A stopover is a connection between flights that lasts more than twenty-four hours. This is convenient because you can walk around the new city for a day or two on the way to your final destination. In this case, you can leave your luggage at the airport; there is no need to carry around heavy suitcases.
Otherwise everything is the same. You also change one side of the plane to another. You also go through passport control (if there is one, that is, if during a transfer you need to cross the state border). You can also sit at the airport for a day, buying sandwiches and beer at restaurant prices, listening to monotonous announcements about flight delays, asking the price of Duty Free goods as the only entertainment.
Or you can leave the airport and go see a city where you may never find yourself again.
Some stopovers can last several days, sometimes a week. During this time you can visit not just a city, but an entire country. Moreover, sometimes these two entities coincide. For example, the island state of Singapore can be explored inside and out in a couple of days.
In general, the island states of Southeast Asia seem to be created for short trips. For example, in the Maldives, during a stopover you can visit not only the capital, but also arrange a tour of several islands of the archipelago. So you can fit a whole mini-vacation into the interval between transfers.
Usually the length of the stopover does not exceed a couple of days; after all, this is not the main purpose of the trip. Moreover, theoretically, the duration of the transplant is not limited in any way; it can last several weeks. However, no one will give you an endless stopover, or at least you will have to pay for it as for a full-fledged trip. Let’s look into the details.
1. Is a stopover always free? What does it depend on?
Not always, but often. If the stopover does not exceed 2-3 days, most likely it will be free – this means that the airline will not increase the cost of the ticket, and sometimes even pay for your hotel stay or organize a free city tour (example: Turkish Airlines organizes a short tour of Istanbul and pay the traveler for a night in a hotel).
If the stopover exceeds 2-3 days, then the longer the stopover, the more you will pay for the ticket. Usually the airline adds an additional 50-100 dollars per stopover to the ticket price.
2. In which cities are stopovers done most often?
Popular cities where travelers would like to spend an extra day include Dubai, Singapore, Prague, Istanbul, Doha and Reykjavik.
Emirates Airlines is one of the record holders for providing long, comfortable transfers. If you are flying to or through Dubai long distance, you can expect a stopover in Dubai of up to seven days. Moreover, the company will pick you up from the airport and take you to the hotel at its own expense. And as additional bonuses, he will give a discount on car rental and on the purchase of a safari tour.
If you are flying in Singapore, Singapore Airlines will offer you a very convenient and not very expensive two-day stopover, giving you the opportunity to spend two days in this city. The airline will take you from the airport to the hotel at its own expense, and the cost of accommodation will be only $50 per night.
When you are planning a trip, collect as much information as possible about the route, and most importantly, about the opportunities that this or that airline offers: free stopovers, discounts and bonuses. And instead of one vacation, you can take several for the same money.
