How I Maximize Stopovers on Award Tickets

Updated: March 24, 2025, 4:00pm CDT

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Table of Contents

What Are Stopovers?
Award Programs That Allow for Stopovers
Final Thoughts

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Calculating what constitutes a good redemption when using points and miles for travel can be challenging. For many, saving any amount of cash is what it’s about. For others, it’s about experiencing things you wouldn’t normally be able to.

Fortunately, we know something about maximizing our hard-earned points and miles here at Upgraded Points. My approach is not to fixate on cents-per-point valuations and try to use my points on luxury experiences.

A good points and miles award redemption maximizes value. One way to do so is by visiting 2 destinations, or even more, for the price of 1. Thankfully, several airline loyalty programs allow for stopovers.

Here’s how I maximize stopovers on award travel, and some of my favorite frequent flyer programs that allow for them.

What Are Stopovers?

A stopover is generally defined as a stay of at least 24 hours in a connecting city between your origin and final destination. Anything less than 24 hours is generally considered a connection or a layover.

A stopover allows you to fly into a city, stay for a while, and then continue to your final destination. For example, say you wanted to fly from Miami (MIA) to Athens (ATH) via Istanbul (IST). With the right award program, you could stop in Istanbul for a few days before heading to Athens for the same price as a nonstop flight, or slightly more.

GCMAP MIA IST ATH — You could stop over in Istanbul (IST) before heading to Athens (ATH). Image Credit: Great Circle Mapper

Award Programs That Allow for Stopovers

Not all airline loyalty programs allow stopovers on award redemptions. Here’s a look at some of my favorites among those that do.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Thai Airways Royal Silk business class 777 300er seat 11B — You can utilize stopovers for fantastic Aeroplan redemptions, like flying Thai Airways business class. Image Credit: Ehsan Haque

Air Canada Aeroplan is a favorite here at Upgraded Points, and for good reason. We value Air Canada Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents per point, which is among the highest of any airline loyalty program.

The program has a long list of partner airlines, an award chart with great sweet spots for partner redemptions, and does not levy fuel surcharges for partner redemptions.

However, its most defining feature is allowing travelers to book stopovers. Aeroplan charges just 5,000 points to book a stopover on any award redemption, including on one-way awards. On round-trip award redemptions, you can book a stopover in each direction.

Although Aeroplan uses dynamic pricing for its own flights, partner redemptions on many airlines follow an award chart. Aeroplan uses a zone-based award chart, where redemption rates depend on the total mileage flown between 2 zones.

On a recent award redemption, I flew United Polaris business class from Chicago – O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Barcelona (BCN), with a stopover in Rome (FCO). The nonstop flight from ORD to FCO would have cost me 70,000 Aeroplan points, but I booked the entire itinerary with the stopover for just 75,000 Aeroplan points.

It’s important to note Aeroplan’s distance bands. While adding a stopover for just 5,000 points is an incredible deal, you will want to make sure additional distance flown does not move the award redemption into the next distance band, as this increases the total Aeroplan points needed.

Additionally, Aeroplan does not allow for stopovers for trips entirely within North America. This includes the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Hot Tip:

Check out why Air Canada Aeroplan is my favorite airline loyalty program.

Air France – KLM Flying Blue

Air France Business Class A350 New Business Class — You can enjoy a stopover in Paris when flying Air France business class. Image Credit: Juan Ruiz

Air France – KLM Flying Blue has one of the most generous stopover policies of any award program. Flying Blue allows stopovers for no additional miles, including on one-way award redemptions.

It also allows these stopovers to be booked on partner airlines, not just Air France or KLM. However, it is worth noting that taxes and fees could be much higher, depending on the redemption. This is because Flying Blue levies fuel surcharges on award tickets.

Flying Blue does not have an award chart. Instead, it uses dynamic pricing for its rewards, which means that award pricing can vary significantly. However, Flying Blue has standardized saver-level pricing, which can be fantastic value if you can find it on the route you want.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is a favorite program of many award travelers. Although the program has undergone several devaluations over the last few years, it still remains a viable option for many redemptions.

It is also another excellent program for stopovers. Mileage Plan allows stopovers for no additional cost, including on one-way award redemptions, as long as you fly between regions.

On a recent trip to Asia, I took full advantage of Mileage Plan’s stopover policy. Instead of flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo (HND) for 60,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles, I booked a trip from San Francisco to Seoul (GMP) with a stopover in Tokyo for a few days for the exact same price.

JAL 60k pre devaluation Alaska stopover — North America to Asia with a stopover for 60,000 miles is a bargain. Image Credit: Alaska Airlines

Hot Tip:

Check out our in-depth guide on the best ways to redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles for maximum value.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines business class on the 777 — I have flown Singapore Airlines business class using the KrisFlyer program several times. Image Credit: Ehsan Haque

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is another great program for stopovers, albeit with more restrictions. Singapore Airlines has 2 award charts, one for award redemptions on its own flights and another for partner awards. If any segments on an itinerary are on a partner airline, the rules of the partner award chart apply.

Flights operated by Singapore Airlines itself have 2 different award pricing levels: Saver and Advantage. On Singapore Airlines-operated flights, you can have 1 free stopover per one-way Advantage award or round-trip Saver award (no stopovers are allowed on one-way Saver awards).

Additionally, stopovers with KrisFlyer can only be up to 30 days.

United Airlines MileagePlus

Lufthansa European business class Airbus A320 business class cabin — Intra-Europe flights, for example in Lufthansa’s short-haul business class, are a good way to take advantage of United’s Excursionist Perk. Image Credit: Daniel Ross

Lastly, there is United Airlines MileagePlus. While it doesn’t allow for stopovers in the traditional sense, the program features the Excursionist Perk. With this, you can add a free one-way segment on a round-trip award redemption.

For the Excursionist Perk to work, there are a few rules to be aware of based on United’s award regions:

Travel must begin and end in the same region, as defined by MileagePlus
The Excursionist Perk cannot be in the same region where your travel begins
The Excursionist Perk can only be applied within a single region
The cabin of service and award type of the free one-way award is the same or lower than the one-way award preceding it

Final Thoughts

Stopovers can be an excellent way to get more value from points and miles. Not all programs allow for stopovers, but thanks to the airline loyalty programs mentioned above, you can essentially visit 2 destinations (or even more) for the price of 1.