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When you’re traveling great distances, you often take connecting flights to intriguing destinations without getting a real chance to experience the culture. You drop in, scope out the airport gift shop and leave.
A few airlines have been working to change that by running “stopover programs.” These initiatives allow travelers to tack more time on their layover at no extra charge, and sometimes even include a free or discounted hotel stay.
“They’re a good way for people to — at no extra cost — see a destination,” said Matthew Kepnes, the travel writer behind the blog Nomadic Matt.
Should travelers be wary of these offers? There’s no such thing as a free lunch, after all, but experts say you can think of it as a form of advertising.
“Usually they exist because they’re sponsored by the home country as a means of promoting tourism,” said Scott Keyes, founder of the flight booking site Going.
Keyes says countries and airlines have a number of reasons for offering free or discounted trips to tourists. No. 1, it’s good advertising. You may be more likely to choose an airline if they have this perk, and you may be more likely to visit a country if you can do it at a discount. Then there’s the influx of tourism dollars from stopover visitors.
Here’s a brief list of places you can go without paying any additional airfare.
Iceland
Hot springs, wild horses and otherworldly natural beauty await travelers in Iceland, and two airlines offer stopover programs to go see them.
The first is Icelandair, which has offered the program since the ’50s. The program allows travelers — usually on their way to Europe — to spend up to seven days in Iceland before moving on to their final destination.
Second is the new Icelandic airline on the block, Play. The airline offers a “ stayover booking” option allowing customers on transatlantic flights the option to stay up to 10 days in Iceland on the outbound trip, the return or both.
Turkey
The women behind the delicious breads at Cesme Bazlama Kahvalti in Istanbul. (Natalie Compton/The Washington Post)
Stopover in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines’ program, includes a free hotel stay. It’s open to travelers with connections in Istanbul of at least 20 hours. If you’re flying coach, you’re eligible for a night at a four-star hotel. Business class customers can get up to two nights in a five-star hotel. Travelers must book arrangements for their stopover at least 72 hours before their flight, and will need to be approved for a hotel voucher through an application process.
Panama
Pause your journey to Central or South America with an interlude of up to seven days in Panama City with the Panama Stopover program from CopaAirlines. On the airline’s flight booking page, customers can select the option to add a stopover in Panama to flights to or from any destination in its network. If you want more time exploring beaches, nightlife and Panamanian cuisine, the airline also offers a second stopover, but it’s not free. According to the website, there “may be an additional cost” of $250 plus taxes and fees.
Portugal
Unlock a mini trip to one of Europe’s most popular tourist countries with Tap Air Portugal’s Portugal Stopover Program. Unlike most stopover programs, this gives customers two layover destinations to pick: the beachside metropolis Lisbon, or Porto, the gateway to wine country. It also offers customers a 25 percent discount (excluding taxes) on additional domestic flights if you’d like to add a second stopover city to your trip. The program is valid on certain one-way and round-trip itineraries during the flight over or return, and can be accessed on the website’s “ book a flight” tab. Click on “add a free TAP Stopover” to see whether your trip is eligible.
Qatar
Qatar Airways stopover packages, in partnership with tourism organization Discover Qatar, include heavily discounted hotel reservations to sweeten the deal. Packages range from the standard option, offering travelers four-star hotel stays starting at $14 a night per person (based on double room share), to a luxury beachside option that includes a five-star hotel stay, breakfast and all-inclusive Doha Sands Beach access from $144. Travelers can book on the Qatar Airways website, and add stays up to four nights. The program is subject to availability and is only eligible for Qatar Airways passengers with at least 12 hours transit time in Doha.
Spain
Iberia, the flag carrier of Spain, advertises the chance to explore the country’s capital city with the Stopover Hola Madrid program. First, select a route that stops in Madrid; next, you can select up to six nights to stay; then book and browse discounted offers available to stopover customers, including tours, food and transportation. The stopover can be selected for the outbound or return flight. While the airline website says the program is available on most routes, you may need to play with dates to find flights with stopover availability.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE is home to two lauded airlines, each with programs to entice stopover travelers.
Etihad’s Abu Dhabi Stopover markets itself as a chance to explore the country’s capital city with discounted hotel stays. The more budget-friendly “amazing stopover” offers stays up to two nights at three-star hotels, while the premium version offers up to 40 percent off luxury four or five-star hotels for two to four nights.
Emirates has “Dubai Connect,” a program advertised to customers with layovers of at least eight hours (or six if you’re flying business class) and includes a complimentary hotel stay, some meals and transportation to and from the airport. There are a number of stipulations for qualifying for the program; for example, you must have a connection flight with the shortest layover available (so if there’s one with a four-hour layover to your final destination available, you won’t qualify for the freebies). Make sure to read the fine print before booking online. Already booked an eligible Emirates flight? You can add the stopover to existing reservations.
Choose your own adventure
You don’t actually need an airline to offer a stopover program to take advantage of a layover. Kepnes says you may be able to build your own stopover program for cheaper. All you have to do is search for flights with really long layovers in places you’d like to visit that don’t require too many hurdles to get out of the airport.
Last year, instead of finding the fastest or cheapest flight from Thailand to the United States, I booked one with a nine-hour layover in Tokyo; I took the train into the city, ate delicious ramen, went shopping and even hit up a hot spring spa before heading back to the airport for my flight home. The year before that, I did something similar in Istanbul and highly recommend such side quests to anyone up for an adventure.
Where to go
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