Our hot-yoga Stopover Loophole Strategy is even more lucrative for European-based travelers, netting, essentially, a 2+-for-1
To our beloved European readers, it’s time to lean in and get limber because our legendary Stopover Loophole Strategy also works for you, offering outrageous savings for a trip to and from Brazil, via two famed U.S. cities.
The Stopover Loophole Strategy at-a-Glance
For Euro readers or American Euro-based readers, the Stopover Loophole Strategy allows you to extend one trip with multiple stopovers and stretch your budget to unimagined value.
It involves booking round-trip itineraries between two destinations with free stopovers.
In today’s example, that second destination is the U.S., where stopovers are free, and you can spend some time doing what you want to do. So essentially, it’s A to B via C (free stopover), and if you want, even B back to A via C (another free stopover) — all on the same airline ticket.
It means you can use the Stopover Loophole Strategy to fly in Business Class for LESS than what you would pay in Premium Economy if you bought the tickets separately.
The Stopover Loophole Strategy: An Example
Let’s look at an example of this strategy with Lucas, an Amsterdam-based florist. Lucas had planned a vacation in Brazil and was thinking of stopping in the U.S. to catch New York’s Macy’s Flower Show. Chicago was vaguely on his bucket list too, but he figured that would be too expensive.
Well, Lucas, you can do it all!
If he were to break up each trip into single Business Class tickets, as most do, he’d pay a gargantuan price. But the Stopover Loophole allows him to combine all those destinations — yes, even Chicago — onto one ticket and save thousands, all while flying in Business Class comfort for LESS than, similar to, or nearly what he would pay in Premium Economy. That’s a dream trip.
If Lucas chooses, he can get really creative with his itinerary. He could disappear into the Amazon for six months, or hole up in New York and catch the big city vibe. He has a friend in Brooklyn, so why not? Fares have many different rules, so he has to make sure to check them, but in this case, he just has to complete the entire trip within 12 months of his last stopover.
Let’s get specific.
A Stopover Loophole That Combines
Amsterdam > Chicago > São Paulo > New York
Lucas is sold on the Stopover Loophole. Here’s how it looks.
Lucas’ Stopover Loophole
- Amsterdam to Chicago (the first stopover).
- Chicago to São Paulo (your vacation or business destination; use São Paulo as a taking-off point for the rest of Brazil or South America).
- São Paulo to New York (the second stopover).
- New York to Amsterdam.
Lucas can do all that starting at just €2,457 in Business Class on Delta. Screenshot below.
Amazingly, all of that is on one Business Class ticket. You can also substitute Rio de Janeiro for São Paulo or Santiago for a similar price or just a bit more.
Savings Analysis
Now let’s compare this to a standard Business Class trip where those destinations are broken down into separate trips. In Business Class, it would cost around €4,713 at the time of publication. Again, combining them into one SLS Business Class ticket costs just €2,457. That’s a savings of €2,256, or 48%. You could enjoy a lot of South American adventuring for that!
While Amsterdam had some of the best fares we found, other European cities can still save you big dollars.
You can substitute many U.S. cities for Chicago or New York, often for a similar price, or for a little more.
Here are some other sample Stopover Loophole options that start in Europe, along with the huge savings they offer.
Sample SLS Fares on Delta Air Lines
Amsterdam – Chicago – São Paulo – New York – Amsterdam
The Equivalent of Two Roundtrips
on Delta in Business Class for €2,457 EUR
Europe > U.S. > South America > U.S. > Europe
[table_opt id="6923" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
The Stopover Loophole is one of our favorite strategies, and now it makes perfect sense for our European readers. That’s because, for them, a point-to-point vacation can suddenly become so much more, for so much less.