Stopovers that are worth taking deliberately
Several airlines will give you a second city for nothing. Most travellers connect through it in ninety minutes instead.
A stopover is a connection you are allowed to stretch — usually up to a few days — at no additional fare. Airlines offer them because a hub city benefits when you spend money in it, and several will throw in a hotel night as well.
Istanbul is the strongest case. The airport is far from the city, which puts people off, but a two-night stop turns a punishing long-haul into two manageable flights and gives you one of the great cities on earth in between.
Reykjavík works the same way on transatlantic routes, Doha and Singapore on Asia-Pacific ones, and Lisbon on North and South America routings. In each case the second city is not a consolation prize.
The catch is that stopovers are frequently not bookable online. The fare rules permit them, but the booking engine does not expose them. That is a five-minute phone call for us and an afternoon of frustration for you — which is, honestly, most of what an agent is for.
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