Aside from getting shot at and foiling deadly plots, traveling the world as James Bond must be pretty great. Armed with tailored suits, Q-Lab gadgets, and endless charm, globetrotting likely isn't a cheap endeavor. We only get glimpses of how Bond travels in the movies and books, but I doubt MI6 is making its operatives fly economy class. So, how about we crunch some numbers and see just how costly it is to travel like a 00 Agent. Don't worry, there are no 007 First Light spoilers here.
We all know his trusty Aston Martin or BMW collection. In Quantum of Solace, he's living it up in luxury, drinking Vespers on an Airbus. He's also a fiend for trains, whether that's in From Russia with Love or Octopussy. In 007 First Light, Patrick Gibson's James Bond isn't quite the debonaire, high-life enjoyer we all know just yet. For this feature, I'm calculating the realistic cost of Bond's business-class travel, imagining him jetting between key story destinations. I'm streamlining the journey by focusing purely on the major international locations from the upcoming Switch game's plot, while ignoring specific mission timelines, backtracking for story reasons, or in-game events.
London is the natural starting point because it is home to MI6 headquarters, which Bond frequently visits throughout the story. Three chapters, Uninvited, Knightfall, and For England, all revisit London, which is first introduced in A Night Out. As a 00 recruit, Bond would logically depart from and return to London between major operations for debriefs, new gadgets from Q-Lab, and receiving assignments from M before heading out again. So, where does Bond go off to? Let's break it down.
- Prologue - Against All Odds (Iceland)
- Chapter One - The Needle's Eye (Malta)
- Chapter Two - A Night Out (London)
- Chapter Three - All the Time in the World (Slovakia)
- Chapter Four - The Past Never Dies (Mauritania)
- Chapter Five - Beyond the Grave (Mauritania)
- Chapter Six - Uninvited (London)
- Chapter Seven - Knightfall (London)
- Chapter Eight - Time to Die (Vietnam)
- Chapter Nine - Wave of the Future (Antarctica)
- Chapter Ten - For England (MI6, London)
Now that we know where Bond goes, let's get him booked on some business-class flights to these places. After all, MI6 is footing the bill, and Basil from accounting needs to make sure every penny is spent well. So, excluding the chapters that take us to London as a primary location, there are five exotic locales Bond visits: Iceland, Malta, Slovakia, Mauritania, and Vietnam. Antarctica is a more complicated matter, as you can't fly there commercially, with specific cruises offered to certain tourist spots. As Bond doesn't travel alone to this location, he has an alternative means of travel, so we'll exclude it.
| Destination | Airports | Business Class Price | Airline |
| Iceland | LHR ↔ KEF | £942.85 | Icelandair Saga Premium Flex |
| Malta | LGW ↔ MLA | £871.30 | British Airways direct |
| Slovakia | LHR ↔ BTS | £517 | Lufthansa/Austrian via Munich or Frankfurt |
| Mauritania | LHR ↔ NKC | £2,228 | Royal Air Maroc (one stop) |
| Vietnam | LHR ↔ DAD | £4,166.98 | Emirates (one stop) - outbound £2,215.68 + inbound £1,951.30 |
Using London as our first port of call, Bond's travels come in at a whopping total of $11,750 (£8,726.13). Going on round-trip flights from Heathrow or Gatwick, opting for the quickest routes, and comfort in the sky costs a pretty penny. To put this into perspective, Ian Fleming writes in Moonraker that James Bond's annual salary is around $3,365 (£2.5k)while working as a Principal Officer in the Civil Service. In actuality, $2,020 (£1.5k) is Bond's take-home pay.
Adjusting this for inflation, James Bond's wage works out to an estimated $117k (£87k) by today's standards. A Principal Officer today brings home between $51k - $75k (£38k and £56k) per year, according to Glassdoor. If we got more granular, MI6 Intelligence Officers rake in up to $56.5k (£42k) annually. While it's a modest wage by any measure, we're not even factoring in Bond's on-the-ground transport and expenses like food, clothing, and accommodation.
If we were to think like Basil in accounting, there is a way to slightly reduce Bond's bill for MI6. Using London as a starting and ending point, we'll hop from one location to another, rather than adventuring on round-trip visits to England. Let's take a look below.
| Destination | Airports | Business Class Price | Airline |
| London to Iceland | LHR →KEF | £530 | Icelandair Saga Premium one-way |
| Iceland to Slovakia | KEF → BTS/VIE | £680 | Icelandair + Lufthansa/Austrian connection |
| Slovakia to Malta | BTS/VIE → MLA | £450 | Lufthansa |
| Malta to Mauritania | MLA → NKC | £950 | Royal Air Maroc |
| Mauritania to Vietnam | NKC → DAD | £2,100 | Emirates |
| Vietnam to London | DAD → LHR | £1,951 | Emirates |
Our new total is a rough cost of $8,970 (£6,661), saving us $2,780 (£2,065) in the process. We're not exactly following the narrative order of locations, but switching around certain routes does save Bond some money. But traveling in the world of James Bond is nothing without some extraordinary vehicles. I'd be remiss if I didn't take into account the vehicles Bond gets behind the wheel of in 007 First Light. Again, we'll ignore elements like Bond stealing a 1960s Aston Martin DBS. If you want to own these vehicles and drive around like a spy, these are the numbers.
The DBS Vantage first appears in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, driven by one-time Bond, George Lazenby. It's also briefly seen in Q-Lab in Diamonds Are Forever. It can be easily confused with the V8 Vantage, as seen in The Living Daylights and No Time to Die. Looking at The Classic Vauler, a DBS Vantage like the one in First Light can sell for as high as $231k (£171,521). Several factors affect the price, such as condition, year, and modifications.
During Bond's training at the MI6 base in Malta, he gets to drive a 2006 Aston Martin DBS. Before getting into it, Cressida Bright suggests that the car has seen some action over the years. Although First Light isn't set in Daniel Craig's continuity, you can take this as a reference to the record-breaking car crash in Casino Royale or the opening chase in Quantum of Solace. At the time of release for those movies, the car cost around $400k (£297k), but has since fallen to around $150k (£111.5k).
Sadly, despite showcasing the Aston Martin DB5 at First Light's Gamescom booth during my attendance, it doesn't feature in-game. Instead, Bond drives four other vehicles: the Aston Martin Valhalla, Land Rover Defender, Range Rover Sport SV, and a Jaguar XJ.
The Aston Martin Valhalla starts at approximately $1,050,000 - $1,100,000 (£820k - £850k). The Land Rover Defender prices range from $65k - $169k (£57k - £170k) depending on the spec, while the high-performance Range Rover Sport SV commands $154k - $171k (£140k - £155k). The Jaguar XJ is mainly available used, typically costing $13k - $32k (£10k - £25k) for well-maintained late-model examples. The Valhalla is easily the most valuable asset within Q-Lab that we know of in First Light.
If Bond were to use these cars regularly, you can bet that MI6 won't be happy with his maintenance costs. Consumer Affairs places servicing for the Valhalla and other Astons in the $2.5k - $5k (£2k - £4k) bracket, driven by specialist labor and premium parts. Looking at the Land Rover/Range Rover models, the cost drops slightly to $1.5k - $3.2k (£1.2k - £2.5k) per year for routine maintenance, according to RepairPal. The Jaguar XJ is the most affordable to run, with RepairPal estimating annual costs between $1k and $2k (£800 and £1.5k).
On a separate note, as a younger Bond, hanging around Q is influencing his clothing tastes. The Wearables section of Q-Lab is full of dapper clothing, so it's not surprising that Bond's garments are also on the expensive side. In the Vietnam chapter, Time to Die, he wears summer clothing from the high-end designer brand, Orlebar Brown. Bond's shorts and pink short-sleeve shirt cost $397 (£295) each. Pair that with his Omega Seamaster Diver 300m watch, that's another $9.4k (£7.9k). And yes, I know, you're wondering about that jacket he wears. There's no designated tailor for it, but Magnoli Clothiers is selling a made-to-measure replica for $550 (£408.45).
So, let's take stock of everything. If Bond flew separate round-trip Business Class flights from London to each destination, the total would come to $11,750 (£8,726). Using the more efficient multi-city route instead brings the flight costs down to $8,970 (£6,661). Acquiring his full in-game fleet (Valhalla, Defender, Range Rover Sport SV, and Jaguar XJ) would cost between $1.2m - $1.4m (£1.02m and £1.2m). Annual maintenance on this fleet adds another $10k - $15k (£8k - £12k).
In total, on a pure travel level, Bond's adventure in 007 First Light would set MI6 back roughly $1.30m - $1.50m (£1.04m - £1.22m). And sorry, Q, he's not going to bring back anything in one piece.
What do you think about Bond's expenses? Let us know in the Pocket Tactics Discord server.