Award stopovers let you build a planned stay of more than 24 hours into a multi-segment itinerary without pricing every city pair as a separate ticket. As of October 20, 2026, only a handful of programs still publish clear rules that allow this. Aeroplan, Alaska Atmos Rewards, Flying Blue, Singapore KrisFlyer and ANA Mileage Club continue to offer stopovers under their current terms. United MileagePlus ended its Excursionist Perk in August 2025 (reported).
The practical difference matters when you price a trip. A stopover keeps the itinerary as one award reservation. A layover (connection) is the short transfer that usually lasts under 24 hours. An open-jaw ends one flight in one city and starts the next in another city with no connecting flight between them. Programs treat these three structures differently, so the same set of flights can price as one award, two awards, or an invalid routing depending on the rules you follow.
For free stopovers on cash tickets, see airline stopover programs.
At a Glance: Award Stopover Rules in 2026
The table below summarizes the current published position of the programs covered in this guide. Aeroplan adds a fixed 5,000-point charge. Flying Blue, KrisFlyer and ANA treat the stopover as complimentary under their stated conditions. United’s former Excursionist Perk ended for new bookings or changes on or after August 21, 2025 (reported).
| Program | Stopover allowed | Cost | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeroplan | Yes (one per direction) | +5,000 points | Max 45 days; not in CA/US/China; 6 segments/direction |
| Alaska Atmos Rewards | Yes (one enroute per one-way on eligible itineraries) | Per program terms | Eligible cities only |
| Flying Blue | Yes (complimentary, 24h+) | Free (miles or Cash & Miles; taxes separate) | On AF/KLM/partner flights; call center |
| United MileagePlus | No (Excursionist Perk ended) | N/A | Ended 21 Aug 2025 (reported) |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | Yes (Advantage: 1 OW / 2 RT; Saver: 1 RT only) | Complimentary | Up to 30 days each |
| ANA Mileage Club | Yes (one besides destination on RT from outside Japan) | Included (counts as a connection) | Not on one-ways or from Japan |
| AAdvantage / Delta / others | Do not advertise free stopovers | Check program | Segment limits apply (AA: 3 US/CA, 4 elsewhere) |
Use the table as a starting filter. The sections that follow give the full published conditions for each program that still allows a stopover and the reported status of United’s former perk.
Stopover vs Layover vs Open-Jaw on Award Tickets
A stopover is a planned stay of more than 24 hours at an intermediate city on a multi-segment award itinerary. The clock starts when the time between the arriving and departing flights exceeds 24 hours. That length of stay is what separates a stopover from an ordinary connection.
A layover (connection) is the transfer that normally lasts under 24 hours. You arrive on one flight and leave on the next without an intentional multi-day stay. Programs generally treat connections as part of a single routing and do not charge an extra stopover fee or apply special geographic rules to them.
An open-jaw is a different structure. You arrive in one city and depart from another city later, with no connecting flight between those two cities. The gap is not a stopover; it is simply two separate end-points on the same reservation. Open-jaws are allowed on many award tickets, but they are not the same as inserting a long stay at an intermediate city.
Aeroplan draws a hard line at the stopover point. An open-jaw is not permitted there. Travel must continue with a departure from the same city where you arrived. You cannot arrive in City A, leave the airport for more than 24 hours, and then start the next flight from City B. The next segment must depart from the city you just reached.
These three definitions control how a program prices and validates an itinerary. A stay longer than 24 hours triggers stopover rules (and any associated points cost or geographic limits). A stay under 24 hours stays a connection. An arrival and departure in two different cities without a connecting flight is an open-jaw. Confirm which structure your flights create before you search, because the same cities can be valid under one label and invalid under another.
Aeroplan Stopover Rules
Aeroplan is one of the few programs that still publishes a clear, paid stopover option on award tickets.
Eligibility and Cost
Aeroplan permits one stopover per direction of travel, including on one-way awards. A round-trip can therefore carry two stopovers if you use the allowance in each direction. Each stopover adds 5,000 points on top of the base award price between the cities. A one-way with a stopover costs the base price plus 5,000 points. A round-trip with a stopover in each direction costs the base price plus 10,000 points.
The 5,000-point charge is fixed; it does not vary by cabin or distance. You still pay the normal taxes, fees and carrier surcharges on the itinerary. The stopover itself does not replace those charges.
Duration and Geography
A stopover begins after more than 24 hours between flights. The maximum length is 45 days. You cannot stay longer than 45 days at the intermediate city and still have the stay treated as a single stopover on one award.
Stopovers are not permitted in Canada, the United States, or China. Cities elsewhere, including Mexico and the Caribbean, qualify. You must also stay within the overall itinerary limit of six flight segments per direction.
Booking
You can book the stopover online by selecting the Multi-city/Stopover option when shopping for a flight reward on aircanada.com, or you can book through the Aeroplan Contact Centre. Standard one-way or round-trip searches do not always surface the long stay, so the multi-city path is the reliable route.
An open-jaw is not permitted at the stopover point. Travel must continue from the previous arrival city. If you need to leave from a different city, price the segments as separate awards instead of forcing an open-jaw into the stopover.
For partner award space on Aeroplan, see the guide on how to search Aeroplan partner award space. Confirm that award space exists on every segment of the full itinerary before you ticket.
Alaska Atmos Rewards Stopover Rules
Alaska Atmos Rewards may allow one enroute stopover at an eligible city for each one-way award on eligible international itineraries. The same allowance applies when the award is redeemed solely on Alaska Airlines: one enroute stopover is allowed for each one-way award. Both rules appear in the Atmos Rewards terms as of October 20, 2026.
The stopover is described as “enroute,” meaning it occurs at an intermediate city on the way to the final destination. It is not an open-jaw at the end of the trip. The terms do not publish a fixed extra-miles price or a maximum number of days in the sections that cover stopovers. Cost and duration therefore follow the broader program terms that apply to the itinerary.
Partner awards may have additional routing rules that limit where the stopover can be placed.
Because the published language is shorter than Aeroplan’s, the practical steps are: confirm the itinerary is an eligible international (or pure Alaska) one-way, identify an eligible intermediate city, and verify that the full routing still tickets as a single award. For more on Alaska award redemptions in general, see the Alaska Atmos Rewards award redemption guide.
Flying Blue Stopover Rules
Flying Blue allows a complimentary stopover of 24 hours or more during a connection between two flights operated by Air France, KLM, or Flying Blue airline partners. The stopover is free relative to the base award price. You can pay for the overall trip in Miles or with Cash & Miles; taxes and surcharges are paid separately in euros or another eligible currency. These rules appear on the Flying Blue stopover page as of October 20, 2026.
The allowance applies to one-way awards and partner awards as well as pure Air France or KLM flights. The key requirement is that the two flights that bookend the stopover are operated by Air France, KLM, or a Flying Blue partner. A stay of 24 hours or longer at the connecting city turns the connection into a stopover under these terms.
Booking is done through Flying Blue customer service (the call center). Online booking is not available for stopover itineraries. You log in, find the phone number in the Contact us section, and ask the agent to build the itinerary with the long stay. Standard search results will not show the multi-day gap as a bookable option.
Because the stopover itself carries no extra mileage cost, the total points price is simply the price of the underlying award segments. The usual award ticket rules for changes and refunds still apply once the ticket is issued. For partner award space on Flying Blue, see the guide on how to search Flying Blue partner award space.
Confirm that every segment has award space and that the full itinerary can be ticketed as one reservation before you call. The call-center step adds time, so start the search early if your dates are fixed.
United: the Excursionist Perk Ended
United MileagePlus ended the Excursionist Perk for award bookings or changes made on or after August 21, 2025. This change is reported rather than published on United’s own pages. Contemporaneous reporting of United’s announcement (see the One Mile at a Time report) states that tickets issued as of August 21, 2025 no longer include the perk. united.com no longer advertises it.
The former perk, as reported, gave one free one-way award segment within a multi-city itinerary that started and ended in the same MileagePlus region. The structure let members add an extra city without paying the full points cost of a separate award.
No free stopover is currently advertised on United MileagePlus. Segment limits and routing rules still apply to ordinary multi-city awards, but the specific free-segment allowance that defined the Excursionist Perk is no longer available for new bookings or for changes to existing bookings.
For broader United award redemption details, see the United MileagePlus award redemption guide. For change and redeposit rules that may affect an existing ticket, see the United MileagePlus award change and redeposit rules.
Singapore KrisFlyer and ANA Mileage Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and ANA Mileage Club both publish complimentary stopover rules that remain in effect as of October 20, 2026. The details differ by award type and by origin.
KrisFlyer Advantage vs Saver
On a KrisFlyer Advantage award, one complimentary stopover of up to 30 days is allowed on a one-way ticket. A round-trip Advantage award includes two complimentary stopovers of up to 30 days each. The stopover is free relative to the base award price.
Saver awards are more limited. A one-way Saver award does not include a complimentary stopover. A round-trip Saver award includes one complimentary stopover of up to 30 days. In both cases the maximum length is 30 days.
Stopovers may be added on singaporeair.com on eligible award redemption ticket types. Partner routing rules can still limit the cities where a stopover can be placed, often restricting it to a partner hub.
ANA Round-Trip Rules
ANA Mileage Club allows one stopover besides the destination on round-trip itineraries, but only when the trip departs from outside Japan. Stopovers are not allowed on one-way itineraries. They are also not allowed when the itinerary departs from Japan.
The single stopover is included in the number of connections. Partner routing rules may further limit where the stopover can be placed. Because the allowance is restricted to round-trips that start outside Japan, a one-way award or a trip that begins in Japan must be priced without a stopover or as separate awards.
Both programs treat the stopover as complimentary under the conditions above. Confirm the specific award type (Advantage vs Saver for KrisFlyer, origin for ANA) and the full routing before you book, because the published allowance does not override partner segment or hub rules.
American AAdvantage, Delta and Others
AAdvantage does publish a clear segment limit. One-way awards within the United States or Canada are limited to a maximum of three segments. Other one-way awards are limited to a maximum of four segments. These limits apply whether or not you are attempting a stopover. Exceeding the segment count means the itinerary cannot be ticketed as a single award under the published rules.
Segment limits and partner routing rules still apply even when no free stopover is offered. A multi-city routing that stays inside the segment cap may still be valid as separate awards or as a standard connection, but it will not receive the free intermediate stay that Aeroplan, Flying Blue or KrisFlyer allow.
Because these programs do not publish a free-stopover option, the practical path is to price each city pair separately when a long stay is required, or to use a program that still lists an explicit stopover allowance.
Taxes, Validity and Routing Limits
Taxes, fees and carrier surcharges still apply to stopover itineraries even when the stopover itself carries no extra mileage cost. The free or low-cost stopover does not waive the cash portion of the ticket. You pay the same taxes and surcharges that would apply to the underlying award segments.
Award ticket validity rules typically limit a ticket to one year from issuance. That one-year window constrains the maximum practical length of any stopover. A 45-day Aeroplan stopover or a 30-day KrisFlyer stopover must still fit inside the ticket’s validity period. If the total time from issuance to the final flight exceeds the validity window, the itinerary cannot be ticketed as written.
Geographic or regional restrictions vary by program and must be checked against current policy before booking. Aeroplan, for example, excludes Canada, the United States and China. Other programs may exclude different countries or require the stopover city to be a partner hub. These restrictions are independent of the mileage cost.
Partner awards may have additional routing rules that limit where the stopover can be placed.
The combination of cash charges, the one-year validity window and partner routing rules means a stopover itinerary must be checked on all three points before it is ticketed. Meeting the stopover duration and geography rules is necessary but not sufficient.
Booking Tips for Award Stopovers
Booking stopovers often requires searching multi-city or calling the program. Standard one-way or round-trip searches frequently do not surface stays longer than 24 hours, so the search path itself can hide a valid routing.
For Aeroplan, use the Multi-city/Stopover option on aircanada.com or call the Aeroplan Contact Centre. The online multi-city path is the first place to try; the contact centre can build itineraries that the website does not display.
For Flying Blue, contact customer service by phone. Online booking is not available for stopover itineraries, so the call is required. Have the flight numbers and dates ready before you dial.
Confirm that the full itinerary can be ticketed as a single reservation with award space on every segment. Also check the validity window. A stopover that fits the program’s duration rule can still fail if the last flight falls outside the ticket’s one-year validity or if one segment has no award space.
For United tickets that may have been booked under the former Excursionist Perk, review the current change and redeposit rules in the United MileagePlus award change and redeposit rules guide. The perk itself is no longer available for new bookings or changes on or after August 21, 2025 (reported).
Start the search early when dates are fixed. Call-center bookings and multi-city searches take longer than a simple one-way award, and award space can disappear while you are on the phone.
Bottom Line
Aeroplan, Alaska Atmos Rewards, Flying Blue, Singapore KrisFlyer and ANA Mileage Club still permit stopovers under published rules. Aeroplan charges 5,000 points per stopover. Flying Blue and KrisFlyer stopovers are complimentary within their limits, and ANA's is included on eligible round-trips. Alaska doesn't publish a stopover price. United’s former Excursionist Perk is no longer available for new bookings or changes after August 21, 2025 (reported). AAdvantage and Delta don't publish a free stopover.
Compare programs by fit rather than by a single winner. If you need a stopover in Canada, the United States or China, Aeroplan is not an option. If you need a one-way with a free stopover, KrisFlyer Advantage or Flying Blue may fit better than ANA.
FAQ
What is the difference between a stopover, a layover and an open-jaw on an award ticket?
A stopover is a planned stay of more than 24 hours at an intermediate city. A connection is typically under 24 hours. An open-jaw uses different arrival and departure cities with no connecting flight between them.
How many stopovers does Aeroplan allow and what is the extra points cost?
Aeroplan allows one stopover per direction of travel, including on one-way awards. Each stopover adds 5,000 points on top of the base award price between the cities.
How long can an Aeroplan stopover last and where is it not permitted?
An Aeroplan stopover begins after more than 24 hours between flights and may last a maximum of 45 days. Stopovers are not permitted in Canada, the United States, or China.
Does Alaska Atmos Rewards allow an enroute stopover on one-way awards?
Yes. Alaska Atmos Rewards may allow one enroute stopover at an eligible city for each one-way award on eligible international itineraries. The same one-enroute-stopover rule applies when the award is redeemed solely on Alaska Airlines.
Is a Flying Blue stopover free and how do you book it?
Flying Blue allows a complimentary stopover of 24 hours or more. You can pay in Miles or with Cash & Miles; taxes and surcharges are paid separately. Stopovers are booked through Flying Blue customer service; online booking is not available for stopover itineraries.
What happened to United’s Excursionist Perk?
United MileagePlus ended the Excursionist Perk for award bookings or changes made on or after August 21, 2025 (reported). united.com no longer advertises it. The former perk gave one free one-way award segment within a multi-city itinerary that started and ended in the same MileagePlus region.
How many stopovers does Singapore KrisFlyer allow on Advantage vs Saver awards?
Advantage awards allow one complimentary stopover of up to 30 days on a one-way and two on a round-trip. Saver awards allow one complimentary stopover of up to 30 days on a round-trip but none on a one-way.
Does ANA allow stopovers on one-way awards or when departing Japan?
No. ANA allows one stopover besides the destination only on round-trip itineraries departing from outside Japan. Stopovers are not allowed on one-way itineraries or when departing Japan.
Do taxes and surcharges still apply even if the stopover has no extra mileage cost?
Yes. Taxes, fees and carrier surcharges still apply to stopover itineraries even when the stopover itself carries no extra mileage cost.
What is the typical validity period that limits how long a stopover can last?
Award ticket validity rules typically limit a ticket to one year from issuance. That window constrains the maximum practical length of any stopover.