- I booked a $400 roomette for a 15-hour Amtrak ride across the Southwest in January 2025.
- Then I booked a $450 first-class ticket for a 3-hour train ride from Washington, DC, to New York City.
- I was shocked that the overnight ride in a private cabin was less expensive than a first-class seat.
When I saw how much a first-class ticket cost on the Amtrak Acela train, I had to book it.
At $450 for a 3-hour trip up the East Coast, it was $50 more than the private cabin I booked for a 15-hour journey from Colorado to Utah earlier this year.
The steep price point would probably deter the average person. However, as a travel reporter and train enthusiast, I wanted to compare the first-class experience to a more affordable ride with greater privacy on an overnight train.
I took a 15-hour train ride from Denver to Salt Lake City in a roomette for $400 in January 2025.
I took a sleeper train from Colorado to Utah in a roomette accommodation. My ticket included a private enclosed space with two chairs, two beds, and perks such as priority boarding, meals on board, a dedicated attendant, and access to lounges at select stations.
In September 2025, I booked a $450 first-class ticket for a three-hour ride from Washington, DC, to NYC.
My ticket included a comfortable, roomy seat, a meal, attendant service, priority boarding, and lounge access at some stations.
My first ride was aboard an Amtrak Superliner.
The Superliner, which runs west of Chicago and New Orleans, looked like a typical Amtrak train with its boxy shape, silver metal exterior, and red and blue stripes.
Still, unlike other fleets I've ridden, it was two stories tall.
The Superliner I took got interior upgrades earlier this year, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told Business Insider.
The second ride was on Amtrak's NextGen Acela train that launched in August.
The Amtrak Acela is a high-speed Northeast express train that runs from Massachusetts to Washington, DC.
The NextGen Acela, the only Amtrak service with first-class seating, is the new fleet's flagship, boasting the highest top speed of any train in the US — 160 miles per hour. It looked more modern than any other Amtrak train I've seen. Its rounded shape and sleek front car reminded me of a spaceship.
On the NextGen Acela, I had a spacious window seat in a row of two.
My seat was comfortable and I had plenty of legroom. Each seat had a tray table with a cup holder and a reading light on the winged headrest.
I didn't feel constrained to my roomette for 15 hours thanks to the Superliner's communal dining and observation cars.
I ate my meals in the dining car and spent some time in the top deck's window-filled observation car when I was feeling cooped up in my room.
The Acela had a swanky new café car, but with limited seating, I spent most of the ride in my first-class seat.
I appreciated the sleek, modern café car, which offered snacks, beverages, and refrigerated grab-and-go meals. Since the first-class ride was so short, I didn't mind spending the trip in my seat.
My roomette booking included breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
French toast, Caesar salad with chicken, and a three-course dinner including Brie salad, flat iron steak, and a slice of cheesecake kept me full throughout my trip. And each meal was tastier than I expected for train food.
My first-class ticket came with an upscale lunch.
My Acela ticket only included one meal, which made sense considering that the ride was only three hours long. It was the best meal I've had on an Amtrak train.
A charred chicken thigh paired with roasted acorn squash tasted fresh, and the flavors were complementary — especially when dipped in the verde sauce. The hard roll and Key-lime pie dessert finished the job of filling me up.
I also noticed that the presentation was elevated compared to the roomette meals, with plates and glassware instead of plastic dishes.
The bathroom in the roomette car looked like a standard train bathroom.
The first-class bathroom felt larger and more modern.
A curved sliding door opened to reveal a spacious bathroom with red accents. There was a small shelf next to the brightly lit mirror.
I appreciated the high-tech amenities, including touch-free water, soap, and dryer dispensers, as well as lights that indicated when the room was occupied.
Only the first-class ride had WiFi.
After my 15-hour trip on the Superliner, which had no WiFi, an unusual occurrence for an Amtrak train, I was grateful that I could stream videos on the Acela train.
The Superliner took me further than the Acela.
Using the Google Maps measurement tool, I found that the California Zephyr route from Denver to Salt Lake City is about 500 miles, while New York City and Washington, D.C., are roughly 230 miles apart by train.
With more space, privacy, a longer distance covered, and a lower price point, the roomette was undoubtedly a sweeter deal than first class.
"We dynamically revenue manage all departures per demand, regardless of the equipment type used for any given departure," an Amtrak representative told Business Insider in an email.
Although the Acela was more modern, served a better meal, and provided WiFi, I didn't think it was luxurious enough to be worth more than my tiny, moving hotel room on the overnight ride across the Southwest.
