This is one high-flying deal.
Though you might not see this widely advertised, a number of airlines are offering travelers free stopovers in their home cities. That means you can spend the night (or sometimes up to a week) in a new city — and not pay any extra airfare.
“It’s like getting two countries for the price of one.” George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog
This “little known” hack can “stretch the travel dollar and travel experience of Americans visiting a bevy of destinations,” says Gabe Saglie, an anchor and producer at travel deals site Travelzoo.com. Adds George Hobica, founder of airline deal site AirfareWatchdog.com: “Airlines used to charge a lot for stopovers and some still might,” but with this deal, “it’s like getting two countries for the price of one.”
Why do the airlines offer this? Often they work with local tourism authorities to create these deals, says Hobica. “These stopover programs are squarely aimed at luring people to spend time — and spend some cash — in these airlines’ home countries. But travelers stand to win here, by getting two vacations in one, basically, and adding and crossing yet another destination off their to-do list,” says Saglie.
Also see: This is exactly how many days ahead you should book airfare
So who’s offering this deal? Plenty of airlines. Fly Icelandair across the Atlantic — say between London and New York — and you can stop over in Iceland for one to seven days with no extra airfare cost — and you can get a “free stopover buddy” which is simply a local who can take you around for free. Curious about Finland? Fly Finnair and you “add a stopover of up to 5 days to any round trip between Asia and Europe.” Want to vacation in Portugal?” Get a free stopover of up to 5 nights in Lisbon or Porto when you fly TAP Air Portugal. Looking for something closer to home? AirCanada gives stopovers to Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver.
Other airlines that offer free stopovers include KLM (stopover in Amsterdam), Japan Airlines (stopover in Tokyo for flights originating in North America), Aer Lingus (stopover in Ireland), Copa (Panama City), Etihad (Abu Dhabi), Ethiopian (Adias Ababa), Qatar (Doha), Hawaiian (Honolulu but it’s only for international travelers).
Of course, these come with restrictions — for example, you may have to fly to and from certain cities to get the deal. And as Liana Corwin, a consumer travel expert at Hopper, advises: “While a free visit to any city sounds like a hard deal to pass up, make sure you do your homework first to assess the additional costs such as transportation to/from the airport, local hotel prices, exchange rate, etc. If the costs add up to more than the difference between a stopover flight and a direct flight, think hard about whether it will fit in your budget or if you should save the visit for another vacation.” (Though it’s important to point out that “in some cases you get a free tour or a free one-night hotel stay,” says Hobica.)
Still, it’s worth it, experts say. “There are no cons really,” says Hobica.
Also see:You’re booking your flights all wrong
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