Stopover
A deliberate break of 24 hours or more at a connecting city, turning a layover into a mini city trip — often free or very cheap to add.
What is a stopover?
A stopover is a planned break of 24 hours or more in a connecting city on your journey to or from your final destination. Unlike a layover (which is just the time you wait between flights), a stopover is intentional: you leave the airport, check into a hotel, explore the city, and continue your journey the next day or later.
The distinction between stopover and layover is defined by time and intent. IATA officially classifies a connection as a stopover once it exceeds 24 hours on international routes (4 hours on domestic US routes). Airlines price stopovers differently — often at a small surcharge, but sometimes for free.
Why add a stopover?
Stopovers turn a long-haul connection into a free holiday. Singapore Airlines and Icelandair have built marketing campaigns around free stopovers in Singapore and Reykjavík respectively. Turkish Airlines offers free hotel nights in Istanbul for qualifying transit passengers. Qatar Airways runs stopover packages at reduced rates.
A well-chosen stopover can give you two destinations for the price of one flight. Flying from London to Sydney via Dubai? A 2-night Dubai stopover adds almost nothing to the fare. Flying to Southeast Asia? Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok as a stopover hub often costs less than routing directly.
How to book a stopover
Use the multi-city search on Google Flights or the airline's own booking tool. Search your origin to the stopover city, then the stopover city to your final destination, with a gap of 1–3 nights between. Alternatively, call the airline directly and ask to add a stopover to an existing itinerary — some airlines allow this at no charge on round-trip tickets.
Check visa requirements for the stopover city in advance. Many popular hub cities (Singapore, Qatar, UAE) offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access for EU and UK passport holders, making the stopover genuinely hassle-free.