Turn Your Stop Into a Bonus Free Ride
If you are booking a flight, you are probably pondering a few details: Will I have to get up at 4am to catch my flight? Are only middle seats available? And, of course, will you have a long transplant? Most of us are afraid of a long stop: sitting for hours at the airport is not a good time. But if you think about it a little differently, you can turn this stop into a part of your vacation. All you have to do is take the 23:59 connection rule into account.
What is the 23:59 Rule?
The 23:59 Rule means you can spend less than 24 hours in your chosen city en route to your final destination at no additional cost. This is an opportunity to add one more destination to your trip for free. But it should be less than 24 hours – beyond this time, however, it will be considered a stopover, for which you will have to pay extra.
Find long-term connections in entertainment cities
If you already know that your chosen destination will include a long stopover, stop where you’ve always wanted to be. If you are lucky and your booked flight already includes a connection in the city you wanted to see, all you have to do is plan accordingly. If not, you will need to research which cities you might be staying in along the way by checking the travel itinerary.
How to use multi-city
If you need to create a trip from scratch and add the connections you want, you can book the trip as a “multi-city” trip rather than a round trip. You will indicate the place of departure to the place where you want to stop on the way until 23:59. You will then travel from the selected connecting stop back to your original departure point – unless you want to add another connection.
Google Flights is a useful tool for finding the cheapest flight options from various airlines. For example, if you’re traveling to Asia and heading to Bangkok, an exciting stopover might be in Hong Kong. San Francisco is also a great travel destination for Australia. If you decide to stay in the US, it is always interesting to visit cities such as Chicago, Denver and Atlanta. When it comes to Europe, you don’t want to miss Amsterdam, Brussels or London.
Take a look at Layover programs
Many airlines have started running transfer programs to give travelers the opportunity to visit and explore other cities. To take advantage of these programs and their benefits, you must be traveling with the airline designated for that program and your stopover must be a certain minimum of hours.
Here is a list of some of the transplant programs nationwide:
- Doha, Qatar : You must be flying with Qatar Airways and have at least an eight hour connection. You can only book free tours up to 48 hours prior to flight arrival, subject to availability. All information on how to proceed is on their website .
- Istanbul, Turkey : You must be a Turkish Airlines passenger and have at least a six-hour connection. Turkish Airlines partnered with Touristanbul to offer free tours to the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia and more.
- Lisbon, Portugal: TAP Air Portugal offers you the opportunity to discover Lisbon or the Port with its long-stay program offered by the country’s airline . You are given a maximum of five days at no additional fare and you will receive exclusive discounts on hotel room reservations.
- Toronto, Canada : Air Canada offers free accommodation for customers flying with a company with a minimum of six hours connecting flight. Under the program, you will receive a free stopover in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.
Where to store things
Depending on the length of your stay, you may not need to book a hotel room. In this case, some airports will allow you to leave your suitcase in the lockers. Be sure to check in advance: not all airports offer this service.