Stopovers and Open-Jaws: Two Trips for One Booking
Most British collectors think of reward flights as A-to-B-to-A. The really cunning redemptions use a programme's stopover and open-jaw rules to turn a single booking into two holidays.
Definitions
- Stopover. A deliberate break in a journey of more than 24 hours (international) without paying for an extra ticket. The programme treats the whole thing as one award.
- Open-jaw. Flying into one city and out of another; or returning to a different home airport. The "missing" leg between the two cities is your problem (train, hire car, separate cheap flight).
Which programmes allow what
| Programme | Stopovers | Open-jaws |
|---|---|---|
| BA Executive Club (Avios) | Not on standard rewards; allowed on multi-segment Reward bookings with extra Avios per segment | Yes, on multi-segment bookings |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Yes — one free stopover for 5,000 points extra | Yes |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | One free stopover on round-trip Saver awards | Yes |
| Cathay Asia Miles | Up to 2 stopovers on round-trip multi-carrier awards | Yes |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | Allowed on round-trip awards (one stopover) | Yes |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer (Classic) | One stopover on international awards | Yes |
The Aeroplan masterclass
Aeroplan's stopover is the single most powerful feature in loyalty. For an extra 5,000 points on top of the normal one-way price, you can break your trip in a Star Alliance hub for anything from a day to several months.
Example: London → Tokyo via Frankfurt in Lufthansa Business. Add a four-day stopover in Frankfurt for an extra 5,000 Aeroplan points. Two destinations for the price of one. At ~87,500 + 5,000 = 92,500 points all-in for two-cabin long-haul Business, that's an outstanding redemption.
The open-jaw trick
Open-jaws cost no more than a standard round-trip in most programmes — they're priced as two one-ways. Useful applications from the UK:
- Italy by train. Fly into Venice, train down through Florence and Rome over a week, fly out of Naples. Same Avios as a return to Rome.
- US road trip. Fly into San Francisco, drive down Highway 1, fly out of Los Angeles. Same Avios as a return to either.
- Asian multi-city. Fly into Hong Kong, fly out of Singapore. Each one-way priced from London, no internal positioning needed.
Booking the awkward bits
Multi-segment reward bookings on ba.com generally need to be built through the "Multi-City" search. The interface is clunky; sometimes calling the BA Executive Club desk is the only practical way to put together a complex itinerary. For Aeroplan, the online tool now handles single-stopover bookings cleanly; multi-stopover or partner-heavy itineraries still often need a phone call.
A worked example: BA Avios open-jaw to Italy
London Heathrow → Venice (one-way), then Rome → London Heathrow (one-way) on Avios. Each leg is a Zone 2 short-haul. Total: ~13,000 Avios + ~£35 cash for two completely separate Italian cities, no extra cost over a simple return.
One snag
Open-jaw and stopover rules are some of the most actively changed parts of any loyalty programme. Singapore tightened their stopover policy in 2023; Aeroplan retains its generous rules but has tweaked them at the margins. Confirm the current rules on the airline's site before designing a holiday around a stopover.