Best Airlines for Free Stopovers

[phkrause]

The secret to getting two vacations for nearly the price of one? Free stopovers. A lot of major airlines offer free or low-cost stops in hub cities to flyers continuing on to other end-point destinations. Tiresome layovers or breakneck connections these are not. Stopovers are overnight or multi-night stays in destinations—mini sojourns on the way to other parts of the world. They allow for exploration as well as relief from long-haul air travel, and they often come at no or low additional cost to travelers.

Some carriers, such as Icelandair, plainly advertise their free-stopover programs. Others quietly allow customers to book multicity itineraries for round-trip prices, give or take a few bucks. Depending on the carrier, you might have to do some groundwork to arrange a free stopover. Dialing up the call center may be necessary, or a simple spin on an airline's multicity booking page might suffice. Either way, we'll show you the way. Here are some of the best airlines that offer free (and almost free) stopovers in major destinations, plus advice on how to book.

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[Gail]

What a good idea!

[Johann]

Since I live in Iceland I can recommend that you join the million tourists who come to Iceland annually - and they come both summer and winter. There is always something spectacular to see.

Icelandair flies from these destinations in Canada:

Toronto

Ottawa

Halifax

Vancouver

Edmonton and occasionally from several other destinations

USA:

New York

Boston

Washington DC

Orlando

Minneapolis

Denver

Seattle

Anchorage

When you get to Iceland there are many possibilities. You can spend just a few hours before going on to any of 27 destinations in Europe. You can take a sight seeing bus to various destinations like the Blue Lagoon and take a bath in natural warm water, or you can stay a day or more. Take at least the Golden Circle by bus.

Once we met a German couple who brought their bikes along to spend a week or two staying overnight at catering farms. They had been doing this every summer for the past seven years. They were sold on the idea there was no better way to spend their vacation. They left the catering place earlier than we did in the morning. Later we met them again where they had to walk up a hill. They stopped to enjoy the gorgeous view, something they could do because they were not hampered by a car.

Icelandair flies to 27 destinations in Europe from Madrid in the west to St. Petersburg in the East.

I once overheard a group of American travelers discussing various mishaps they had encountered in their world travels. They agreed that no airline had taken as good care of them as Icelandair. You might get greater discounts elsewhere, but you will be taken care of.

[Gregory Matthews]

When I was flying between Korea and the U.S. I would often stop over in Hawaii and on one occasion in Japan.

Stopping in Hawaii made a major difference in the change in time-zones and made the flight much less stressful.