Free Stopover Finder — Which Airlines Let You Stop on the Way

A free stopover turns a connection into a short trip: you stay a few days in the airline’s home city and fly on, without paying more for the flights. Icelandair (Reykjavík, up to 7 nights), TAP Air Portugal (Lisbon or Porto, up to 10 days) and Copa (Panama City, 24 hours to 15 days) add no airfare for the stop; Turkish Airlines and Etihad pay for a hotel night or two. Type your trip above to see which of them are on your way, and the catch with each.

How to use it

Type the airport you fly from and the one you fly to — a city, an airport name or its three-letter code — or tap one of the trips under the form. The answer updates at once: the programs whose hub is on your way, each with what is free, how long you may stay, the catch, and how many miles going through that city adds. Hubs that would be a long detour are folded under “A detour, but possible”, and every program that does not fit your trip says why. The link under the answer keeps your two airports, so you can send it to whoever you are travelling with.

Every stopover program, side by side

Each program as the airline describes it on its own site, checked on 10 October 2026. Blogs’ lists of “free stopover airlines” disagree with each other because programs change: Qatar’s stopover is now a paid hotel package, and a stop you choose in Dubai is not free.

“On the way” is geometry: the finder adds the great circle from your airport to the hub and from the hub to your destination, and compares it with flying direct. Up to 25% more is on the way; up to 50% is a detour. Two programs only cover part of the world: Icelandair’s stopover is on flights across the Atlantic, TAP flies to Europe, Africa and the Americas, and Copa flies within the Americas.

Worked examples

New York to Rome. Two free stops are on the way: Porto with TAP adds just 128 miles, and Reykjavík with Icelandair 383 miles — up to 10 days in Portugal or 7 nights in Iceland, with no extra airfare. Istanbul is a longer detour.

New York to Bangkok. Istanbul adds 988 miles and, because the trip starts in the US, Turkish Airlines pays for 2 hotel nights in Economy (3 in Business) on a round trip. Etihad’s Abu Dhabi adds 1,273 miles and up to 2 free nights. Doha, Dubai and Singapore are on the way too, but not free.

Miami to Lima. Panama City sits almost exactly on the line (1 mile out of the way): Copa lets you stay from 24 hours to 15 days at no extra airfare, but only if you add the stop when you book.

Common mistakes

• Assuming “stopover” means a free hotel. Icelandair, TAP and Copa give you the flights; the hotel is yours. Turkish Airlines and Etihad give the hotel, with conditions.
• Adding the stop after you book. Copa’s applies to new bookings only, Turkish Airlines wants the hotel request at least 72 hours before the flight, and Etihad wants the hotel booked at least three days ahead.
• Booking through an agent. Etihad’s free nights are not for flights booked through a travel agent.
• Forgetting the visa. A stopover means entering the country. Check the entry rules for Iceland (Schengen), Türkiye, the UAE, Qatar and Panama before you book.

Plan the stop

Pick what to see with our guides: the US cities with direct flights to Iceland, Lisbon, Porto and the villages in between, unusual things to do in Istanbul, how to spend a day in Abu Dhabi, things to do in Doha and 2 days in Panama City. The Flight Time Calculator times each flight, the Round-the-World Ticket Planner checks a longer trip with many stops, and the Jet Lag Calculator plans the days after.