Cheapest 1st Class travel

[raceboy]

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?

[raceboy]

Sounds like it’s not out the question then, more than happy with under £2k return each for a transatlantic trip.

[raceboy]

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 EUR

https://www.lunajets.com/en/empty-leg-flights
(down at the bottom)

Now that's interesting.
Excuse the potentially stupid question but is that per seat or for the whole plane?

[raceboy]

I'm guessing the small number on the right of the page is the number of seats on the plane, if so £320 a head for Manchester to Nice flying like a rock star seems an absolute steal

[raceboy]

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.

[raceboy]

justin220 said:

Have you thought about getting an Amex credit card and collecting air miles?

I'm not sure I spend enough to collect a worth while amount, last years credit card spend was £4.5k I bet that wouldn't get me to the Isle Of Wight.

[raceboy]

QuartzDad said:

Scheduled flight on a private jet for £234...

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/02/24/review-ha...

While quite cool, and certainly fits the remit of the original post I can see a few draw backs, mainly I can't think of a good reason to go to either Luxembourg or Düsseldorf

[raceboy]

A quick flick through the menus and workable dates come out at £2500 each return in 1st or £1900 in Business, for LHR-NYC.

[raceboy]

cheddar said:

Personally I'd go LHR to Las Vegas and find a tremendous strip view room to add to your experience.
4 (weekday) nights in Vegas, swanky hire car, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Ballachal buffet, a show and all for less than a well planned £1000.

I wasn't overly keen on Vegas but I'm slowly coming round to the idea, and with a bit of luxury it might be worth a look.

[raceboy]

Baldchap said:

From a value perspective, Business is definitely the sweet spot for me. I think the airlines have put so much effort into making their BC cabins competitive, that they've almost killed off the reason for FC to exist. The moment you have a flat bed, the rest is largely academic to me.

Just from reading the BA website this is the conclusion I came to, the only real difference I could work out was a slightly better meal and a dedicated lounge in the airport, the 'pods' look a little different but not enough to warrant the extra cost.
Going to have to look at other airlines but it's most likely going to be a trans Atlantic flight.