CL87

So that I won't have to wait several months to find out (when I book tickets), can you book long connections either in economy class or discounted business class so that you can see Paris or Amsterdam for half a day or so?

For example, arriving in Paris at 8 am and leaving Paris for a secondary UK city at 5 pm? That would allow some limited sightseeing.

fti

Any layover time up to 24 hours is considered a "transfer" and is possible. Last spring when I flew to Europe I had an overnight in London on the way to Rome and an overnight in Amsterdam on the way back. Actually Rome was my "stopover" point (>24 hours) on my way to Vienna. This was on an award ticket, but any ticket allows for up to 24 hours transfer on an international ticket (even in a domestic city).

EZE

Very possible to schedule a stopover. And highly recommended. When I was younger, I would do this quite a bit. A half day at the louvre...

CJKatl

I do this almost every time I book awards travel to Europe. Last year, I got 3 economy 60k points tickets, where we stayed two nights in Amsterdam before continuing on to Paris. A year earlier, I did the same thing with two tickets to Budapest. A year before that, we stopped in Paris for four nights on the way back to Atlanta from Prague. I did just book a ticket with two nights in AMS before moving on to PRG, but had to cancel because it turned out I'm scheduled to speak at a conference during that time.

IME, it's best to call DL to arrange this, rather than trying to book it online.

davetravels

I do this ALWAYZ!!!

CDG, usually overnite. AMS, usually 4-6 hours to go into the city.

I havit down to a science . . . .

I will not fly on AF long-haul flights unless there's no other choice, as we're not treated NEARLY as well as on DL flights. That said, all DL flights to CDG arrive early in the AM except from SLC, so, if you arrive at CDG at, say, 8:30 AM, you hafto leave by 8:29 AM the next day, which is a pain, IMO, so, I'm always looking to use the SLC/CDG flight eastbound whenever I can. It arrives at CDG around 11AMish. You can easily book a DL flight to CDG arriving between, say, 6-9AM, and take a late afternoon flight to most anywhere in Europe, but I prefer to stay up to 23 hours & 59 minutes and hava few evening beers!

Since AMS is MUCH closer to the city, and just simply cheaper and easier to get to the city than CDG, I usually do 5 or 6 hours there between planes in either direction for a quick trip to a few of my favorite stores there!

MSPeconomist

If you already know Paris, London, and Amsterdam, it makes sense to do this and route through AMS. I prefer the Amsterdam overnight, even if just to walk around the canals a bit and have a nice dinner, when the alternative is an early morning departure from SVO, IST, ATH, etc. Since I stay where I can get a guaranteed late check out, I then aim for the last nonstop to MSP, although I might compromise on this depending on the aircraft and ticket price. [For variety, the last time I went to The Hague, which isn't much farther and doesn't require a train change from the airport, although trains seem less frequent, roughly every thirty minutes IIRC.]

Pointlessly_1K

I am actually doing this right now....typing this from a hotel room in Amsterdam, on an overnight layover to BOM. I booked it on the website without any problems.

However, I regret not extending my stay another day. I like Amsterdam very much.

pgh234

My wife and I overnight all the time in AMS because it is so easy to get there from the airport and enjoy an evening walking around. We did it once in Paris (unplanned IRROPS layover)...and it is a much more expensive pain to do.

djm3

I do this five or six times a year in AMS. It is pretty easy to book a flight on-line that arrives in AMS early in the AM and then a late afternoon flight to Europe, leaving time for lunch and a walk in town. (Unfortunately some of the best bars don't open until 3pm.) Coming back to the US it is more difficult to book a flight on-line into AMS from Europe that doesn't have a short connection time to the US but it can be done.

A long stopover in AMS is one of the nice features of international travel because the city is so accessible. A stopover at CDG or LHR is fine but your trip into the city has to be more focussed due to the distance from the airport and the size of the city.

davetravels

By any chance, did`ja mean to say coffee shops?

NYCflip

Yep. I recommend it highly! AMS is easier to get to the city, but with long enough layovers, you can experience quite a bit at either AMS or Paris. My wife and I do this all the time!

thaidai

Yeap. Under 24 hrs. Counts as a stop over. Still managed to spent $600 on Hotel ,tour,entrances n Dinner. But great stop over.

MSPeconomist

No, anything under 24 hours (scheduled time) does not count as a stopover, just a long but ordinary connection. You might need to use multicity to force the overnight connection when booking (or delta.dumb might offer you nothing else), but it's still a connection and should not affect the fare.

davetravels

Here's the cr@ppy IT situation with that . . . . When I'm doing my overnite, but less than 24 hour connection at CDG, I'm pretty much always going to TXL. So, if I do, for example, DTW/TXL on DL.com, it'll, of course, only give you same day connections. If I do multi-city:

DTW/CDG Day 1

CDG/TXL Day 2

It'll do 1 of 2 things. It'll either give you CDG/AMS/TXL on Day 2, which screws up the fare, or it'll error and say that Delta doesn't offer any flights from CDG/TXL, so, I always hafto call. Even then, it's a hassle, because they can only find the AF CDG/TXL with DL codeshare flight numbers if they book it straight thru, so they hafto book it with an AF flight #, and then the fare classes don't line up - - yada - yada . . . It's just a pain. AMS seems easier to book overnights online. Fortunate for us that DMs don't hafto pay a phone booking fee!