FCF’s Secret Side Hustle Part 2: Add a Wondrous Destination to Your Euro Trip for Zip-Zilch-Zero (or Even Less)

February 2020
Read Offline

Check Off Your Bucket List With Outrageously Affordable Add-On Destinations

Think ignorance is bliss? Think again.

Ignorance means missing out on some of travel’s great unknown secrets. You may read this special report in disbelief because it almost seems too good to be true. It’s part two of our report from January about a different way to look at your European trip.

Whether you’re traveling to Europe for business or pleasure, instead of simply returning home, make your European destination a free stopover on your way to another destination for barely any additional cost, sometimes even for less. It’s what we call our Stopover Loophole Strategy (SLS).

Last month we showed you how this works on Lufthansa and SWISS to Africa, Egypt, Europe, India, Israel, Morocco and the Middle East via Germany or Switzerland. This month we look at the SLS with other Star Alliance airlines Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and SAS, which opens up a whole range of destinations all over the globe when you travel to Vienna, Brussels, and Copenhagen, the hub cities of those airlines.

SLS-ing All the Way via
Austria, Belgium, or Denmark

Go to Europe then Safari on Down to Africa

Say you’re flying from Newark to Copenhagen non-stop September 14 to 28 at the lowest Business Class fare with SAS: $5,329 round-trip. Why not “SLS” to Johannesburg, South Africa, the connecting city to great safari destinations in Africa including nearby Madikwe Game Reserve and Kruger National Park (and flights to Botswana) for $1,681 less ($3,648) for the whole trip? I know, loopy, right?

Or consider Los Angeles to Vienna September 7 to 21 for the lowest Business Class fare with Austrian Airlines of $3,465 round-trip. You can add flights to Nairobi, Kenya (a departure point for spectacular safaris to famed Masai Mara or Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park) for $160 less ($3,305) for the whole trip. “Grunt-roar-wheeze!” (That’s the sound of a happy hippo).

Go to Europe then Rendezvous in Russia

Say you’re flying non-stop on Brussels Airlines from Washington, DC, to Brussels June 10 to 24 and the lowest Business Class fare is $3,200 round-trip. You can add St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural center, and celebrate the midnight sun at the famed White Nights Festival taking place during these dates  for $3,218, or just $18 more. A renowned bucket list city for $18? Are you kidding me?

Go to Europe, Add the Sphinx

Flying non-stop on Austrian Airlines from Chicago to Vienna May 5 to 19 costs $3,215 round-trip. But you can add Cairo for almost free, because the whole trip is $3,247, or just $32 more. You know you’ve been hemming and hawing about Egypt for years – this is your golden hieroglyphic-covered chance.

Go to Europe Then SLS Your Way to Israel

Let’s say you’re flying Los Angeles to Vienna (non-stop) September 7 to 21 for the lowest Business Class fare with Austrian Airlines: $3,465 round-trip. But you can add Tel Aviv, Israel, for just $90 more ($3,555).

More Samples of FCF’S Secret Side Hustle

[table_opt id="6079" style="black-header" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]

Not Planning to Go to Brussels, Copenhagen or Vienna?

Maybe you had Berlin in your sights. No problem. Travel within Europe is cheap, and there are many options: fly, drive, train or segway your way from burg to burg (even Hamburg). Berlin is just an hour’s flight from Copenhagen, and about the same to Vienna. That’s the thing about European cities–they’re so close to each other, and yet so different from each other.

What if I don’t live in a major U.S. departure hub city?

Don’t live in Los Angeles or Washington, DC, or New York? You can fly there with cash or miles by booking a second ticket to take advantage of these opportunities.

If you’re using miles for short- to mid-range flights to Los Angeles or New York, British Airways miles (which partner with Amex and Chase) offer great value on American flights.

STAR ALLIANCE BONUS

One more awesome thing: Most of these great deals can be booked as code-share flights with United, so United elites and non-elites earn miles, while earning elite status credit as well.

Enjoy your trip — and the one you add to it!

Two cheetah brothers in Masai Mara
[["<strong>Non-stop Route<\/strong>","<strong>Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Business Class Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Add-on City<\/strong>","<strong>Business Class Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Difference<\/strong>"],["Newark to Copenhagen","SAS","$5,329","Johannesburg, South Africa","$3,648","<strong>$1,681 less<\/strong>"],["Los Angeles to Vienna","Austrian Airlines","$3,465","Nairobi, Kenya","$3,305","<strong>$160 less<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Tel Aviv, Israel","$3,555","$90 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Moscow, Russia","$3,238","<strong>$227 less<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","St. Petersburg, Russia","$3,163","<strong>$302 less<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Cairo, Egypt","$4,106","$641 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Amman, Jordan","$3,532","<strong>$67 more<\/strong>"],["Washington, DC to Brussels","Brussels Airlines","$3,200","St. Petersburg, Russia","$3,218","<strong>$18 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Nairobi, Kenya","$3,564","$364 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Moscow, Russia","$3,212","<strong>$12 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Marrakesh, Morocco","$3,478","$278 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Cairo, Egypt","$3,282","<strong>$82 more<\/strong>"],["New York to Vienna","Austrian Airlines","$3,165","Amman, Jordan","$3,255","$90 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","St. Petersburg, Russia","$2,845","<strong>$320 less<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Moscow, Russia","$3,125","<strong>$40 less<\/strong>"],["Chicago to Vienna","Austrian Airlines","$3,215","Amman, Jordan","$2,983","<strong>$232 less<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Marrakesh, Morocco","$3,636","$421 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Moscow, Russia","$3,263","<strong>$48 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","St. Petersburg, Russia","$3,273","<strong>$58 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Nairobi, Kenya","$3,686","$471 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Cairo, Egypt","$3,247","<strong>$32 more<\/strong>"],["Washington, DC to Vienna","Austrian Airlines","$3,215","Cairo, Egypt","$3,256","<strong>$41 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Moscow, Russia","$3,245","<strong>$30 more<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Nairobi, Kenya","$3,567","$352 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Johannesburg, South Africa","$3,499","$284 more"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","Amman, Jordan","$2,983","<strong>$232 less<\/strong>"]]