I traveled first class on an Amtrak Acela train and thought the perks were cool — but not worth the $270 price tag

American Airlines will become the latest airline to offer a "business class plus" experience.

After seven years of developments, Germany's flag carrier is finally launching a long-overdue cabin upgrade.

I spent the first few years of my life in Greece and then moved to the US.

Modern first-class train tickets include perks like lounge access and meals, but trains used to be even more luxurious.

Looking to do something unique this summer? Skip crowded cities like Paris and Rome and consider a chic (and much less crowded) island getaway off the coast of Spain.

The sequence M77, M74, M73, M80, A9, M90, A90 may not sound freighted with emotional weight, but those roads are, for me, associated with the sadness of separation and the pleasure of reunion. It’s the route I drive between our home in Glasgow and Dundee, where our eldest boy now lives, having left for university.

Over the last two years, my journey as a travel enthusiast and Business Insider's travel reporter in Singapore has brought me to almost every country in Southeast Asia.

In 2021, I traveled on Amtrak trains from NYC to Miami and back. The rides took about 30 hours each way, and I had a private cabin in a sleeper car on both journeys.

This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Allie Hubers , a 29-year-old freelance travel writer. It's been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified Hubers' expenses.

Whether you’re a frequent first class flyer, or a trip at the front of the plane is still firmly on your bucket list, a luxury flight is the best start to a trip.

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Last year, my husband and I splurged on round-trip first-class tickets on Japan Airlines from San Francisco to Tokyo for $13,474 each. We reserved them in February for an October flight through American Express Travel. On the same day, I also bought business class tickets for a couple who was traveling with us at $8,429 apiece. In September, Amex notified me that we had been downgraded to business class for the return flight. JAL’s conditions state that we would receive “the difference between the normal fare amount of original class of service and for the normal fare of lower class of service.” To me that means that since the difference between our first class seats and our friends’ business seats was $5,045 each, we should be refunded about half of that — around $2,522 per person — for the second leg. But we got only $941 each. I contested this with Amex Travel, but they rejected our claim. Can you help?