHR. 20 seats, two FA's, quiet, peaceful, it's like flying privately.

On my next return trip BA changed equipment on me to a 777. I'm not happy.

The first time flying a 747 was with TWA on 30 June 1973 non-stop SFO to Paris Orly in Economy to start my 2nd trip to Europe, arrived there ca 9 am. I like the 747s, very comfortable. .

I remember flying a 747 from Miami to New York on National Airlines in either the late 60's or early 70's. There were only 20 passengers. This was in the days of newspapers and a Sunday because I remember some of the flight attendants joined us as we passed around sections of the newspaper. There was nothing for them to do as it was an evening flight with no meal service just drinks. Every passenger not only had their own row to stretch out in but their own section.

I remember flying the 747 as a kid.....my Dad was in the service in the Panama Canal Zone and we used to fly them from Panama City to Miami on the old Pan Am every summer (this was in the early 70s). When your 6 and 7 years old that is mind-blowing. Last flew one from SFO - ORD on United about 10-15 years ago. Not as impressive......lol.

Only a foot of snow in Seattle? That ain't anything in Cleveland!