Air France/KLM loyalty members will soon get a valuable bonus: the ability to add a stopover of up to twelve months on award tickets issued by the two airlines through its Flying Blue program.
That’s a rare privilege for award tickets these days. It’s also possible withh Air Canada, Alaska and Singapore Airlines, but in each case with either a charge or significant restrictions. The three U.S. legacy airlines stopped allowing stopovers years ago, although United has a limited version allowing a free flight sandwiched in the middle of a round-trip itinerary.
The Flying Blue perk won’t apply to flights on partner airlines, but does allow a mix-and-match of Air France and KLM operated flights. Since most long-distance flights on both airlines operate from their hubs at Paris and Amsterdam, those are likely to be the most popular stopover cities.
A number of airlines offer stopovers at their main hubs on paid tickets, including Icelandic, Aer Lingus and TAP Portugal, but they are usually limited to a week or less.
