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I booked a bedroom and a roomette on the same overnight Amtrak train. The bedroom is worth the splurge for longer rides.

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If you’re traveling somewhere between Chicago and San Francisco, I highly suggest making a trip of it by taking the California Zephyr, an incredibly scenic overnight Amtrak train through the American West.

I’ve ridden it twice. In January 2025, I took a 15-hour leg of the route from Denver to Salt Lake City and booked a roomette for $400. Then, in February 2026, I took the entire 53-hour journey from Chicago to Emeryville, California, and booked a bedroom for $2,200.

If you’re wondering if the bedroom was worth the upgrade, I think it depends on how long your trip is. But I’ll give you all the details so you can decide for yourself.

I’ve taken two overnight train trips aboard the California Zephyr.

The California Zephyr stopped at a platform in Colorado. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The California Zephyr is a double-decker Amtrak Superliner train that runs between Chicago and Emeryville, California.

The train has coach cars with regular seating and sleeper cars with private cabin accommodations — roomettes (the lowest tier), bedrooms, and bedroom suites (two joined bedrooms). There are also larger, family-sized bedrooms and accessible bedrooms.

First, I stayed in a roomette for a 15-hour trip from Colorado to Utah.


The author sits with her feet up in an Amtrak roomette looking out a window to the left

The author relaxes in a roomette on the California Zephyr. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

For the shorter journey from Denver to Salt Lake City, I booked a roomette for $400. With two seats and two beds, the roomette sleeps up to two passengers, though I was traveling alone.

Then I booked a bedroom for a 53-hour trip from Illinois to California.


The author standing smiling in the Amtrak bedroom with a bunk bed in the background

The author enjoys a bedroom in the California Zephyr. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I booked a bedroom for the full journey from Chicago to Emeryville for $2,200. The bedroom is roughly twice the size of a roomette and also includes a full bathroom. The bedroom also sleeps two, but again, I was traveling solo.

At 50 square feet, the bedroom was more than twice the size of the roomette.


Inside an Amtrak bedroom with two seats across from eachother in front of a wide window

Inside the bedroom accommodation. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The bedroom had a couch and a seat facing each other, with a table between them. I appreciated having a couch for the longer trip because I could stretch out and relax during the day.

I also liked that there was a bit more floor space in the bedroom.

In the roomette, the two chairs folded down to form a lower bunk.


A composite image of two train seats converted into a bed with a blue blanket

Seats in the roomette folded down into a bed. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The bed was cushy and wide enough to snuggle up comfortably.

In the bedroom, the couch folded down to form a cot that appeared to be slightly wider than the roomette bunk.


A composite image of the bottom bunk in the Amtrak bedroom with sheets and a blue blanket on top, and the author lying in bed looking out the window

The author rests in the lower bunk in the bedroom. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The lower bunk in the bedroom felt more spacious than the one in the roomette.

Both rooms also had a top bunk that pulled down from the ceiling.


The author lays on the top bunk in an Amtrak bedroom. There's a couch below and a ladder on the left

The author relaxes in the bedroom’s top bunk. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Since I had two nights in the bedroom, I spent one night in each bunk.

The bedroom had a full en suite bathroom.


A composite image of a toilet behind a shower and a sink and vanity with a storage cabinet on the right in an Amtrak bedroom

The bathroom inside the bedroom. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Inside the bedroom, there was a sink and vanity with a built-in cabinet where I found hand towels, soaps, toilet paper, and space to store my own toiletries. The toilet and shower were in a tiny space separated by a door.

For two nights on a train, I was thankful to have my own shower.

Roomette passengers shared a bathroom and a shower with other sleeper cabin passengers.


A composite image of a glass shower door with a skyline etching on it and the inside of the shower

The shared shower in the sleeper car. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Since I only spent 15 hours in the roomette, I didn’t mind not having a bathroom in my room. I didn’t use the shared shower; instead, I washed up once I arrived at my destination.

The bedroom had more storage space than the roomette.


A composite image of luggage storage in the roomette and bedroom

Storage in the roomette (left) and bedroom (right). 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Each room had a mini closet with two hangers inside, as well as a shelf that appeared to be for storing luggage. In the roomette, the shelf was only large enough for my backpack, but in the bedroom, it held my carry-on suitcase.

On both trips, I also had access to shared luggage storage space in the train car.

The bedroom also had a larger mirror.


A composite image of the author in mirrors in the roomette and bedroom

The mirror in the roomette (left) and the bedroom (right). 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Both rooms had mirrors, but the roomette mirror was shorter and thinner. So I appreciated the wide, full-length mirror in the bedroom. It wasn’t just convenient for getting ready — it also made the space feel larger.

Both bookings included meals.


Inside an empty train dining car with blue booths

Inside the dining car on the California Zephyr. 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Passengers had the option of eating in the dining car or in their rooms.

I think I booked the right room for each trip.


A composite image of the author sitting in a seat inside an Amtrak train's roomette accommodation, looking out a window on the left, and the inside of an Amtrak bedroom with a sofa and closet on the left, a sink on the right, and a sliding door with a curtain in the middle

The author in the roomette (left) and a peek inside the bedroom (right). 

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The bedroom served me well for the two-night journey, and I would splurge on it for any Amtrak trip 24 hours or longer. I think it’s worth the added price for the extra space and full bathroom.

At the same time, I’m glad I booked the roomette for the 15-hour journey. It was a short trip compared to other overnight rides, so sacrificing some comforts and privacy to save money was a good move for me.




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A headshot of Insider's Pete Syme

600 airline passengers faced the weirdest sleepover ever, when snow left them stuck on planes overnight

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Hundreds of people spent a snowy and freezing night trapped on board parked airplanes last Thursday.

Six flights, with around 600 passengers total, were unable to take off before Munich Airport’s 1 a.m. curfew due to the bad weather, the airport said in a Monday statement.

The airport police department has prepared a report on the incident, which is set to be submitted to the public prosecutor on Tuesday, Sven Otto, chief inspector for the Upper Bavaria North Police, told Business Insider.

He added that no complaints have yet been filed with the police by affected passengers.

Around 100 flights were canceled in Munich on Thursday, and temperatures dropped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. There were long lines to de-ice planes, while runways were periodically closed at short notice to clear the heavy snowfall, the airport said.

Munich, Europe’s 10th-busiest airport, typically shuts at midnight, but it received a permit that day to operate an hour later.

When the six flights couldn’t depart on time, there was no space left to park at the terminal due to all the cancellations, the airport said.

However, the passengers couldn’t be transported to the terminal because “bus service was severely restricted” due to “the late hour and communication problems,” it added.

Five of the flights were operated by Germany’s Lufthansa Group, and another by Air Arabia, a budget airline based in the UAE, according to the airport.

It said that airlines “provided the passengers with the best possible care on the aircraft.” Although those on board spoke of their distress.

“There was no food or drink for us. There were no blankets for us either,” Søren Thieme, who was on one of the Lufthansa planes, told Ekstra Bladet, a Danish newspaper that first reported the incident.

He said passengers on the canceled flight to Copenhagen asked if they could enter the airport, but they were told it was forbidden, and that all the bus drivers had gone home.

“We’re simply trapped here, along with the staff, too,” he told the newspaper.

Lufthansa and Air Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

Munich Airport said it “apologized expressly” to the affected passengers.

“Our top priority is always the safety and satisfaction of our passengers, and these incidents do not meet our standards.”




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The overnight scramble to prep an NFL stadium

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Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has hosted everything from Super Bowl weekend to concerts by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. It’s also set to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On its busiest weekends, the stadium holds major events on back-to-back days. When that happens, more than 1,000 employees work through the night to flip the site in under 18 hours, cleaning the stadium, repainting the field, and preparing thousands of meals. We spent 24 hours with the team as it switched from a Saturday night college football championship to a Sunday afternoon NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and a 2026 Super Bowl team, the Seattle Seahawks.


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I bunked with 3 strangers in a shared cabin on an overnight train in Europe. I’ll never do it again.

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  • I spent 11 hours in a shared cabin on an overnight train from Vienna to Venice, Italy.
  • For less than $100, I got a bunk in a room of six beds with three other people.
  • I’ve traveled overnight on Amtrak, but in private rooms. I didn’t adjust well to the shared space.

My ride from Vienna to Venice, Italy, in October 2022 was bumpy, cramped, and awkward.

During a two-week trip through four European countries, I spent 11 hours bunking with three strangers in an overnight sleeper train.

While it was my first time traveling in a sleeper car in Europe, I’d spent 60 hours on overnight Amtrak trains in the 20-square-foot roomette and 45-square-foot bedroom accommodations, where I had private rooms.

I thought an overnight train would be the best way to travel through Europe so that I could explore more during the day. But the rough ride made sleeping hard, and I didn’t feel rested when I got to Venice.

I booked my ride with the Austrian Federal Railway’s OBB Nightjet.

The OBB Nightjet train as it arrives in Venice in 2022.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

OBB Nightjet — a rail line that operates overnight routes between Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands — can go as fast as 143 miles per hour.

Nightjet trains have regular assigned seats, couchette cars (seats that fold out into couches in shared cabins), and sleeper cars with bunks of four or six, which is what I booked. Some routes have private cabins, but mine didn’t.

This overnight leg of my European train trip, which came with breakfast, cost $44 with a Eurail pass. Without the pass, the ticket would have been about $84.


The author's Eurail pass on a European train.

The reporter’s Eurail pass on a European train.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

To travel by train, I bought a Eurail pass for $477, which gives access to most European trains for a set number of days. Some trains require only a Eurail pass, while others, including overnight trains, incur an additional discounted fare.

My journey began in Austria’s Wien Meidling train station.


The station where the Nightjet took off from

Inside the Wien Meidling train station in Austria.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I arrived about an hour and a half before my 9:35 p.m. train so I’d have plenty of time to find the platform.

The departure screens said my train was going to Zurich. At the information desk, I learned that, unlike Amtrak, the train’s cars detach at various stations to go to different locations.


A train car on the Nightjet

Train car number two on the Nightjet.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I’d need to board my assigned train car; each has a number.

I paid $10 to wait for my train in OBB’s lounge.


Inside the OBB Lounge

Inside the OBB Nightjet lounge at Wien Meidling train station.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

The lounge is free for OBB first-class passengers traveling during the day and costs about $10 for all other OBB passengers. Since I didn’t see any empty seats in the rest of the station, I paid for it.

I was surprised to find I was the only one inside the lounge since the rest of the station was full of people. There were plenty of tables and chairs available.

The lounge served complimentary refreshments and snacks, from coffee to nuts and seeds.


refreshments in the OBB lounge

Refreshments in the OBB Nightjet lounge at Wien Meidling train station.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

It was a smaller selection than I’ve seen at Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge, which I’ve visited in New York, but I wasn’t hungry, so I just got a water bottle.

I went to the platform about 20 minutes before my train’s 9:35 p.m. departure.


Platform where the train takes off in Austria

The train platform the reporter used at Wien Meidling train station.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

When the train arrived, I didn’t have time to check the car number before boarding. I just went to the closest car and asked an attendant for help.

Inside the sleeper cars, I saw narrow, dimly lit corridors full of small cabins with bunk beds.


The corridor inside the Nightjet train

A corridor inside an OBB Nightjet sleeper car.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

An attendant led the way to my shared cabin.

My room had six bunks and a large window with a curtain. During my leg of the journey, one traveler was already there when I boarded, and two others arrived within an hour.


Inside the author's shared Nightjet cabin.

The reporter gets settled inside her shared cabin.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Two got off around 5 a.m., and the other stayed past my stop.

At 74 square feet, it felt like a tight space — especially with everyone’s luggage around. There was space for bags above the beds, but not enough for everyone.

I couldn’t imagine six people squeezing in there.

While my cabin was assigned, the beds were first-come, first-served.


A view of the top bunks from the train's bottom bunk

A view of the top bunks from the reporter’s bottom bunk.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Since I’ve experienced more bumps on higher bunks on Amtrak trains, I chose a bottom bunk.

The train provided bed sheets and a pillow.


Bunks inside the Nightjet train

Sheets for the beds inside the cabin.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Although they weren’t as soft and cozy as the sheets on Amtrak trains, they were better than nothing.

Temperature and shared lighting controls were above the curtained door to enter the room.


The curtains and controls in the Nightjet bunk

The door to the cabin with dials to control temperature and lighting above.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

My fellow passengers and I agreed to turn off the lights once everyone was settled into bed.

There was an outlet and a tiny nightstand on the side of each bunk, as well as night lights above the bed. Without curtains around each bunk, I thought I had no privacy.


Lights and outlets on the Nightjet

Lights and outlets in the Nightjet cabin.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I longed for a way to close off my bunk for more personal space.

Other passengers in the room said hello to one another upon arrival, but otherwise, the room was quiet.


Inside the shared cabin.

Inside the shared cabin.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Some of us watched our devices, while others went right to sleep.

Before bed, I used one of the two bathrooms for everyone in my sleeper car. I thought it was a typical train bathroom with a toilet and a sink.


The bathroom inside the Nightjet train

A bathroom inside the sleeper car.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

According to Nightjet’s website, only private sleeper cabins come with a shower.

When I was ready for bed, I watched TV before going to sleep. The bed was stiff and uncomfortable, in my opinion.


The author watches TV at night from her bunk.

The reporter’s view from her bed in the evening.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I woke up several times during the night to other travelers entering and exiting the room, or due to the bumpiness of the train.

An attendant woke me up with breakfast at 8 a.m., about 20 minutes before my stop in Venice. I got two rolls of bread with butter, jam, and coffee to eat in my bunk.


Morning breakfast on the Nightjet train

The reporter’s view with her breakfast in the morning.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

There was no café car or common area on board for passengers.

When I got off the train in Venice, I was exhausted from the lack of sleep. I thought it made my first day in the city less enjoyable.


Outside of the Nightjet train as it arrives in Venice

The OBB Nightjet arrives in Venice.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

“Offering our passengers a high level of travel comfort is an important concern for us,” a representative for OBB Nightjet told Business Insider. “We are constantly working on improvements to our product and also take into account the requirements of our customers.”

While sometimes it’s about the journey, not the destination, in this case, I’d rather arrive feeling refreshed so I can enjoy where I’m going. So, a year later, I booked a Nightjet private cabin to get from Venice to Vienna. That ride was far more comfortable, and I slept easily with no strangers in my cabin.




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