• I upgraded my Delta flight from the US to Europe to business class for $900.
• The fully-cocooned suite was private, and I loved the amenity kit and lie-flat bed.
• I liked the breakfast, but the dinner left much to be desired.

I took my first trip to Italy this year and decided it was finally time to treat myself to international business class — something I've wanted to experience for years but my bank account wouldn't allow.

My roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Rome cost 100,000 miles plus $75 in fees. It was going to be a long journey, though — three hours to Minneapolis, then another 10 to Rome — so I told myself I'd upgrade to Delta One if the opportunity came for less than $1,000.

Christmas came early: After checking Delta's website almost daily for months, I finally snagged a business-class seat on the second leg to Rome for $900. I squealed with glee and clicked "purchase" faster than you can say "buongiorno."

I have flown Delta One domestically before, but it was my first long-haul flight in Delta's highest-tier cabin, complete with a sliding door. This time, I wanted to find out whether the upgrade lived up to the hefty price tag attached to international premium.

I loved almost every minute — but the food left me wanting more. Here's why the upgrade was still worth the splurge.

I noticed the difference Delta One promised the moment I arrived at the airport.

Even though my first leg wasn't on Delta One, I was still able to access the exclusive check-in and Delta One lounge at Los Angeles International Airport.

It was exactly the luxury I was looking for. I didn't have to bring my own suitcase inside, as a dedicated handler took it out of my Uber and brought it to the counter for me.

After checking in, I was whisked to a private security line with only two people ahead of me. The entire experience took a grand total of two minutes.

The Delta One lounge was relaxing, but the Sky Club was crowded.

The Delta One lounge is reserved exclusively for Delta One passengers, so it's less crowded than Delta's more accessible Sky Club. The Delta One lounge is only available in Los Angeles, New York-JFK, Boston, and Seattle.

The one in Los Angeles is equipped with a range of amenities to enjoy before a long flight, including a full bar, plenty of food, an outdoor lounge, showers, and massage chairs. The chairs are a cool perk, but I didn't find them very soothing in practice; the ones in New York I like better.

There isn't a Delta One lounge in Minneapolis, but I could access the Delta Sky Club. This lounge was quite different — it was so crowded that I could barely find a seat, very loud, and the food options were limited. It wasn't the luxury I experienced before, so I left early for my gate.

The pod was like a mini hotel room.

The pod was very roomy, with the pièce de résistance being the lie-flat seat. Since I broke my ankle a decade ago, it's always better for me to be able to raise my legs on a long flight, and this was absolutely the way to go.

I appreciated that I could raise the lower portion of the seat while I was eating and then lower it fully into a bed when it was time to sleep.

The amenities mimicked a hotel, and the pre-flight service was top-tier: I enjoyed the small glass of Champagne served before takeoff, which was crisp, light, and refreshing.

The sliding door was game-changing.

After a full day of traveling, I was finally ready to experience the Delta One seat I'd meticulously scored — and it was nothing short of miraculous.

While this wasn't my first time in a Delta One seat, it was my first time in an individual pod with a door, thanks to the plane being one of Delta's newer Airbus A330-900neo aircraft (left photo). Its older Boeing 767s (right photo) and Boeing 757s I've flown on domestically don't have a door in Delta One.

The door was game-changing because it meant I could sleep without being bothered by the people around me. It just needs to be open for takeoff, landing, and meals, but otherwise, you can keep it closed.

The pod's amenities were top-tier.

Inside the pod were multiple amenities to get me through the flight, including a full bottle of water, charging ports, over-ear headphones, and a Missoni-branded pouch packed with flight essentials like comfy socks, an eye mask, hand cream, lip balm, a toothbrush and miniature Marvis toothpaste, and a pack of eye patches.

There was also a pouch with a pillow, comforter, and mattress pad to attach to the seat when it was time to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, wow, did I sleep.

I am a famously bad sleeper, but once I lay down in my pod and shut the door, it was lights out. I slept for a solid seven hours and woke up very rested and ready to experience my first day in Rome, which I know I wouldn't have been able to do in economy class.

For me, the opportunity to truly get a full night's rest, especially with a 17-hour travel day and nine-hour time difference, was game-changing.

There were plenty of TV and movie options.

I wasn't expecting to use the in-flight entertainment system much, since I wanted to spend the majority of my 10 hours asleep. But since the meal took a while to arrive, I watched Dreamgirls to pass the time.

The TV was large, built into the seat, and could be controlled either directly from the TV or via a remote. There were hundreds of movies and TV shows to choose from.

The inflight meal left me wanting more.

While I appreciated the opportunity to select my inflight meal a few days before takeoff, I wasn't overly impressed by any of the options. I chose the salmon, but it was dry and overcooked.

I did like the shrimp appetizer and the tomato bisque, but I didn't feel like I had enough to eat overall since the main course wasn't appetizing. To be honest, it was actually worse than the meal I got in Delta Comfort on the way back, which was surprising.

Additionally, due to significant turbulence, the service was delayed. I had selected the coursed-out option rather than having everything brought out at once, but the flight attendants couldn't do that safely. There's not much you can do about the weather.

However, a choose-your-own-adventure ice cream cart was brought out right after the meal, and I loved that. I went for vanilla ice cream with nuts and cherry compote, which was delightful.

The breakfast was much better.

Thankfully, the breakfast was much better and helped fill me up before I landed. I chose Belgian waffles, which came with a croissant and yogurt with granola and fruit, and gobbled up every single bite.

I landed and felt ready to go without needing any rest or recovery.

Even though I had been traveling for close to 20 hours by the time I reached my hotel in Rome, this experience actually left me feeling revived and rejuvenated. This was the first transatlantic flight I've taken where I didn't need to take a nap as soon as I arrived.

Since I was only in Rome for a day and a half, I was able to go out and explore right after I dropped off my bags and took a quick shower, and make it to my reservation at one of the World's 50 Best bars that evening.

Was it worth the $900 upgrade?

For me, absolutely. I know $900 isn't cheap, but since I originally used miles and this was the full cost of my flights to and from Rome, it was well worth it.

I had a dedicated check-in counter and security line, access to two lounges, meals (albeit some better than others), and a lie-flat seat in a pod with a closing door for a 10-hour flight.

I will say, though, that while I love Delta One, I wouldn't have paid the full price for this experience, which was about $4,000 one way — my fare limit for an experience like this taps out around $1,500.

I guess that means I'll stick to my upgrade strategy: meticulously checking for offers and crossing my fingers that another affordable one comes along.

Delta did not offer a comment.

• I booked two separate flight itineraries on different airlines for a family trip to Ireland.
• I realized this was a mistake after the first airline diverted, and the second left without us.
• The fix cost my family nearly $3,000 in new tickets and a day's worth of touring.

I'm a veteran traveler who has booked more long-haul flights than I can count. But earlier this year, I made a very expensive rookie mistake.

While planning a trip, I came across a deal I couldn't pass up: a $317 one-way flight on Icelandair to Ireland with a multi-day layover in Reykjavik. It was essentially a way to take a trip within a trip without paying extra airfare.

The catch? The flight departed from New York, not our home airport in Florida. I'd be in New York a few days early, but my family would need to fly up to meet me. Booking separate itineraries was far from ideal, but I figured a five-hour buffer would be enough.

It wasn't.

A storm in New York canceled my family's JetBlue flight from Florida, and their replacement flight then couldn't land and was diverted to Virginia. Their Icelandair flight to Europe was automatically canceled after they were marked as no-shows.

On the night we were supposed to fly together to Iceland, my family was stuck states away, and I was scrambling to find a solution.

With my family's original flight gone, we had to spend nearly $3,000 to get them back on track and navigate the complicated credit card trip insurance process. Here are 4 lessons I learned the hard way.

Booking separate itineraries comes with a pricey risk

Arriving in the city of your next flight at least 24 hours before may feel a bit extreme, but it's the minimum safety net you need.

Being already in the right location for your flight can be a huge weight off your shoulders. It also allows sufficient time for rebooking should something go wrong with your flight.

My last-minute whim to visit a few friends upstate turned out to be key. Those extra two nights in New York meant I was able to make the flight to Iceland. If I had booked my family of three on a flight the day before our long-haul flight, they would have made it too.

My family made it to New York the next morning and ended up taking a replacement flight to Iceland that evening, getting in about 24 hours later than originally planned. I bought two basic economy tickets for $734 each, and one standard economy ticket with extra baggage allowance for $1,105. In total, I spent $2,573 on new tickets.

The costly mistake made me realize that although an extra hotel night is an added expense and may mean using more PTO, it's a cheap investment compared to the cost of new international flights — and the cost of missed events — if things don't go to plan.

This is especially worth it if you have definite plans right after your arrival, such as a cruise or a concert.

Neither airline has to help in my scenario

When you book connecting flights on a single itinerary, the airline is responsible for getting you to your destination. If you miss that connection through no fault of your own, then the airline will put you on another available flight at no additional cost.

When you book flights separately, you're responsible for making each connection — or buying new tickets if you miss one. And generally, regardless of reason, the airline operating your next flight isn't obligated to accommodate you if you miss it because of a problem with your previous airline.

Our tickets to New York and Iceland were separate, so despite numerous calls to each airline, none were responsible for the missed connection. If you do miss a connection on a single booking, look up alternatives yourself and discuss them with the agent. It's not guaranteed, but they may be able to accommodate you on a partner airline at a more convenient time.

And remember, it's not the staff's fault for the disruption. You get more bees with honey.

I should have read the fine print

I didn't book the cheapest fare, but I didn't read the fine print either.

When things started to go wrong, I was shocked to see there was a $250 change fee per person on my original flight and no refunds. Changing the tickets would have cost nearly as much as the original flight, plus the fare difference.

At the time, it was uncertain when my family would actually arrive in New York and feasibly be able to catch the next flight to Iceland, so we didn't change the tickets. Missing the first flight on this stopover itinerary meant my family was marked a no-show and their onward leg to Dublin was canceled, which is standard airline policy.

While there were other ways to get to Iceland, there were few nonstop flights from Iceland to Ireland — a one-stop meant at least four extra hours of travel — so the best option was to book a new stopover ticket with Icelandair.

When I started booking the new tickets, I noticed that almost every fare class had punitive cancellation and change policies — and this time I was sure to be familiar with the terms of my booking.

I need to better understand my credit card's trip protections

Premium credit cards can have your back when flight plans go wrong, but they don't cover everything.

We used the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business' trip cancellation and interruption protection for the original Icelandair tickets and were reimbursed $952. The coverage typically reimburses covered unused, prepaid expenses — but not the cost of buying new airline tickets.

Trip delay coverage doesn't either, but it can cover other expenses for covered trips. However, credit card policies vary — and this is where I went wrong.

We booked the flights to New York on an American Express Business Platinum Card but used a different card for the return flights. That meant the Amex trip-delay protection did not apply: its terms require the full round-trip fare to be charged to the eligible card.

I had split the flights across cards to preserve Chase's bag-delay protection, but I didn't realize I was giving up the Amex protection in the process, so the $103 spent on dinner after the diversion wasn't covered. For future trips, I'll use only one credit card with good travel protections for all my trip expenses to reduce complications.

Airlines may also provide some compensation for flight disruptions. In our case, my family was reimbursed for a hotel stay ($185) on the night they were diverted. When delayed, I always keep receipts of all my added expenses to submit to the appropriate parties.

Overall, although our vacation had a rocky start and cost more than we planned, we had a great trip and are glad we pushed through it.

Missing a flight always seems avoidable in hindsight, and some things are beyond anyone's control, but with a few precautions, we can travel more confidently. Next time, I'm booking the extra hotel night.