My Dad is an ex BOAC 707 pilot who retired in 1973. He was a Lanc pilot with a DFC before being seconded by the RAF to BOAC at the end of the war initially flying from Hurn.
His favourite trips were Alaska to Tokyo and then to Moscow. Between Moscow and Tokyo he remembers having coms with Russians working in isolated places in Siberia who rarely spoke with anyone and were chuffed to have a chat.
In Moscow he was often aware of being followed and several times had people asking to buy his tie. There was also the true story of a flight engineer on the very first BOAC flight to Moscow who was convinced his hotel bedroom was bugged. He felt something lumpy under the carpet, rolled it back and found a metal object screwed to the floor. He unscrewed it and heard a massive crash as the chandelier in the room below fell to the floor.