Stretch Your Airline Reward Miles With a Stopover

What is a “Stopover” Anyway and how can it Benefit Me?

Stopovers and open-jaws are an excellent way to stretch your reward miles by adding extra destinations to your award trips for no extra miles and provide a cost-efficient way to see memorable new destinations across the globe!

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT A FEW STRATEGIES TO MAXIMIZE YOUR AIRLINE REWARD MILES –

Stopovers:

A stopover extends a layover/connection on a domestic flight by more than four hours and more than 24 hours on an international flight.

For example, if you have a connection in Paris en route to Barcelona, you can stay in Paris for a few days – or even several months – for no extra reward miles before scooting off to Barcelona.

If an airline allows a stopover, you can typically build in an extra stop in any city your flight would normally connect through and some airlines may allow more creative routing. Typically, as long as award space is available for the next leg of your flight, you won’t pay any extra miles to build in the stopover!

Most airlines that allow stopovers require your entire award trip be completed within one year of your original departure date. So the stopover on an award flight can stretch many months in duration, but the whole trip must end within a year of ticket issue.

Open-Jaw Award Flights:

Open-jaws grant you the option to arrive in one city and depart from another city – or even another country – and are useful if a round-trip award flight requires fewer miles than two one-way flights. For example you can fly to London, travel to Paris by train and fly home from Paris.

LET’S LOOK AT THE RULES ACROSS FOUR OF THE MAJOR DOMESTIC US CARRIERS –

 

Alaska Airlines and Partner Awards:

• One-way awards are permitted

• 1 en route stopover is permitted for both the outbound and return portions of your award travel for international itineraries, and typically only when the city you are stopping in is an international gateway city of the Alaska Airlines partner airline you are flying

• 1 en route stopover is permitted for both the outbound and return portions of your award travel for domestic itineraries for flights solely on Alaska Airlines and typically only when the city you are stopping in is a normal connection city; Alaska’s main gateway cities are Seattle, Los Angeles (LAX), Anchorage and Portland

• Open-jaws are permitted for both the outbound and return portions of your award travel for both international and domestic itineraries and are useful if a round-trip award flight requires fewer miles than 2 one-way flights; special note: one-way flights can be subject to 2 fees instead of 1 if you need to change or cancel – so plan wisely

• You are only allowed to fly on 1 partner airline in addition to Alaska Airlines per award; if you prefer to fly on different partner airlines for each direction of your flights you can book 2 one-way awards

American Airlines and Partner Awards:

• One-way awards are permitted

• Stopovers are not permitted on domestic or international travel

• Open-jaw flights are not permitted on 1 round-trip itinerary but can be accomplished by booking 2 one-way awards; special note: one-way flights can be subject to 2 fees instead of 1 if you need to change or cancel – so plan wisely

Delta Airlines and Partner Awards:  

• One-way awards are permitted

• Stopovers are no longer permitted (as of January 1, 2015) for domestic or international travel

• Open-jaw flights are no longer permitted (as of January 1, 2015) but can be accomplished by booking 2 one-way awards; special note: one-way flights can be subject to 2 fees instead of 1 if you need to change or cancel– so plan wisely

United Airlines and Star Alliance and Other Partner Awards:

• One-way awards are permitted

• 1 en route stopover is permitted, unless otherwise noted, on round-trip international and domestic award travel only and not on both the outbound and return portions; additional mileage may be required for stopovers within the continental US, Alaska and Canada

• Stopovers are not permitted on one-way awards

• Open-jaws are permitted for both the outbound and return portions of your award travel for both international and domestic itineraries and are useful if a round-trip award flight requires fewer miles than 2 one-way flights; special note: one-way flights can be subject to 2 fees instead of 1 if you need to change or cancel – so plan wisely

BOOKING AWARD FLIGHTS WITH STOPOVERS OR AN OPEN-JAW:

While some airlines allow a stopover or open-jaw to be booked online using the Multi-city flight type, we suggest a call to customer service for both international and domestic travel to make sure you are getting the best flight for the least number of reward miles. While a call may incur a phone booking fee, enjoying an award flight with the routing you desire for fewer miles is well worth the $15-$30 fee you may incur.

The Wrap-Up:

For those flying on a one-way or round-trip Alaska Airlines award or a round-trip United Airlines award, stopovers provide an efficient way to see memorable new destinations across the globe!

Living in Seattle we are loyal to Alaska Airlines and typically build in a free stopover on most award flights we book through Alaska Airlines. Last year we flew on a Business Class award flight with Alaska’s airline partner AeroMexico. We added in a three-day stopover in Mexico City for no additional miles when flying from Santiago, Chile en route to Seattle. This year we booked a business class award flight with Alaska’s airline partner Emirates and added a five-day stopover in Dubai to visit Oman and Abu Dhabi when flying from the Maldives en route to Seattle. And my brother just added a several month stopover in Seattle (where he lives part of the year) when flying from Bangkok en route to Kona on a mix of Emirates and Alaska Airlines flights.

If you build in a free stopover to a fabulous city you would have otherwise missed, “stopover” and leave a nice note on Facebook and Twitter!

And if you haven’t already, signup for complimentary alerts so you never miss an important trvlvip update on the travel loyalty programs you care about most!

Happy Loyalty, Happy Travels!

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