Cheapest 1st Class travel
Discussion
In a conversation based on 'bucket lists' the Mrs has expressed a desire to travel first class, mainly speaking towards air travel, but there may be a loop hole there somewhere but I don't think 1st class on the 10:15 Nottingham to London train is going to cut it. 
So my question is what is the cheapest, or the most economical way of 'turning left', or your most 1st class per £?
I did a quick look into Manchester-NYC flights and based on the same flight 'cattle' is under a grand, 'premium' £2500, 'full fat 1st' £10k which we just can't justify for a big seat and some fizz.
Virgin appeared to have a 'bid for an upgrade' scheme which I'd be tempted to give a try when we next do a NYC trip but it's far from a sure thing.
Most of our travel is at the budget end of the market, if you 'turn left' on a RyanAir flight you'll be flying the thing, not sure long distance train rides like the orient express type things will cut it as she gets a bit travel sick on land, we don't have any air miles type schemes so that's not an option, so what routes are there?
So my question is what is the cheapest, or the most economical way of 'turning left', or your most 1st class per £?
I did a quick look into Manchester-NYC flights and based on the same flight 'cattle' is under a grand, 'premium' £2500, 'full fat 1st' £10k which we just can't justify for a big seat and some fizz.
Virgin appeared to have a 'bid for an upgrade' scheme which I'd be tempted to give a try when we next do a NYC trip but it's far from a sure thing.
Most of our travel is at the budget end of the market, if you 'turn left' on a RyanAir flight you'll be flying the thing, not sure long distance train rides like the orient express type things will cut it as she gets a bit travel sick on land, we don't have any air miles type schemes so that's not an option, so what routes are there?
No matter what you pay for the ticket, or how big the seat might be, an airplane is still public transport. There is nothing remotely '1st class' about public transport. Send the staff on you behalf, they should be accustomed to the squalor of the commoner.
Real PHers have their staff prepare the plane and fly it, and they do not permit the great unwashed masses into their private vehicles.
Real PHers have their staff prepare the plane and fly it, and they do not permit the great unwashed masses into their private vehicles.
Try the 'ex EU' trick on British Airways.
Price up long haul flights starting from non UK European cities. Amsterdam Lisbon and Dublin in particular. This can often knock a third off the price compared with leaving from London. Of course you have to go to AMS or wherever beforehand, but depending on timing you may be able to do an out and back the day before, 'stopover' in your own bed then go to Heathrow or Gatwick for the long haul.
In theory you have to take the London to starting point leg when you return. BA don't seem to worry about you skipping it if you only do this once a year or so, but you have to ensure your bags are only checked though to London. The best way is to arrange the final leg as being from a different airport. If you arrive on your first class flight at Heathrow and your connecting flight is leaving from Gatwick or City the following day, you'll have no trouble getting your bags.
For far east flights Qatar can be similar, very good fares sometimes crop up from Scandinavian cities for some reason.
Just keep checking prices and be flexible on dates, long haul return in first for less than £2K can be perfectly feasible.
Price up long haul flights starting from non UK European cities. Amsterdam Lisbon and Dublin in particular. This can often knock a third off the price compared with leaving from London. Of course you have to go to AMS or wherever beforehand, but depending on timing you may be able to do an out and back the day before, 'stopover' in your own bed then go to Heathrow or Gatwick for the long haul.
In theory you have to take the London to starting point leg when you return. BA don't seem to worry about you skipping it if you only do this once a year or so, but you have to ensure your bags are only checked though to London. The best way is to arrange the final leg as being from a different airport. If you arrive on your first class flight at Heathrow and your connecting flight is leaving from Gatwick or City the following day, you'll have no trouble getting your bags.
For far east flights Qatar can be similar, very good fares sometimes crop up from Scandinavian cities for some reason.
Just keep checking prices and be flexible on dates, long haul return in first for less than £2K can be perfectly feasible.
raceboy said:
Sounds like it’s not out the question then, more than happy with under £2k return each for a transatlantic trip. 
Buy in BA's sale - under 2k each is very do-able to and from NYC from Heathrow, assuming you stay for the weekend and travel back on a Sunday. Sale priced first is often just £200 more than business each way, which in turn is generally discounted... 
Yep very feasible for under £2k for a transatlantic even to west coast. I've done Seattle, Portland Oregon, San Francisco or combinations thereof. I also recently got a Virgin PE seat on return from Detroit for near enough the same price as economy. That was in the hump of a 747 so would have been fun had I not missed the connection!
Focus on intineraries which include 1 or 2 stops (though you might regret 2+...!) on the outbound journey and/or in quieter business travel times like the summer. Book a fair way in advance but not ages - something like 3 months is optimal I think.
Or Norweigian long haul do a 'business class' (more premium economy-like compared to traditional airlines I believe), which would enable turning left for a reasonable sum I expect. Lots of destinations from Gatwick. Check it's a 787 though as you'd have to get on at the back of the 737 in order to turn left!
Focus on intineraries which include 1 or 2 stops (though you might regret 2+...!) on the outbound journey and/or in quieter business travel times like the summer. Book a fair way in advance but not ages - something like 3 months is optimal I think.
Or Norweigian long haul do a 'business class' (more premium economy-like compared to traditional airlines I believe), which would enable turning left for a reasonable sum I expect. Lots of destinations from Gatwick. Check it's a 787 though as you'd have to get on at the back of the 737 in order to turn left!
In addition to the US flights mentioned, I've flown BA to Tel Aviv and Nairobi in F for around £2k a ticket, sometimes a bit more sometimes a bit less, in the last 6 months. I've also just yesterday paid under £1,400 return for a seat in Club World to Nairobi, on a refitted 777 with the new club suite. I think premium loads have been hit quite a bit by the coronavirus news, so now might be a good time to book!
Jamp said:
Or Norweigian long haul do a 'business class' (more premium economy-like compared to traditional airlines I believe), which would enable turning left for a reasonable sum I expect. Lots of destinations from Gatwick. Check it's a 787 though as you'd have to get on at the back of the 737 in order to turn left!
I did this, paid an extra $100 to get upgraded from Iceland to Glasgow. It was alright, worth it for the airport lounge with showers.Sadly I cannot talk for North america but I've flown Brazil (Sao Paulo) First and to Paraguay reasonably cheaply through BA (less than 1.5k). One of the cheapest however was BA to Moscow about 6 years ago but that was one way. As a side note the South America bookings were one week before the trip. So maybe not always booking in advance helps with first - but taking the risk on availability is always going to be difficult.
Mr MXT said:
Get an empty leg on a biz jet somewhere random, probably be less than 5k.
Manchester to Nice, March 1st, 5000 EURhttps://www.lunajets.com/en/empty-leg-flights
(down at the bottom)
Mr MXT said:
Mr MXT said:
Get an empty leg on a biz jet somewhere random, probably be less than 5k.
Manchester to Nice, March 1st, 5000 EURhttps://www.lunajets.com/en/empty-leg-flights
(down at the bottom)
Excuse the potentially stupid question but is that per seat or for the whole plane?
I can see it being not quite so straightforward/luxurious, you get the mental image of sipping fizz lounging on a big sofa in the sky while being smiled at by a super hot steward (although this might not go down well with the better half) but in reality it’s more like a trip in a 10 year old Toyota Carina taxi at the end of a shift before it’s been hosed out for the next day.
Sale fare, ex-EU, or just use avios (even better with an amex 2-4-1 voucher)....if you can't rustle up enough avios for say, LHR-JFK or the west coast, there is an F cabin to DME (moscow) which is a lower rate.
And as much as I like Virgin and fly them with a reasonable frequency, upper class is not first class by any stretch of the imagination.
And as much as I like Virgin and fly them with a reasonable frequency, upper class is not first class by any stretch of the imagination.
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