Stopover Question
 

I've heard about stopovers but don't know exactly what they are. How long can one stop over? Does it cost extra? Can it be done online, or do I need to talk to an airlines ticket agent or go through a travel agent? Can you get a stopover if you get your flight with FF miles? I am considering flights from IAD-FRA or IAD-FCO on UA. In my case, would it be possible to stop over in Amsterdam on the way to or from either of those two destinations? Thanks in advance for the help.

To me a "stopover" is when you deplane and stay a few days in an in-between destination on your way to or from you main destination.

I have done "stopovers" using FF miles with both American and Delta programs.

When I have done this there was no additional charge Yes, it can possibly be done on-line (I did on Delta recently, but on American I had to call, which was about 3 years ago, maybe that has changed by now.)

The key is this ... it has to be in line with your routing and of course FF seats have to be available on all segments. Your possible routing with either FRA or FCO seems likely that you could make AMS a "stopover"

My upcoming trip I am doing a "stopover and it is "open-jaw"
LAX (via CDG) to AMS ("stopover") Segment 1
Thalys train Amsterdam to Paris
CDG to VCE segment 2
VCE (via CDG)to LAX segment 3

hmmmm. looking at it laid out like this it seems I have 2 stopovers :)

This was a 50,000 award using Delta, traveling all Air France (Delta partner)

I am not aware something like this could be done if you were paying for say a round trip IAD-FCO-IAD ticket, unles you paid for the additional segments

If you are planning to try to use FF miles, I would call the airline and ask all my policy type questions then try to book it on-line. Also, sometimes FF seat availibility is hard to find. It is best if you can be somewhat flexible.

Whether you can stop over, and where, is very dependent on the specific rules applying to your fare. For FF tickets, it's a question for UA. Often a stopover or an open-jaw (i.e. flying to one place, back from another) is allowed on award tickets, but not both.

In general a "stopover" is a period greater than 24 hours, while anything less can be deemed a "connection," but again, it depends on the specific fare rules.

You can try using the "multi-city" options on UA.com and "force" a stopover in AMS, then compare it to a fare to FCO or FRA without the stopover.

Oops sorry. United.com

Does United have an IAD-AMS flight? IAD-FRA is one of its busiest non-stop routes. Often the connection point for UA between Washington and Italy is FRA.

<i>Does United have an IAD-AMS flight?</i>

Yes, United serves Amsterdam from both IAD and ORD. It also has service from IAD to Rome.

Oops, United does go to AMS from IAD, but why not phone them and ask about possible routing? I've had good service when I call their FF desk with questins like this. That would be the quickest way to get your answer.

One way to state it that a connection becomes a stopover after 24 hours.

With a United FF award you can make one stopover OR one open jaw.

Your award travel between FCO and AMS or between FRA and AMS would be on a Star Alliance carrier other than United. Probably will be Lufthansa.

You could also consider Lufthansa flights between IAD-FRA and IAD-MUC/FRA-FCO.

You have been considering getting a ticket &quot;to FRA with a stopover in AMS&quot; (e.g. IAD-FRA-AMS-IAD).

You can also think of it as a ticket &quot;to AMS with a stopover at FRA&quot;. (e.g. IAD-FRA-AMS-FRA-IAD).

You can find who goes between FCO and AMS by checking scheduled flights at star-alliance.com (you will probably see some SWISS options in addition to LH).

at star-alliance.com also look for routings for IAD-AMS, IAD-FRA, and IAD-FCO. The connecting cities shown on those itins would definitely be eligible stopover cities (i.e. they are enroute).

Tom, an Amsterdam stopover would work if you can get seats on United from IAD to AMS on their service, stay for a few days, and then continue on to FRA on a partner carrier, namely Lufthansa. You would not be able to do a stopover in AMS if you were flying IAD to FCO. LH does fly from AMS to FCO, via say FRA or MUC, so AMS would not be a logical &quot;stopover&quot; point on the IAD-FCO route.

I would not be surprised if IAD-AMS-FRA-FCO-IAD (or reverse) was a valid routing. I checked at star-alliance dot com but there are so many 1-stop itineraries between IAD and FCO that they don't list any valid two-stop itins.

Thanks everybody for your helpful replies!