How to get a Free Second Destination
In the May High & Inside, offered a comprehensive explanation of how to use stopover rules to get a better fare, tack a short pleasure trip onto a business trip, and accrue more miles for your money.
Now we’re going to take you to the next level, showing you how to use those same rules to get a side trip for nothing.
A Free Second Destination for Travel to Europe
Let’s say that this summer you are flying Chicago-London on business, and you’re also thinking of fitting in a trip to visit family in North Carolina before Labor Day rolls around. If you travel on US Airways, you could make a free stopover in Charlotte on a summer discounted Business Class fare, starting at $1,703 plus taxes (about $1,100) on your way to or from London, a savings of $1,200. That’s the cost to buy a round-trip First Class ticket Chicago-Charlotte. Giving you two destinations for the price of one. See chart bottom left for more samples and details.
Free Stopover Possibilities for Travel to Europe*
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A Free Second Destination in Asia
Some airlines allow a free enroute stop in Asia or only charge $100 on discounted Business Class fares. Let’s say you are going Los Angeles-Taipei this month, and you would like to check Tokyo off your bucket list. If you buy a discounted Business Class ticket on All Nippon Airways, starting at $3,790 (plus about $500 in taxes), you could make a stopover in Tokyo for $100, a savings of $2,934, the cost to buy a separate round-trip Los Angeles-Tokyo Business Class ticket.
Other airlines serving Asia that allow stopovers are: Air Canada ($100 CAD), Air China (free), American ($100), Cathay Pacific (free), China Southern (free), Delta ($100), Japan Airlines ($100 on some routes), Hawaiian (free),Korean ($100), Singapore (free on some routes), Thai Airways (free), and United ($100).
[aside headline="Add Two Stops For $55.81 Each" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]If you’re flying First Class from the East Coast to Hawaii on United, you can make two stopovers for $55.81 each, in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, or San Francisco, as long as you’re not on the transcon.[/aside]
You could visit family in Houston on your way to Hawaii and friends in Chicago on your way back, all for $112. That’s a lot better than paying about $2,050 for a First Class ticket to Houston and $730 to Chicago. Get more for less by knowing better.
Free Second Destination in South America
The stopover rules are a bit trickier here. South American airlines usually allow a free stop in their hub city (or charge a small fee), and some U.S. airlines also allow a stop in their U.S. hub city, but not to all South American countries on a discounted Business Class fare.
Delta, for instance, does not allow stopovers on New York-Buenos Aires, but it does allow a stopover for $125 in one of its U.S. hub cities on a New York-Rio de Janeiro Business Class fare.
Let’s say you are going New York-Rio this month and you would like to stop in Dallas for a business meet-ing. On American you can do that for $125 on a discounted Business Class ticket (starting at $3,886 plus about $700 in taxes). That’s a savings of $2,200, the cost to buy a separate round-trip First Class New York-Dallas ticket.
Stopover Possibilities To South America
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A Free Second Destination in Africa
Here the stopover rules are also a bit tricky. Star Alliance airlines such as Lufthansa and SWISS do not allow stopovers. Stopover-friendly airlines include (free). So if you want to break up the trip by spending a few days in Europe or the Middle East, keep these carriers in mind for stops in their respective flagship cities, Paris, London, Dubai, and Amsterdam.
Let’s say you are going Chicago-Johannesburg next month and you would like to stop in London. If you travel on British Airways you can stop for free on a discounted Business Class ticket, saving $3,500, the cost to buy a separate round-trip Business Class ticket for Chicago-London.
A Free Second Destination in the South Pacific
The South Pacific is a stopover-friendly destination, although some airlines charge a $150 fee. Let’s say you are going Los Angeles-Auckland next month. On Air New Zealand, you can stop in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga), while also lower-ing your fare to Auckland. A discounted round-trip Business Class ticket to Auckland from LAX on Air New Zealand is normally about $5,000 plus about $800 in taxes; but stopping in Rarotonga reduces the fare to about $3,500, a savings of about $1,500.
Stopover Possibilities for The South Pacific
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