Flexibility with stopovers
A stopover is a stay of one night or more at some point in the itinerary. If a traveler is flying between New York, USA and Rome, Italy he might choose to spend a weekend in Paris en route to Rome. Paris then becomes a stopover.
Fully flexible fares permit stopovers if the route is within the Maximum Permitted Mileage. Although the cheapest fares don't allow stopovers, some discounted fares do.
As the case study below shows, a stopover can be used to do extra business or to include a leisure break.
Case Study with a Discounted Fare
Mr. Frank Leonard's current reservation is:
Manchester to Dubai 09 October
Dubai to Manchester 16 October
The excursion fare allows 2 stopovers in each direction.
The Manchester office decides that it would be useful for Mr. Leonard to spend a day in Athens talking to a potential supplier. The airline confirms that this is "within mileage"
Manchester to Athens 07 October
Athens to Dubai 09 October (arr. 10 Oct)
Dubai to Manchester 16 October
(The minimum stay in Dubai still has to be at least 6 days.)
Mr. Leonard looks at the details of the return flights from Dubai. There is a connection with a change of flights. He checks his diary and his annual leave, then decides to take a short break in Malta. He will have to buy a return ticket for his wife from Manchester to Malta, but his travel is paid for.
The return reservations are now:
Dubai to Malta 16 October
Malta to Manchester 21 October
This Excursion fare allows stopovers as long as they are within mileage.
Occasionally there are other minor restrictions that may prevent the required stopovers within a normal or excursion fare.
