Want to get two trips out of one award ticket? It’s called a stopover flight, and anyone can take advantage of this.
A stopover means you can get off in a connecting city, spend a few days, and continue to your final destination.
It’s considered a stopover if you stay longer than 4 hours domestically and more than 24 hours internationally.
The rules vary by airline. For example, on United-Continental, stopovers are allowed on international travel. The airline also allows stopovers on domestic travel to Hawaii—so you could fly New York to Hawaii, with a stopover in Los Angeles.
On American Airlines, they’re allowed on flights from North America to Europe, Asia, and South America…but you can only stop over in a North American gateway city. That means you could fly from Los Angeles to Brussels, and stop over in New York.
Icelandair has a great stopover program in Reykjavik. It’s less than a 5-hour flight from the East Coast, you stop in the capital city, and then continue on to European cities served by the airline.
Confused yet? Multiple stopovers are also allowed on round-the-world tickets.
Bottom line: You can get more out of your miles if you think creatively and know the rules before you go.
For more information, visit the Airlines & Airports.
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