Airline free stopover

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Many airlines collaborate with their hub city's tourism organization to offer free layover/stopover to transiting passengers to promote tourism of their hub. These activities include offering free tour or overnight accommodation. While each of these participating airlines has different rules, nearly all require you to be flying on their airline to their hub city (sometimes codeshared flights are allowed) and the connecting flights must be done under a single booking (no split ticketing).

For the purpose of this article, free stopover activities include those that are offered to layover (transiting with <24 hours) passengers. The aviation industry term is STPC (Stopover Paid by Carrier or Stopover For the Purpose of Connection), which typically means a free hotel arranged by the carrier.

Prepare

Since you will be leaving the layover/stopover airport's secured area to sightsee or join any of the airline's organized tours, you are technically entering that country and have to follow all of the entry requirements of that country.

Using a free stopover hotel is always a bit of a gamble. You will not know in advance where you're going to stay (although you may be able to glean some idea from previous travellers' reports), and there's often a bit of waiting around while they organize your vouchers and rustle up other passengers to share a shuttle bus to take you there. Particularly in economy class, the hotels are acceptable but hardly the nicest around, and they've often located near the airport, not any tourist attractions. This is fine if all you want is a bit of shut-eye, but if you're planning on sightseeing, it's often better to pick your own hotel and pay for it. Always ask if meals are included: the hotel's breakfast buffet is nearly always a part of the deal, and you may get a dinner coupon too.

Asia

China

China Southern offers free overnight accommodation for layovers between 6 and 30 hours on applicable flights in the cities of Beijing, Changsha, Dalian, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Urumqi, and Wuhan.

Xiamen Airlines offers free overnight accommodation for layovers between 6 and 24 hours on eligible regional flights at its hub Xiamen. Single passengers in Economy may be required to share a room with another passenger of the same sex.

Japan

Japan Airlines permits free stopovers for up to 6 days in Tokyo or Osaka for international travellers coming from Australia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam and connecting to a domestic flight. International travellers coming from the U.S., Canada, Mexico or China are also eligible for this stopover but will be charged a US$100 stopover fee.

Jordan

Royal Jordanian Airlines will cover one night of hotel in Amman if the connecting time exceeds 8 hours for economy class passengers and 6 hours for business class passengers.

Qatar

Qatar Airways offers free stopover in Doha for connecting flights that are between 12 and 96 hours. Discounted 4-star and 5-star hotel rooms are offered through the program, starting at US$14-24/night.

Saudi Arabia

Saudia and Flynas will support your application for a 4-day stopover visa (to be precise, a 96-hr visa) for entry into Saudi Arabia. While the stopover visa is free, you do need to pay an application fee and the mandatory medical insurance (total US$13.95). You have to apply for this special visa at the same time as you book your flight. You cannot use this stopover visa for Hajj activities as there is a separate visa for Hajj. However, you can perform Umrah with this stopover visa.

Singapore

Changi Airport offers a Free Singapore Tour, available if you happen to layover for over 5.5 hours and less than 24 hours, and your baggage is checked through to your final destination. Tours offered include the City Sights Tour, the Singapore Heritage Tour and a Changi Precinct Tour.

South Korea

Seoul-Incheon offers Incheon Airport Transit Tour Program for connecting passengers with less than 24 hours of layover regardless of airlines. Tours run for 3 to 5 hours and the tour bus takes you to nearby Incheon, Seoul proper (Jongno, Seodaemun-Mapo) or as far as the DMZ, depending on the tour. You are responsible for paying admissions to the attractions. Many describe the tours as simply a tourist bus drop-off/pick-up service and you're left to freely do your own activities once you're dropped off. For layover passengers without enough time to join the tours, they can try on hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) and making Hangul (Korean writing) crafts in both airport terminals.

Taiwan

The Taiwanese government offers free half-day tours of Taipei if you have a layover of between 7-24 hours. There are morning, afternoon and evening tours. Advance bookings are required 10-45 days before your planned stopover, and you must meet the visa requirements for Taiwan to participate in the tour.

Turkey

Turkish Airlines offers free Touristanbul tours for layover passengers with 6-24 hours between their flights in Istanbul. Half-day, full day and evening tours are available. Scheduled itineraries cover Bosphorus, Galata and the Old City depending on the length of the tour. Passengers can sign up at the Touristanbul desk at the transfer area or on the arrival floor. Contact email: touristanbulthy.com.

For passengers with a connecting time of more than 20 hours, Turkish Airliness offers free accommodation in its Stopover in Istanbul program. Passengers flying on economy class can receive one night of hotel for free while business class passengers can receive up to two nights of complimentary hotel.

United Arab Emirates

Etihad Airways offers Free Abu Dhabi stopover. The program includes up to two free nights of hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Emirates offers a stopover service for layovers of 8 to 26 hours, but only if that is the shortest possible layover.

Europe

Iceland

Probably one of the most well-known airline free stopover in the world, Icelandair offers up to 7 days of Icelandair Stopover in Reykjavik with no extra cost. Play Airlines, the Icelandic low-cost carrier, offers up to 10 days of free stopover in Reykjavik.

Portugal

TAP Portugal offers free stopover, up to 10 days, in Lisbon or Porto.

Spain

Iberia has a stopover program called Hola Madrid which allows up to ten days (or nine nights) of stopover in Madrid. Hola Madrid program also provides a two-day free public transport card. In addition to Iberia, Hola Madrid also accepts flights booked under Iberia Express, British Airways, Vueling, Aer Lingus and Air Nostrum. Tickets can be booked on Iberia website under the "Stopover" tab to redeem a promo code for Hola Madrid.

North America

Panama

On Copa Airlines flights, you can add a free stopover for 1 to 7 days in Panama City. Tickets can be booked on Copa Airlines website using the "Multi-city/Stopover" option.