• Uber is offering bonuses to some drivers for completing more rides or referring new drivers.
• The bonuses can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars.
• Uber has used such extra pay in the past to attract drivers to the platform.

Uber is offering ride-hailing drivers something that many haven't seen in years: Big bonuses.

The ride-hailing service is coaxing some drivers to take more rides, offering up to several hundred dollars in "incentive" pay if they complete a set number of rides within a set time period, according to several screenshots of the offers seen by Business Insider.

In one example, a driver was offered $525 if the driver completed 45 trips within a few days. Similar offers involved smaller payouts and fewer trips, but paid out proportional amounts of $10 to $12 per trip.

That's a huge pay bump for many drivers, who make as little as a few dollars per trip, said Sergio Avedian, an Uber driver and senior contributor to the gig-driver-advocacy blog and YouTube channel The Rideshare Guy.

The bonuses might also be Uber's attempt to get more drivers on the road to meet rider demand during busy periods like Halloween and the holiday travel season, Avedian said.

"This may tell the story that they need supply," he said. "They're saying that we need to get everybody out there."

Some drivers have also gotten messages from Uber encouraging them to refer friends to sign up as drivers or get those who haven't driven in a couple of years back on the app, according to screenshots seen by Business Insider. Payment for those referrals can reach up to $1,225.

The payments are a potential boon to Uber drivers, whose pay can vary significantly between cities.

Uber drivers have to cover their own costs, such as car maintenance, since they are independent contractors, not full-time employees. Rising gas prices have eaten into drivers' pay after the US and Israel started a war with Iran earlier this year.

An Uber spokesperson did not provide details on why the company is offering the payments.

Uber has used targeted incentive payments before.

In 2021, demand for rides began to outpace the number of available drivers after many had stopped driving during the pandemic.

In response, the company decided "to invest fast and to invest aggressively in attracting drivers back to Uber" and increased the number of active drivers on the app by 65% between January and November that year, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on an earnings call at the time. Uber later pulled back on the extra pay.

"When we were coming out of the pandemic, they were short tons of drivers," said Avedian, who was driving for Uber at the time. "It was crazy bonuses out there."

More recently, riders have been paying more per mile and waiting longer for their rides to show up, according to a study published last month.

Do you have a story idea about Uber? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Want to buy a RAV4? Good luck finding one!
• I drove the longtime favorite vehicle for a week. It's boringly good — and that's a huge compliment.
• Toyota is ramping up its electric powertrains. The new RAV4 is the next great example.

Think of that awkward highway moment: You've accidentally cut someone off or made an obvious driving mistake. You wish you could sink into automotive oblivion before the other driver gets a good look at you.

The Toyota RAV4 is perfect for that situation.

The crossover SUV is good at nearly everything — efficient, comfortable, reasonably priced, and backed by Toyota's reputation for reliability — while wrapped in a package that looks like pretty much every other grocery getter on the road.

I spent a week and about 200 miles in a 2026 RAV4 Limited AWD, driving through New York City and the Catskills region. The fully-loaded tester stickered at $46,883.

I found the RAV4 to be aggressively competent. Its performance won't get your adrenaline pumping, and its looks won't turn many heads. Instead, it'll get occupants comfortably from point A to point B while barely sipping fuel.

And consumers can't get enough of that.

RAV4 gets a facelift — and some fresh electric motivation

The RAV4, America's third-best-selling vehicle last year, is fresh out of the design studio.

It's the sixth generation of the SUV: Unlike its curvier predecessors, it's squared off and upright. The front and rear are nearly perpendicular to the ground and are finished off with LED head and taillights.

The more consequential change is under the hood.

For 2026, Toyota killed the gas-only RAV4. Every version now comes with a battery in the powertrain; the only remaining choice for RAV4 hopefuls is between a conventional hybrid and a pricier plug-in hybrid.

That puts one of America's most popular vehicles squarely behind the hybrid strategy Toyota has spent years defending.

While rivals poured billions into all-electric lineups, Toyota kept betting that hybrids — which combine a gas engine with electric motors and a small battery that recharges as you drive — would be easier for mainstream buyers to adopt.

The RAV4 isn't Toyota's first bestseller going hybrid-only. The Camry sedan made the switch for 2025, and the Sienna minivan has been hybrid-only since 2021.

RAV4 is the most consequential expression of that hybrid bet. And the execution hits the nail on the head.

The base model is roughly $32,000 — similar to gas-powered competitors like the Honda CR-V or the Nissan Rogue.

Gas mileage is exceptional. During my test, I averaged 47 mpg, and saw 50-plus mpg on some shorter trips.

There are trade-offs. The RAV4 feels sprightly off the line, but ask for more power at highway speeds, and the gas engine starts working noticeably harder. The steering is vague, the engine can drone, and the transition between electric and gas power is still more obvious than I'd like.

Still, Toyota gets the boring stuff right. The RAV4 gets a smartly layered front-seat organization system, a clean gauge cluster, and easy-to-understand digital climate controls.

Buyers who want something faster, flashier, or fully electric have plenty of other options — including elsewhere in Toyota's own showroom. My Limited tester also proved you don't need to spend nearly $47,000 to get what makes the RAV4 appealing (the heads-up display, for example, really wasn't necessary).

The RAV4's trick is simpler: It doesn't require any major life changes from its owner. Shoppers don't have to install a charger, rethink a road trip, or learn a radically different car. They can just drive it — and, in my case, get 47 mpg.

Wow, it's popular

That success does create a problem: Buyers can't get enough of the RAV4, especially as high gas prices add to already-strong hybrid demand.

Right now, a new RAV4 spends an average of just 17 days on a dealership lot, per CarGurus data shared with Business Insider. The industry average is above 70 days.

Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, said the situation reminds him of the chip shortage era, when limited inventory sent shoppers hunting through dealership lots and helped push car prices higher.

"We're way out of the chip shortage now, so it's a really kind of unique environment," he said.

That scarcity is creating another oddity. CarGurus found that average used prices for 2026 RAV4s were actually running above the starting prices of equivalent new trims. Even 2025 RAV4s were retaining about 99% of that value.

His advice for shoppers: "Dust off some of the chip shortage playbook" by expanding their search radius, being flexible about options, or ordering a vehicle if they aren't in a rush.

• This summer, I took a four-day Amtrak trip with my spouse, and worked remotely the entire journey.
• I loved working in the café car while taking in views of the Mississippi River and the Great Plains.
• Even though the internet wasn't reliable, it was a great experience that I can't wait to do again.

This summer, my spouse and I decided to take the longest Amtrak trip we've ever taken — three trains from Washington, DC, to Vancouver over four days.

My partner, who is a teacher, had a break between the school year and the summer program, so this adventure was the perfect excuse to relax, disconnect from the world, and enjoy the train's views. That was, unfortunately, not the case for me.

Since I have an office job with limited vacation time, I decided I would work remotely throughout the entire trip. Even though I had my boss's permission to work on the train and had packed all my essentials, I still wondered how successful this endeavor would be.

Turns out, it was more challenging than I anticipated, but still worth the hassle.

I made sure to prepare for any WiFi outages and pack accordingly.

Before the trip, I researched whether the trains would have WiFi, but found that it could vary by route.

Since I wasn't sure how reliable my internet options would be on board, I made sure to download the most important documents onto my computer instead of just relying on the cloud. This way, even if there was an unstable connection, I'd still be able to access them.

Additionally, I made sure to have my phone's hotspot at the ready for whenever there wasn't WiFi on the train.

And just as an extra precaution, I made a point of scheduling any important calls for either before or after our train rides, so that I wouldn't risk losing signal while speaking with my team.

To prevent any other hiccups, I packed everything I could think of that I might need: my work laptop, my portable monitor, all the appropriate cords and chargers, and my planner for anything I needed to do on paper.

The roomette's privacy was great, but it didn't have enough outlets.

On two of our three train rides, we booked a roomette, a small bedroom with two seats facing each other that would convert into bunks at night.

The internet was spotty in there, but I was still able to wrap up the last emails of the day without any problems.

On the first train ride from DC to Chicago, the roomette had two power outlets, but on our journey from Chicago to Seattle, it had only one — forcing my spouse and me to take turns charging our devices.

I loved working in the café car.

Sometimes, the roomette felt pretty cramped, so I took my work setup to the café car as often as I could.

Not only was there plenty of room for me to spread out with my laptop and second screen, but I could also witness amazing views — like the Mississippi River or the Great Plains — from the window.

However, since there weren't any power outlets in the café car, I was only able to be productive for as long as my computer and phone batteries lasted, which was about 2 hours. Then, once everything had run out of power, I had to return to the roomette and plug everything in, which disrupted my workflow.

I didn't think about how my hotspot wouldn't be reliable in rural areas.

Since there was only stable WiFi on one of our three trains, I was relying heavily on my hotspot for most of the trip. But by the third day, the cellular signal kept getting spotty as we entered more rural areas of the country, making my hotspot less reliable.

Because of the weak connection, I couldn't access my team's folders, so I had to email my boss a report instead of uploading it to SharePoint.

I panicked a little, since we're not supposed to save documents directly to our computers, but this was my only option without a consistent signal.

When we sat in coach, I could barely get any work done.

For the last leg of our trip from Seattle to Vancouver, we sat in coach instead of reserving a roomette.

We were able to sit at a small table, but it was too cramped to take out my laptop, and there wasn't any space to work in my seat either. This was the only portion of the trip where it was impossible to do any work, and it really made me miss my roomette.

Even though working on the train was challenging, the station lounges were perfect.

Whenever we had train delays, I would work at the Amtrak stations, which were great places to be productive.

The station in DC had a place to stash our suitcases, decent WiFi, and various tables and chairs. The one in Chicago was also a great size, was well-lit, and had a strong internet connection and plenty of seating.

Similarly, the upper level of the Amtrak station in Seattle had a small art gallery and sitting area — a perfectly comfortable space for me to do my job.

It wasn't the easiest way to work, but I'd do it again.

Although working on these trains wasn't always smooth, I still had a great experience and would definitely love to do it again.

Next time, though, I would pack a power bank to charge my phone and monitor without needing an outlet, and overprepare for a lack of WiFi.

Overall, even though working remotely on Amtrak trains had its challenges, I loved the stunning views and the chance to see new sights rather than just sitting at my desk.

Business Insider reached out to Amtrak for comment.

• Matthew Guerrero says gas costs eat up much of his pay as an Uber driver in Southern California.
• He prioritizes giving rides to weekend barhoppers who tend to tip well, he said.
• Uber says that one driver's experience isn't representative of the broader platform.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matthew Guerrero, a 41-year-old Uber driver in Southern California. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I worked as a firefighter for about four years before I got injured on the job.

I've been seeking a workers' comp settlement that should be settled soon. In the meantime, my lawyer said that I could start working again. I needed a job really quickly, especially with three kids, so I started driving with Uber.

I've been driving with Uber for about five weeks. So far, it hasn't been very successful. For example, one week, I made $600 working 30 hours. To make that, I spent about $300 in gas driving my SUV.

Then, I have to put between 20% and 30% of what's left aside for taxes. That comes out to about $210 for 30 hours of work. That doesn't even include wear and tear on my car. I don't understand how anybody can do this long-term. It's not sustainable.

The pay is better if you drive in Los Angeles or San Diego. But I'm in Riverside County, and the pay seems to be lower here.

To get better-paying rides, you have to be strategic. Sometimes, I try to get a ride with a passenger who's headed to an airport in one of the big cities. Then, I stay there all day and take rides. That's not always feasible, though.

When I started with Uber, I realized that there were a lot of rides that involved taking people to morning doctor's appointments. Most of those people didn't tip well, though, and tips are key to making money.

Instead, I like to work Friday and Saturday nights around bars in Temecula. I usually log on around 4 pm and head home around 3 am. The pay is good, and the tips are a lot better than other rides in my area. Sometimes you have to deal with drunk people throwing up, but it's worth it.

I've given some rides to veteran Uber drivers — people who were working on the app back in 2015 and 2016. They said that they used to make better money than I do, and that they quit after they saw pay fall.

That was eye-opening for me. I don't understand how a company like Uber can pay as little as they do.

An Uber spokesperson said drivers in Riverside County, California make "at least $20.28 per engaged hour, plus $0.37 per engaged mile for vehicle expenses, with tips on top of that."

"While this guarantee doesn't cover time spent waiting for trips, it's important context when discussing driver compensation," the spokesperson said. Driver earnings can vary based on when drivers decide to work, where they drive, and rider demand.

"One driver's experience isn't representative of the broader platform," the spokesperson said.

Do you have a story idea about Uber? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) lifted, effective immediately this Friday, the measures that had restricted Mexican airlines from establishing new flights to the U.S. from Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City (AICM).

RELATED:

Mexico Takes Steps to Tackle Reduced Natural Gas Supplies from U.S.

In a joint statement, the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) reported that the decision was reached through coordinated efforts between the governments of Mexico and the United States, as well as progress made in fulfilling bilateral aviation commitments.

The measure revokes Order 213-2, through which the DOT had restricted existing, proposed, and future operations by Mexican carriers. According to the Mexican government agencies, this resolution represents a step forward for air connectivity between the two countries and reopens the possibility of developing routes and flight frequencies from the AICM and AIFA to the U.S. market.

The Government of Mexico attributed this outcome to a process of dialogue and technical cooperation, which was strengthened following a Memorandum of Consultations signed in May 2026. “Since then, Mexico has made progress on the agreed-upon commitments,” the statement noted.

The SRE and SICT indicated that the lifting of these restrictions reflects the desire of both administrations to move toward a new phase in the bilateral aviation relationship—one grounded in dialogue, respect for sovereignty, institutional cooperation, and the application of international standards.

The restriction had been announced on October 28, 2025, by the then-Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, and affected Aeroméxico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus. Washington accused Mexico of failing to comply with the bilateral air transport agreement and of favoring domestic carriers in the allocation of flight slots.

The dispute stemmed from a decree that shifted cargo flights from AICM to AIFA. At the time, President Claudia Sheinbaum maintained that the relocation was a technical decision, not a political one.

Mexico pledged to continue working with U.S. authorities to create greater opportunities for passengers, workers, and airlines, as well as to consolidate an aviation system that is safe, competitive, modern, and reliable.

• Want to physically drive a Tesla in the future? The Roadster will be your only option, Musk said.
• The car is not cheap.
• Musk has compared today's driving to elevator operators.

Want to physically drive a Tesla in the future? Get ready to pay up.

On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the new Roadster with a gravity-defying demo. The car suctioned to the side of a vertical ramp, drove upside down, briefly flew, stuck the landing, and later bunny-hopped and twirled over a standing lineup of other Tesla vehicles.

The stunts were choreographed with autonomy, Musk said — but Roadster owners will eventually be able to manually take the wheel. That will make it unique in Tesla's lineup.

"This will actually be, long-term, the only manually driven car that Tesla makes," Musk said on stage, before Tesla's lead engineer, Lars Moravy, added, "You gotta have some fun sometimes."

Tesla hasn't revealed the car's final price, but we know it'll firmly be in the luxury supercar tier. The company's reservation queue asks customers who want the base Performance trim to fork over a $50,000, due within 10 days. That reservation, alone, is nearly the price of an average car in America, and it doesn't capture the car's final price. Our best pricing ballpark dates back to 2017, when Tesla first said it was bringing back the Roadster. At the time, the automaker collected $250,000 payments from people who wanted a Founder Series model.

Meanwhile, Tesla has been ramping up its autonomy push for its more price-conscious vehicles.

In September, it started rolling out the Cybercab — a vehicle that leans so heavily into self-driving that it has no steering wheel, brake pedals, or side mirrors. Tesla says it wants to eventually sell those cars to consumers at less than $30,000 apiece.

On recent earnings calls, Musk has also praised the recurring revenue from subscriptions of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) from Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model 3 owners.

Musk has talked a lot about a world where driving becomes obsolete. He has compared driving a car to operating an elevator, a profession that was largely phased out in the mid-20th century as elevators became automated.

"Now, you just get in, press a button and a modern elevator, if inspected regularly, is extremely safe," he wrote on X in March.

Treating driving like elevator operation requires a pretty big leap. Driving is still a hobby, a sport, and — for many people — a point of pride. By Moravy's own admission, driving is fun.

There's still a chance in Musk's vision of his carmaker's future that drivers can control their own Tesla and lean into that fun. They'll just need to open their checkbooks.

• Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's flying, thrust-powered Roadster with a jaw-dropping demo.
• Tesla fans about to shell out as much as $250,000 to reserve it should probably read the fine print.
• Tesla said it can't guarantee the Roadster will be delivered, and it's unclear if the rocket-powered version is street-legal.

Where Tesla's going, you might not need roads — but you still need to read the terms and conditions.

Tesla's thruster-powered, midair flip-kicking, flying supercar was a wow moment even by the standards of the company's famously off-the-rails product unveilings.

But Tesla fans lining up to pay as much as $250,000 to reserve the new Roadster, which can do 0-60 mph in under a second thanks to a system of cold-gas thrusters, should probably take a close look at the fine print.

The company's T&Cs make it clear that the final price of the bleeding-edge EV — which comes in Performance, Thrust, and Rocket variants — has yet to be determined and state that there are no guarantees the Roadster will ever be delivered.

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether the two thruster-powered versions of the Roadster will actually be road-legal.

After combing through the Roadster's reservation agreement and Musk's comments at its unveiling, here's what you should know before splashing out on Tesla's most outlandish vehicle yet.

1. It's not clear where you can actually drive it

As the dust cleared on the jaw-dropping Roadster showcase, one key question remained unanswered: where exactly will you be able to drive it?

At the event, Musk said the cold air thruster-powered flying Roadster would be an actual "car that someone can own," not just a one-off concept demonstration.

But the Tesla CEO added that he was "not sure it's necessarily legal in all jurisdictions," and when an audience member asked if it would be street-legal, Musk was vague.

"Depends on your street. But it'll be a viable car," the billionaire said.

The flying Rocket variant shown in the demo is invite-only. It's listed on Tesla's website with the caveat that it is "not approved for public road use."

The gravity-defying stunts, flips, and barrel rolls shown off at Thursday's unveiling were performed without a driver in the car for safety reasons, and Musk described the vehicle as "not necessarily a safety-optimized car."

One thing that has been clarified is whether the Roadster's airborne capabilities make it an aircraft: "The Tesla vehicle does not meet the FAA's definition of an aircraft," a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told Business Insider.

By contrast, Tesla describes the Performance variant — which costs $50,000 to reserve — as "road ready" with its fan-suction system providing "next-level performance on and off the track." That suggests the goal is for the base version of the Roadster, at least, to be road-legal.

The limited-edition Thrust variant, meanwhile, is described as "race ready," implying that this version might be exclusively for driving on race tracks. That would not be unusual for a high-end hypercar, with Ferrari, Pagani, and Bugatti all selling track-only supercars that don't adhere to normal vehicle regulations.

2. It could cost more than you signed up for

Shelling out up to $250,000 for a Roadster reservation by no means guarantees that you will get one at that price.

According to the terms and conditions of Tesla's Roadster reservation agreement, the fees for the Performance and Thrust variants are only an estimate, as the company is still "working on what options, features and hardware the vehicle will have."

The final purchase price will be confirmed closer to the start of production, the document said, with the (fully refundable) reservation payment going toward the actual cost of the car.

3. Delivery is not guaranteed

The T&Cs also advise reservation holders that the Roadster is still "under development" and Tesla "cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered."

This will likely bring back bad memories for Tesla fans who paid $50,000 to reserve the next-generation Roadster when it was first unveiled in 2017.

That version of the Roadster, a more conventional supercar that could still hit 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, languished in development for years and ultimately never entered production.

The delay caused some long-suffering reservation holders like Musk's arch-rival, Sam Altman, and tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, to cancel their orders in frustration after waiting nearly a decade for a car that never arrived.

Tesla fans will be hoping that history doesn't repeat itself.

Editor's note: October 16, 2026 — This story was updated to include a comment from the FAA.

• Musk described his plans for the Tesla Roadster during a 2019 exchange with YouTuber MKBHD.
• On Thursday, the Roadster did exactly as Musk promised nearly eight years ago, leaping into the air.
• While Musk missed his own deadline by years, the technology on display was just as he described it.

It's been a long time coming.

Almost eight years ago, in January 2019, Elon Musk shared plans on Twitter for Tesla's Roadster to lift off using cold-gas thrusters and ultra-high-pressure air. On Thursday, the much-anticipated Roadster did exactly that.

Musk's 2019 assertion came in response to a user sharing a GIF of the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" hovering in midair.

"The new Roadster will actually do something like this," he wrote. Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee responded: "The thing is I feel like you’re not joking."

"I'm not," Musk said.

He then described a SpaceX-made cold-gas thruster system that uses high-pressure air stored in a composite pressure vessel.

At a SpaceX test site in Texas on Thursday, almost 8 years later, a Roadster climbed a curved ramp, dropped, rolled through the air and landed on its wheels. It used the same basic technology: cold-gas thrusters fed by high-pressure air stored in composite pressure vessels.

The 2019 exchange was not Musk’s first mention of thrusters. In June 2018, he said the Roadster would include roughly 10 of them and suggested they might allow the car to fly.

When another user proposed compressed-air cold-gas thrusters, Musk said that configuration made sense and described a pump to replenish the air.

Musk's account of the technology has proved more consistent than his production timetable. Tesla unveiled plans for the second-generation Roadster in 2017 and originally targeted production for 2020. After repeated delays, Musk said in the reveal that production will begin in 2028.

The Roadster is not Tesla’s only vehicle to miss an ambitious release target. When Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, he said Tesla expected production to begin in late 2021. The first customer deliveries took place two years later, in November 2023.

While Musk has missed plenty of deadlines, many of his more improbable technology plans have made it beyond the drawing board. In December 2020, he said SpaceX would try to catch a returning Super Heavy booster with its launch tower.

Nearly four years later, the tower’s mechanical "chopsticks" caught one for the first time.

Musk has a habit of promising the improbable well before it is ready, but eventually, the improbable part arrives.

• I flew on a "boutique" Taiwanese airline called Starlux, and it blew me away.
• The seat was like a private pod, and the food was some of the best I've ever had.
• The crew seemed rushed during boarding, but were impeccable inflight.

I'm a regular business-class traveler, having flown on dozens of airlines and hundreds of thousands of miles over the years.

I often get asked the same question: What's the best business-class seat you've ever flown in?

It's not the usual fan favorites of Singapore Airlines or Emirates. It's Starlux Airlines, a Taiwanese carrier many Americans have never heard of.

Starlux first flew in January 2020 and bills itself as a "boutique" international airline that operates nonstop flights from Taipei to several US cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

My flight was on an Airbus A350-900 from Taipei to San Francisco, a nearly 12-hour overnight flight. It was the second leg of a trip that started in Kuala Lumpur, and the entire itinerary cost 85,000 Alaska Airlines miles.

The cash fare on this route ranges from $2,600 to over $5,000, depending on the season, so the points redemption — Alaska is a Starlux partner — was a very good deal. And the experience blew me away.

The whole idea from the beginning was to build a luxury airline from nothing with meticulous attention to detail and an emphasis on the small stuff.

After flying Starlux, those minor details made all the difference. Here's what my flight was like and why I'd easily book again.

The seat felt like a private suite

Every seat in Starlux's business class opens straight into the aisle, and every one has a sliding door. The cabin is decorated with faux marble finishes and shiny black panels. It honestly looks more like a boutique hotel lobby than the inside a plane.

This extreme attention to detail is what sold me most.

My favorite example: there's a little gap under the storage cabinet door, so you can leave a charging cable running out of it with the door closed. Exploring the seat illuminated several thoughtful design choices. The pod felt deliberate in a way some brand-new airline seats just aren't.

Some people call business class doors a gimmick, mostly because they don't go all the way up. I loved mine anyway. Once the seat was flat and the door was shut, it felt like my own little room, further emphasized by the warm mood lighting, pristine leather accents, and large seat walls.

A flight attendant handed me pajamas before we'd even pushed back, so I changed right away.

After dinner, the crew made up my bed with a thick mattress pad and one of the softest blankets I've ever been given on a plane.

The footwell angles inward slightly, which makes it feel a bit tight when you're lying flat, but I slept well regardless. On an overnight flight this long, that's what matters most.

The food was some of the best I've had in the air

Dinner is where Starlux left every other business-class flight behind.

It started with warm, fluffy garlic bread, which felt out of place alongside the Asian meal, but I was thrilled to see it. When the flight attendant came to clear my appetizer, she asked if I'd like more bread, to which I obviously said yes.

Then a creamy miso mushroom soup showed up, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it's one of the best things I've eaten on a plane. It was rich and savory, the kind of thing I can still taste if I think about it today.

The main was beef with fried rice, which was flavorful and cooked to perfection.

Dessert was Italian gelato that was actually soft enough to eat straight away, which basically never happens with ice cream at 38,000 feet.

Breakfast before landing: waffles with figs were also notable. One of the few airline breakfasts I'd happily order again.

All of the food served looked as good as it tasted. Every course was properly plated, the flight attendant talked me through each dish, and she reset my table between courses without me noticing.

The crew truly elevated the experience

Starlux isn't perfect, and the first 20 minutes of my flight proved it. Pre-flight service felt as if the crew was simply going through the motions rather than trying to create a good experience.

But when the meal service started, it was like a switch flipped.

One flight attendant greeted me by name and knelt down next to my seat to take my order. At one point, my seatbelt locked up while I was reaching for my amenity kit; she saw it happen and handed me the kit before I'd said a word.

My main course came out a few minutes late, and she apologized profusely for it, which she really didn't need to do, but it tells you what standard this crew holds itself to.

By the time dinner was over, even the crew members who'd seemed checked out at first were warm and attentive. When I woke up and asked for tea, it was there almost immediately, with lemon and sugar on the side.

I love how fun Starlux is

The other thing I love about Starlux is that it doesn't take itself too seriously.

There's a space theme running through the whole airline, from the Galactic Lounge in Taipei to the COSMILE loyalty program. Since 2024, it's been working with Peanuts, so Snoopy turns up on themed flights and merch.

On my flight, the entertainment screen displayed a Snoopy welcome for me, and I still carry my things in a Starlux Snoopy tote bag.

Even the toilet paper is custom printed with a runway design. All of these things make the airline feel like it's enjoying itself.

Starlux got the three things that actually matter right: the seat, the food, and the crew. And it did it with a sense of fun that a lot of the big-name carriers have somehow lost along the way.

I've flown business class on dozens of airlines, including some of the world's most famous seats. If you're flying between the West Coast and Asia, I'd book Starlux.

Starlux did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Elon Musk's Tesla unveiled its new car, the Roadster, on Thursday.
• In its demonstration, the car took flight using thrusters and performed kickflips.
• Here's what smart people in tech and business have to say about it.

Tesla’s long-delayed Roadster finally made an entrance — by flying off a ramp.

At a livestreamed event Thursday night, the sports car climbed a curved ramp until it was upside down, launched into the air, flipped, and landed on its wheels, apparently aided by thrusters beneath the vehicle.

“Well, it worked,” Elon Musk said during the livestream.

Musk said Tesla and SpaceX engineers collaborated on the car, which uses high-pressure air and thrusters to lift itself off the ground. Tesla also showed a recorded demonstration in which the Roadster reached 60 mph in 0.81 seconds.

While the legality of such a device on public roads remains in question, the tech world is reacting to Musk's new creation with awe.

Here is what the leading voices in business and tech are saying about the new Roadster.

Jason Calacanis

Angel investor Jason Calacanis said in an X post that the videos of the flying car looked like "science fiction," and they're real, although they don't seem to be.

He seemed enthused by the demonstration, asking that while the car was only airborne for a couple of seconds, "what if it could keep you in the air for five minutes? Or ten? Or 30?"

Gene Munster

Gene Munster, the managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management and a longtime tech analyst, wrote his two takeaways from the Roadster event on X.

First, that "it was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers."

And the second was that it signaled Musk's ambition to merge his two publicly traded companies, SpaceX and Tesla.

John Carmack

John Carmack, the former CTO of Meta's virtual reality division, politely rejected the flying car.

"That demo involved a non trivial chance of embarrassing failure!" he wrote on X.

He added, "I'm only going for the baseline model. At this point in my life, rocket bunny hops are out of my comfort zone."

Marques Brownlee

Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, appeared incredulous at Tesla's claims about the new Roadster.

"They really just got on stage and said this newly designed 4000+ pound car can do flips and go half the speed of sound (380+mph) and will ship in 2028," he wrote on X. "This is a prank, right?"

Alexandr Wang

Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, had one burning question after watching Tesla's Roadster demonstration.

"wait who the hell was driving the tesla," Wang wrote on X, sharing footage of the car speeding down a dark track.

Dan Ives

Dan Ives, an analyst at Yorkville Ives and a longtime Tesla bull, said the Roadster reveal was "a statement about where the Tesla and SpaceX engineering stacks are headed together."

He wrote that the car's SpaceX-developed hardware was "a small example of the synergies between Tesla and SpaceX."

Still, he said, "The Roadster will not move the volume or revenue needle," but would "restore the brand halo at the top of the market."

David Marcus

David Marcus, the former PayPal president and Meta executive, credited Musk with bringing a sense of awe back to technology.

"The thing I’m most grateful to Elon for is bringing back an age of wonder and excitement to humanity," Marcus wrote on X, sharing Tesla's Roadster demonstration.

"That was jaw-dropping awesome! Screams and mouths wide open in the audience. Nuts."

Sam Altman

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, appeared to momentarily set aside his long-running beef with Musk to congratulate the Tesla boss.

"Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing, good job @elonmusk," Altman wrote in a Friday X post.

Altman had reserved an earlier version of the Roadster but said in October 2025 that he had canceled it after waiting 7.5 years, prompting a public exchange of barbs with Musk.

Musk was a cofounder and early financial backer of OpenAI, but he left the company's board in 2018 and has become critical of Altman's leadership.

• Tesla revealed its next-gen Roadster car during a livestreamed event on Thursday.
• In the demonstrations, the car flew and did a kickflip.
• The internet was amused, to say the least.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Tesla's new flying car.

Elon Musk's Tesla revealed its next-generation Roadster vehicle during a livestreamed event on Thursday. In a futuristic display of its capabilities, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, became airborne, engaged its thrusters at the bottom, and did a midair flip before landing.

In another demonstration, it sped toward a line of cars, took off, did a kickflip over the cars, and landed on the other side.

The demo was, by all measures, jaw-dropping. But the internet took all of minutes to turn the flying, kickflipping car into a meme.

The best memes we've seen so far

The overhead signs on the freeway give ample allowance for tall vehicles. Not so much for flying cars.

Some internet users had the traffic police in their prayers.

We're not yet sure if roadster kickflips will be allowed on public roads. One X user made an early prototype of a new road sign:

Meanwhile, others were already thinking of how to get ahead of morning traffic.

If you've ever spilled a drink because of a sudden speed bump, imagine how much worse an unexpected flight might be.

One practical-minded X user was more concerned about how Roadsters, in all their soaring glory, could be insured.

Finally, there had never been a better time to quote "Back to the future."

• Tesla has finally (re)revealed the second-generation Roadster.
• It's the automaker's new halo product.
• Musk has been hyping tonight's event, saying it's a contender for the "greatest product demo."

The Roadster has, at long last, taken off — quite literally.

Tesla unveiled its next-generation Roadster at a livestreamed event Thursday night, giving customers who have waited years their first fresh look at the EV maker's new halo car.

In a dramatic demonstration, the Roadster traveled up a huge curved ramp until it was upside down. The car then flew off the ramp, flipped, and landed safely on the ground, thanks to thrusters attached to the bottom of the vehicle.

"Well, it worked," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said after it successfully landed.

"Flying cars are real," Lars Moravy, Tesla's VP of vehicle engineering, added.

Musk called the latest Roadster a result of a collaboration with Tesla and SpaceX engineers.

The Tesla CEO said the car uses an "advanced ultra-high pressure air tank" to lift itself.

"The car has obviously altitude control thrusters and main thrusters in the rear, so it can basically fly like a rocket, and it could do rolls," he said.

In a separate recorded demonstration shown on screen, Tesla also showed the Roadster hitting 60 mph in under one second, marking .81 seconds.

Tesla shared more stats about the Roadster on X: a two-seater with about 300 miles of range and a top speed over 230 mph. Some of the configurations also appear to depend on whether the Roadster is equipped with "rocket" thrusters. For example, if the car is "air ready" and has the rocket, the Roadster seats only one.

There are also small details about the Roadster that notably diverge from Tesla's signature design choices.

The Roadster's door latches, for example, appear to be mechanical. Typical Tesla cars are known for their electronic door latches, which China is clamping down on due to safety risks.

The halo vehicle also appears to lack side-view mirrors, which raises the question of how the Roadster will be street-legal under federal standards.

Tesla's website lists three configurations of the car for purchase: performance, thrust, and rocket. The performance trim requires an immediate $5,000 deposit, with an additional $45,000 due in 10 days. The thrust version requires a $250,000 deposit. The rocket trim appears to be available only through "invite only."

Musk said the Roadster will be the only Tesla vehicle meant to be driven manually and that it's not "necessarily a safety-optimized car."

An observant audience member at the event also asked a glaring question: Is it street legal?

"Depends on your street," Musk said. "It'll be a viable car."

The long road behind

The revived nameplate has been a long time coming.

The original Roadster was Tesla's first production vehicle, launching in California in 2008. It used a chassis derived from British sports-car maker Lotus' Elise, but replaced its gasoline engine with an all-electric powertrain. That model ended production in 2012.

Musk surprised audiences in November 2017 at an event for Tesla's Semi truck by unveiling a second-generation Roadster. At the time, Tesla said the two-door sports car would have a 1.9-second zero-to-60-mph time, a top speed above 250 mph, more than 600 miles of range, and a gargantuan 200-kilowatt-hour battery pack.

That month, customers could put down a $50,000 deposit to reserve a Roadster, or pay $250,000 upfront for a Founders Series model.

Musk also floated a SpaceX package for the supercar with cold-gas thrusters that he said might "allow a Tesla to fly."

With the wait time creeping toward a decade, Musk apologized to "long-suffering" deposit holders in an earnings call, adding that Tesla was focusing heavily on its robotics and autonomy programs.

"Roadster is not just icing on the cake; it's the cherry on the icing on the cake," he said at the time. "We are working on it, but it has to come behind the things that have a more serious impact on the world."

Tesla began ramping up the Roadster's design cycle in the summer of 2025, Business Insider previously reported.

Musk had been hyping Thursday's livestreamed event on X. He claimed that event would be "a candidate for greatest product demo of all time" and that "the whole world will watch this."