Airline Hack: The Free Stopver
And how I'm using it this summer!
Welcome to the Weekly Wanderlust Newsletter. This week’s newsletter will include:
An explanation of the free stopover.
Bilt Rent Day this month!
One of my Favorite Airline Hacks
Have you ever booked a flight with a layover and thought, “It would be cool to explore this city,” while reluctantly waiting in the airport for three hours before your next flight? What if I told you there was a way to see that city for more than your short layover without paying anything extra? Enter the free stopover.
The free stopover is a general term used by airlines that allows you to extend your layover and spend time in the city at no added cost to you. Some airlines even give you extras like tours, hotels, or discounts if you choose to take advantage of the stopover. Stopovers are a great, cost-effective way to see another country/city, and they break up the travel for faraway destinations.
This summer, I am going to Iceland, London, and Stockholm, and I took advantage of Iceland Air’s stopover program. I’m flying on Iceland Air from EWR to KEF, the main airport in Reykjavik, with my family. Ezra and I have friends in London (shoutout to Ivan and Lily!), and we wanted to visit them this summer, as well. So, I figured, that while I was in Europe, I could just hop over to London and Ezra would meet me.
Since I knew about the stopover program, I looked to see if I could add it to my itinerary before booking, and it was so easy! I went to the Iceland Air website and found the Stopover in Iceland section.
From there, it asked me to put in the dates of my trip and then select the amount of time for my stopover. Iceland Air allows passengers to add a stopover of up to 7 days at no added cost. For me, I added a 5-day stopover, which will give me and my family plenty of time to see the country.
At the end of those 5 days, my family will go back to the States, and I will head to London on Iceland Air. While I could have booked these flights separately, it would have cost a few hundred dollars more to do so. Doing this saved me money and gave me the ability to book everything all at once on one ticket.
Iceland Air is not the only airline that does this. Many other airlines offer this program to drum up tourism in their countries. As I mentioned, some airlines even sweeten the deal by providing perks. For example, Turkish Airlines offers free hotel stays for stopovers over 20 hours. If you have a shorter stopover in Istanbul, they provide a free city tour that includes transportation and meals. Many other airlines offer discounted packages for hotels and excursions, as well, though not all. Those who require a visa often help you obtain that, too, making the stopover a seamless process.
Airlines that currently offer this include Copa Airlines (stopover in Panama City), Emirates (stopover in Dubai), Etihad Airways (stopover in Dubai), Ethiopia Airlines (stopover in Addis Ababa), Finnair (stopover in Helsinki), Iberia (stopover in Madrid), Icelandair (stopover in Reykjavik), Oman Air (stopover in Muscat), Qatar Airways (stopover in Doha), Swiss (stopovers in Switzerland), TAP Air Portugal (stopovers in Portugal), Turkish Airlines (stopovers in Turkey), Japan Airlines (stopover in Tokyo, Osaka, or other major cities), Qantas (stopovers in Australia), Air Canada (stopover in Toronto or other major cities), Air France and KLM (stopovers in their hub cities like Paris and Amsterdam), Singapore Airlines (stopover in Singapore), and Royal Jordanian Airlines (stopovers in Jordan).
As you can see, some of these stopovers offer more flexibility than others, in that some allow for stopovers all over the country while others only allow them in certain cities. Nonetheless, these stopover programs can add adventure to your itinerary. If you already have a layover, why not get out, stretch your legs, and see a new city?
Would you use a free stopover for any upcoming travel?
This Week’s Obsession: Rent Day is tomorrow, and for those with a Bilt card, you can get anywhere from 5x to 10x points through the Bilt dining program on Rent Day for any qualifying restaurants! This is on top of the 6x points you get on dining when you use your Bilt card on Rent Day. Want to earn even more? If you have the Chase Freedom Flex card, and you link it to Bilt, you can get 7x points on dining plus the 5-10x points through the dining program (more on that here). Happy eating this weekend!
Copyright (C) Weekly Wanderlust All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER. I'm not a certified financial planner/advisor, a certified financial analyst, an economist, a CPA, or an accountant. While I hold a J.D., I am not yet licensed to practice law, and I am not your lawyer. For specific information regarding your finances, please consult a professional.