What kind of money are you referring to? When I placed that call, I was a junior engineer two years out of school earning $37,000 a year.

i suppose i misunderstood and thought you called the airline and trusted them to give you an okay deal without comparing prices - if the secretary doing the booking had no incentive to upcharge you, that makes more sense i guess

p.s. isn't this https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1996?amount=37000 about a third above the us median income? idk i don't live in the states