The long trips, with many stops not served daily - only 1 a week on some routes f'rinstance, we had to stay there for the whole time, life was hard ! - was the reason for flight crews being "posted" to the ends of the Earth for 3 months at a time, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and even Honolulu for the Pacific services, those crews then effectively only operated half of the route, meeting the UK crews and both then turning around and going back
They weren't all "good" stops of course, Honolulu was counterbalanced by Calcutta etc., swings and roundabouts, as has been noted the best sound to be heard in Lagos was "V1, Rotate" on departure, but it was all part of Life's Rich Pattern.
We stuck for 2 local nights rest after an Atlantic Crossing, to adjust to the time change/jet lag, and when a pattern of arriving in New York in the early evening and returning early the following morning was mooted there was almost a riot. Only Management Captains operated that service initially, but not so for the lesser crew members, and I reported for my first roster on this pattern with some trepidation, but in fact, providing one was 'sensible' and went to bed on arrival and stayed on a mental GMT time zone, one effectively worked an 8 hour day followed by a good 8 hours sleep and another 8 hour day (sort of ) and got back to London in the early evening and went back to bed at home at the regular hour, then one was less fatigued than the crews who were half adjusted after staying in New York longer.
Of course this precluded any socialising or shopping, so we didn't admit it !
Crew allowances, i.e. spending money that could be saved, were only paid on Nth. American routes initially, flying to "the Empire" all expenses were met by the comany contract with the hotel, which meant that all meals had to be taken at the hotel, at times to suit them, not us, and no spare beer money, a system that was eventually abandoned in favour of crew allowances Worldwide, but initially the more senior ex WWII Captains organised themselves to only fly across the Atlantic - and collect their cash - hence the term North Atlantic Barons, that was applied to them! When I started the daily allowance for all meals in the USA was 10 dollars per day, total - hardly Baronial, but the term stuck.