How to get free stopovers?
 

I visit India from LAX frequently and either go via London/Amsterdam or go via the Pacific stopping in Hong Kong or Incheon. I haven't been able to avail of any "free" stopovers despite the airlines making a stop at their hubs. Everytime I have needed to break my journey I have had to book a multi-city itinerary...i.e. LAX-LHR-BLR-LAX and it costs a little more.

Are there any airlines that offer 1 stopover for free outbound or inbound? for example: can I just book a LAX-BLR-LAX on British Airways and ask for the stopover in LHR for the same fare?

You have to check the fare rules whether they allow a free stopover, stopover for $$$'s, or no stopovers at all.

Some MPM based fares may allow stopover(s) but then they need to be checked against HIP.

I would suggest that you contact a competent TA.

have you looked at nested tickets?

How many of these are still around? :)

More generally, it's usually the higher fare classes that allow stopovers and often there is an extra charge even in that case.

I assume purchasing a revenue ticket and booking a stopover? Usually goes for a premium when purchasing..

With AE FFP program, we do get natural connection stopovers, and open jaws.. One of each or two stopovers (one outbound, and one inbound) plus destination.. If you're using FFP redemption, I would check with your airline's rules..

By my experience, a good way to get a free stopover is to purposely schedule yourself on the first flight segment of your flight where it arrives too late that day for you to embark on the second flight segment in time, forcing you to stay at the destination of the first flight segment overnight and catch the next flight segment the next day.

An alternative to that method is to ensure that there are no seats available on the second flight segment for that day, forcing you to take that second flight segment later or the next day.

I once had a ten-hour layover in Prague using this method, which was plenty of time to see much of the city leisurely, and I have similarly stayed overnight in Paris. These are merely two examples which I have experienced.

Hopefully this will work for you. It takes some research, but it is well worth it if you can score it...

Another method is through award tickets -- many airlines allow >24-hour stopovers enroute to destination.

These are not stopovers but transfers.

You really cannot see much of a Prague during a ten hour transfer. Sorry.

On many airlines, it's a lot simpler than described above. For international itineraries, many airlines define a stopover as a break in travel of 24 hours or more. So, a break of less than 24 hours is not even considered a stopover but just a connection. You can have as many of these along a valid routing as the schedule will allow.

Correct..

Or I refer the 24 hour stopover or transfer as a 24 hour connection..

Any travel agent should be able to add a stopover for you at little to no extra cost. It's difficult to do yourself because you would need to book multi-city.

Hmmm.. Perhaps thats what happened as I booked multi-city on Expedia and my summer vacation jumped almost double in base fare..

We booked on points, so it was useful getting the comparison on the revenue ticket price versus getting the AE FFP Booking in with a stopover.. YYC-HOU-CUN,CUN-LAX, LAX-YYC

So do TAs get commision on revenue flights intercontinental, to Mexico, to Hawaii? If looking for a revenue flight, I'll call up a TA.. Usually we book on AE FFP points..

@k374: I've done a similar stopover. My India trips were ORD-BOM. I wanted to visit Germany. Had to pay about $100 extra on BA to get a Stuttgart stopover: ORD-LHR-STR-LHR-BOM-LHR-ORD

This was a cheap economy, non-flex ticket and I had to use multi-city on Expedia. Of course, these posts make me wonder if I could have gotten it any cheaper by going to a TA.

BTW, what's a "nested ticket"?

A “nested” ticket is an itinerary within an itinerary.

A simple example is if I purchase a return airfare between Atlanta and London, arriving December 1 and departing on December 15, but I purchase a separate ticket for a round-trip flight between London and Sydney, arriving December 4 and departing on December 11.

The London – Sydney itinerary is “nested” within the Atlanta – London itinerary.