Stopover and Open-Jaw Awards: Creative Routing

Understanding Stopovers vs. Open-Jaw Routing

A stopover is a scheduled break in travel at an intermediate city lasting more than 24 hours (or sometimes defined by the airline as any intentional departure from a transfer city regardless of duration). An open-jaw is a routing where the traveler departs from one city and returns from a different city — fly New York to London, travel overland or by other means, and fly Paris to New York. Both techniques create more travel from a single award while paying for only one trip. Airlines permit these structures specifically because their award charts are designed around origin-destination zone pairs, not individual segments, enabling creative routing within the rules.

The distinction between a stopover and a layover (or connection) is time-based. A connection of less than 24 hours is a standard connection and does not count as a stopover. Staying in Tokyo for three days before continuing to Singapore is a stopover — and depending on the program, it may be free, cost additional miles, or be prohibited. Programs vary dramatically in how they handle stopovers: some include one or two free, some charge a flat fee in miles, and some prohibit stopovers entirely. Understanding your target program's specific rules before building an itinerary avoids booking errors.

The value unlock from stopovers and open-jaws is substantial. Without these features, a round-trip award to Japan gets you to Japan and back. With a stopover in Seoul on the outbound and an open-jaw returning from Tokyo rather than Seoul, the same round-trip award structure delivers experiences in two distinct Japanese cities and South Korea. The marginal miles cost for those additional city visits may be zero, provided the routing remains within program rules. This compounding of destination value from a fixed miles investment is the core appeal of stopover and open-jaw planning.

Programs That Offer the Best Stopover Policies

Air Canada Aeroplan offers one free stopover on one-way awards and permits stopovers as part of round-trip awards — effectively allowing multi-city itineraries at round-trip pricing. A traveler booking a round-trip from Toronto to Japan through Aeroplan can stop in Vancouver on the outbound (visiting family) and include a stopover in Tokyo before continuing to Osaka, then fly home directly. This is not a hypothetical — it is a commonly used Aeroplan routing. The one-way stopover benefit means two one-way awards create a four-city itinerary, each leg potentially in business or first class, with stopovers in any cities served by Star Alliance partners.

Alaska Mileage Plan's North American stopover rule is its most distinctive feature. All international Mileage Plan awards permit a free stopover in North America — meaning a round-trip award from North America to Japan can stop in Seattle or Los Angeles (Alaska hubs) for multiple days on the outbound or return. This transforms a point-to-point award into a coastal itinerary where the U.S. hub city stopover provides vacation time before or after the international trip. Alaska partners include Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Finnair, and Qantas, providing broad partner access for the international segments.

Avianca LifeMiles permits stopovers on round-trip awards at no additional cost, with the stopover in a hub city along the routing. LifeMiles' partner network includes United, Lufthansa, and other Star Alliance members, and its award pricing is significantly below what United MileagePlus charges for the same flights. A round-trip business class award Los Angeles to Frankfurt with a stopover in Washington D.C. on the outbound might cost 140,000 LifeMiles — below United's pricing for the same routing without the stopover. This positions LifeMiles as one of the most value-dense programs for creative multi-city planning on Star Alliance metal.

Building a Multi-Destination Award Itinerary

Constructing a stopover or open-jaw award itinerary requires working backwards from the program rules rather than forwards from a desired trip. Start by selecting the program you plan to use and reading its award routing rules — specifically: how many stopovers are permitted, is there an additional fee, and which cities qualify as stopovers versus connections. Rules are typically published in the program's FAQ or terms section under "award rules" or "routing rules." If unclear, call the airline's award desk and have a specific hypothetical routing in mind to test.

With rules understood, map the partner network. If you are using Aeroplan (Star Alliance), which Star Alliance member airports lie between your origin and final destination? A traveler from New York to Bangkok might route through Toronto (Air Canada hub, possible stopover), Frankfurt (Lufthansa hub, another stopover), and onward to Bangkok — creating a four-city trip under a single Aeroplan round-trip award. The routing must make geographic sense (airlines apply the "backtracking" rule that prevents deliberate circuitous routing that inflates segment count) but considerable flexibility exists within this constraint.

Search for availability on each segment separately before trying to book the full itinerary. Award seat availability is the limiting factor. Finding business class space on every segment of a complex multi-city routing is challenging — it may require date flexibility, willingness to mix airlines, or settling for economy on some legs. Seats.aero's multi-program search helps identify which programs have space on each leg so you can select the program that offers the broadest availability across all needed segments. Booking complex itineraries by phone with an award agent is often easier than online booking, as agents can string segments manually when the online tool fails to recognize creative routings.

Free Stopover Programs: A Comparison

Singapore KrisFlyer offers a free stopover in Singapore on any one-way award to or from Singapore — an extraordinary benefit given Singapore's position as one of the world's great cities and Changi Airport's status as the world's most celebrated aviation hub. A traveler flying New York to Bali might route through Singapore, stop for three days (enjoying the city, the hawker centers, and Jewel Changi's Rain Vortex), then continue to Bali — all under a single KrisFlyer award. The routing adds Singapore to the itinerary at no incremental miles cost. The stopover must be in Singapore, but for travelers whose routing passes through, it is a transformative benefit.

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank permits stopovers on round-trip international awards. JAL's award routing through Japan — the routing requirement for most JAL awards — naturally creates Japan stopover opportunities. A round-trip from Los Angeles to Europe routed through Tokyo Narita or Haneda can include a Japan stopover on one direction of travel. Given Japan's position as one of the world's most visited destinations, this embedded stopover benefit turns a Europe trip into a Japan-plus-Europe trip at round-trip pricing. JAL's published chart pricing for these round-trips is competitive, and first class space to Japan is periodically available through partner programs for the Tokyo segments.

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles allows stopovers in Istanbul on round-trip awards — and Istanbul is both an extraordinary city and a logical geographical midpoint between European and Asian destinations. A traveler flying Chicago to Bangkok might route Chicago to Istanbul to Bangkok on Turkish metal, with a three-day Istanbul stopover at no additional miles. Turkish Miles&Smiles' award chart is among the most aggressive in the industry, making this stopover an extremely cost-efficient way to visit Istanbul. The catch is that Turkish miles are harder to acquire in large quantities than Chase or Amex-accessible currencies, though Citi ThankYou now transfers to Miles&Smiles, opening a more accessible earning channel.