Turn That Layover Into a (mostly) Free Stay-over
Discovering the joy and value of airline and airport stopover programs
We recently spent six days in Panama City, Panama thanks to Copa Airlines for no additional flight costs. We had a terrific time and I’m now looking at the globe and our upcoming travels to see how we can take advantage of more of these kinds of programs. It already looks like we’ll be enjoying a free trip to Singapore in December thanks to Singapore Airlines. So, how did we do this? We leveraged a stopover program.
What is a stopover program, you ask? An airline stopover program is a service offered by airlines that allows passengers with long layovers in a hub city to leave the airport and explore the destination, often with added perks like free or discounted hotels, city tours, and other benefits. These programs are designed to promote tourism in the airline’s home country while enhancing the travel experience for passengers. Key features may include:
Extended Layovers– Typically applies to layovers of 6 hours to several days.
Complementary or Discounted Hotel Stays – Some airlines offer free or discounted accommodations for eligible passengers.
City Tours & Activities – Many airlines provide free or low-cost sightseeing tours showcasing major attractions.
Flexible Booking Options – Stopovers can often be added when booking a ticket at no extra airfare cost.
Visa Assistance – Some airlines partner with local governments to provide visa-free entry for stopover travelers.
How is that different from a multi city trip? Good question. Some airlines will consider their programs stopovers and sometimes you can hack your own stopover using a multi city flight. A "multi-city flight" is an airline ticket that allows you to visit multiple destinations on a single booking, essentially letting you fly to several different cities during one trip instead of just a single roundtrip itinerary; it enables you to make stops along the way and explore various locations with one reservation.
We were able to book our Panamanian mini-break during our flight from Buenos Aires to Mexico City. We took advantage of the Copa Airlines stopover program that allows passengers to stay in Panama for 24 hours up to 6 nights at no additional airfare cost. To book this adventure, we simply clicked on the “stopover” option when originally booking our tickets and followed the instructions to get our free stopover. I was a little weirded out about how simple this was, but it ended up working perfectly.
Copa’s program is really straightforward, which we really appreciated for our first go. However, other programs can be a lot more complex. And there are some amazing travelers out there taking advantage of these programs or figuring out how to hack their own. I posed the question to multiple friends and nomad groups and got the following routes and programs:
Our friends Kristine and Gean of Fire we Go are leveraging the complex, but wildly valuable Alaska Airways stopover program for an upcoming trip. They booked their trip through LATAM (partner airline) from Buenos Aires to Mexico City with a stopover in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They will enjoy a 2 week stopover for no additional cost and use that time to fly around Brazil visiting family.
One fellow nomad used the Etihad program to plan a stopover in The Maldives for a week on her way to India.
Another nomad cleverly went east to go west. He flew from Sao Paulo to Kuala Lumpur with a stopover in Doha. He wanted to go from South America to Southeast Asia but it was too expensive. So he found a clever hack to fly in the other direction and took advantage of Qatar's stopover program.
And another fellow nomad did a 14 hour stopover in Seoul, South Korea on her way to Ho Chi Minh City and took advantage of the free transit tour to see the Palace. She said “It was freezing in Seoul and the transit tour people even lent us winter jackets for the tour. Then, upon return to the airport, they gave us free chargers for our phones. What a great tour!”
We really made the most of our “free” first visit to Panama. We had time to take a terrific Viator tour that took us from the Pacific Ocean in the morning to the Atlantic/Caribbean at lunch, back to the Pacific at the end of the day. It also included a small boat tour on part of the canal where we got to see multiple kinds of monkeys up close, loads of bird and iguana life, and some of the big ships passing through the canal.
See our 8 hour tour in 3 minutes in the video above
Our stopover also gave us plenty of time for other adventures near Panama City. One day, we rented bikes to explore the Amador Causeway and got to see sloths at the Smithsonian’s Punta Culebra Nature Center plus beautiful views of the canal and the city. And we spent plenty of time enjoying Casco Viejo, the old colonial part of Panama City where we ate a delicious dinner with friends who happened to be traveling through town at the same time, explored the restored buildings and streets, and got to know a bit more about the city.









But the best thing we did was to track down my first cousin three times removed (best to Google it than to rely on my trying to explain it!) who traveled from Charleston, South Carolina in August, 1912 by steamer ship to Colon, Panama to work on the canal as a stenographer and later as an accountant until 1917. It was amazing to find his work record at the Biblioteca Presidente Roberto F. Chiari, see photos of where he would have lived, and understand a bit more about this relative who clearly shared my sense of adventure and urge to see the world. So was the stopover worth it? HECK YEAH!




Want to know more? You can find all of our research in our next blog post. This research took days to compile and we’ve verified each program (including talking to a number of bemused ticketing agents), so this research will be for paid subscribers. We’ll also include a downloadable/customizable world map to highlight each city with a stopover program to help you with your travel planning.
If you decide to sign up for a paid subscription, your contribution will, as always, be donated to efforts we support dedicated to the health, education, and entrepreneurial opportunities of women and girls around the world.
Wow, this was really helpful information. I'll have to try this trick sometime. My son has taken advantage of this opportunity and spent a couple of days in Iceland.
The Panama stopover sounds like lots of fun and sooooooooooo exciting to see the records of your first cousin once removed. Did you know where to go to find information on him? I see the family resemblence :)
I did a stepover in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines