Hey, it's Ernest from Trip Astute. In this video, we're covering how to add
stopovers to your flight so you can explore more places on your trip for
less money.
(light chiming music)
About six years ago, I went to a family wedding outside of Paris. I
decided I also wanted to explore a few other places in Europe, so I booked some
local flights from Paris to Berlin, from Berlin to Naples, and then from Naples
back to Paris. Had I been a bit smarter about my
planning, I probably would have avoided booking four different flights and tried
to maximize a single booking. Many times when we travel abroad, we base the amount
of places that we want to see on money rather than time. I know I've done this
many times, especially in Europe. I think about jumping to several different
countries, but due to the cost, I usually end up going to only one or two
locations. However, there is a little trick that a lot of folks in the travel
community use. It's called the 23:59 rule and I'm going to show you how to use it.
Before we jump in, if you're new here, I want to welcome you to our channel. Trip
Astute is a travel channel that is focused on sharing ways to make travel
easier, affordable, and more enjoyable. Traveling can be stressful and expensive,
so we're looking for ways to help you maximize your experience through travel
tips, points and miles, and innovative gear. So, the word connection or stopover
often has a negative connotation. People often associate them with long periods
of waiting at the airport for their next flight. In fact, I know that I often will
pick non-stop flights since I don't want to have to deal with the hassle of changing
aircrafts. However, any connecting flight that's under 24 hours counts as a
connection. Anything above 24 hours is a stopover, which usually results in an
extra charge. The concept is to incorporate connections that are just
under 24 hours so they feel like stopovers but they're technically
connections. This is known as the 23:59 rule. For example, suppose you fly from
Los Angeles to Bangkok, but you stop in Taiwan. If you were to time your
arrival around midday, you could technically have the rest of the day and
one night to explore the area. You can either put your belongings in the locker
or even check into a hotel for the night. Some people will even try to land early
in the morning so they can explore during the day and just come back to the
airport for a nighttime flight. That way, they can even avoid paying for a hotel.
What's even cooler is that even though 24 hours is the general limit for what
counts as a stopover, there are several airlines that actually allow and often
promote longer stopovers. For North American stopovers, check out Air
Canada's stopover policy for return flights. For Europe,
check out Finn Air, Iceland Air, Wow Air, and TAP Portugal. For Asia, check out
Air China, China Southern Air, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Turkish
Airways. For Africa and the Middle East, check out Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates,
Etihad, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Australia.
I put Virgin Australia in this group since a lot of their flights stop in
the Middle East. We traveled to Lisbon during the winter holiday and if we had
more time, we would have loved to take advantage of TAP Portugal's
overnight layover policy and offers. It would have been a great way to see other
cities in Portugal like Porto. There are a few ways to book a trip like this, but
honestly, it can require a bit of research. Most times you would search for
a flight on a site like Google Flights or Skyscanner,
then see if there's a common stop location. For example, if we look at the
Los Angeles to Bangkok trip, there are several flights that stop in either
Beijing or Taipei. Since it looks like the Air China flights stop in Beijing,
let's then create a multi-city flight that gives me a day or two to explore
Beijing. In this example, for less money than the original flight that I found, I
can now leave Los Angeles before noon on a Wednesday, land in Beijing
mid-afternoon on Thursday, and then fly to Bangkok on Friday evening. This would
give me a little over a day to explore the city. I can also add another day to
the itinerary and it wouldn't cost me anything extra. That way I would have two
full days to explore Beijing before heading off to Thailand. Still, there is a
better way to search for these flights. you can use a tool designed for this
exact purpose. A popular one in the travel community is Air Wander. Air
Wander basically does a lot of the heavy lifting for you in finding flights and
destinations based on stopover locations and length of time. It even has a special
interface that will tell you where you can stop over and for how much more than
the original direct flight. In this example, I'll choose Ho Chi Minh City since
this is one of the recommend a stopover locations. I also happen to love Ho Chi
Minh City since I went there in 2016 and it was an amazing experience. Though it
takes a while for it to search and load the results, you can see that it does all
the research for you. It even lets you specify how long you want to stay at
your connection for each individual leg of your trip, which makes it so much
easier when trying to design a flight plan with stopovers. For example, you may
want a long connection when you're traveling to your destination, but maybe
on the way home, you want a quick connection or direct flight. This tool
allows you to search with this criteria in mind. And just in case you're
wondering, I did the same search for a stopover in Beijing and it found the
same flight plan that I was able to create on Skyscanner.
Finally. here are a couple tips to keep in mind when booking flights with long
connections or stopovers. Number 1: Check visa requirements. If you're
planning to explore a new city during your stopover, make sure you have a valid
visa for that country. Most times you'll get flagged at the airport if you don't
have a visa for your final destination, but stopovers can often get overlooked.
Make sure you do some research ahead of time on whether you need one. If you need
more info on how to get a travel visa, check out our video on the topic. Number
2: Use airport lockers. If you're planning to leave the airport but going to
return later on, consider using an airport locker. Most airports have them
or offer some kind of similar luggage hold service. Also, some airlines will let
you check in in a bag 24 hours in advance, which is another option if a
locker isn't available. Ironically, LAX, which is the closest international
airport to me, doesn't have a luggage locker system. Instead they have a
company called LAX Luggage Storage which will hold your bag. Number 3: Point
redemptions can be limited and difficult. When booking flights with longer
stopovers, it can be a challenge to book them using points, even if they are an
official travel partner to your points program. If you're determined to use
points, I would call your points program to see if you can book
over the phone if you can't find the same or similar flight plan. For example,
Chase lists a 24-hour support line if you need help booking using their travel
portal. Number 4: Know your limits. Coming off a long flight and spending an
entire day touring a city, then jumping on to another flight can be really tough
on the body, especially if you're not able to rest on the plane. I know I'm
someone who often struggles with red-eye flights, so just remember not to extend
yourself. The last thing you want to do is push your body too hard and get sick
during your trip. And if you need suggestions on how to rest on the flight,
check out our video on the topic. Have you used the 23:59 rule or even booked an
extended stopover during your travels? If so, let us know how you did it and if
you have any tips on the process. If you enjoyed this video or found it useful,
please give us a thumbs up and consider sharing our videos with others who might
benefit from our content. Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.