Save on Flights with Long Layovers

If your travel plans include multiple destinations, you might instinctively search for multicity flights. But there’s another approach worth considering: incorporating long layovers. These can yield better deals when you plan brief stays in certain cities.

What is the long layover strategy?

The long layover strategy involves booking a flight with an extended stopover at an intermediate city. Say you are visiting New York for two days on your way from Los Angeles to Paris. You will likely start searching for a multicity ticket with both destinations.

Multicity ticket from Los Angeles to New York and then to Paris.

Here you find a $600 offer that works for you. Alternatively, you may search for each flight independently and purchase two separate tickets. For the sake of this example, imagine the separate tickets strategy also costs $600.

Two separate tickets from Los Angeles to New York and from New York to Paris.

What you could do instead, is purchasing a one-way ticket to Paris that includes a 30h+ layover in New York.

One-way ticket from Los Angeles to Paris with stop in New York.

In this case, you would save $200. The flights might be the exact same as the ones you were looking at with multicity or separate tickets, but the booking pattern is different: here each segment is part of the same flight journey. You are getting a different price because of the variable nature of airline pricing.

If you want to include a return flight to Los Angeles after your Paris stay, you can still apply this strategy. Instead of a 3-journey multicity ticket, you would purchase a roundtrip with a long layover on the outbound. The return flight can be any other flight, including a direct one.

Multicity ticket from Los Angeles to New York, New York to Paris and then Paris to Los Angeles.

Roundtrip from Los Angeles to Paris and back, stop in New York on the outbound.

How to find flights with long layovers

Long layover deals are not yet covered by Airglitch, but we are looking at incorporating them to our algorithm in the future. Your best bet is to search for these flights manually by filtering on layover length with tools like ITA Matrix.

Flights with long layovers are often less visible or missing because they are less popular - a typical traveler generally prefers short stops. But with ITA Matrix, you can use advanced search options to filter by connection city and set a minimum connection time.

Why long layovers can be cheaper

As with other flight booking strategies, itineraries with long layovers are not inherently cheaper — they might be, but not always. Airline pricing is influenced by various factors, and identical flights can have different prices depending on ticketing patterns. The key is to explore alternative search methods to uncover potential savings.

Can I get in trouble for booking a long layover flight?

Booking a long layover ticket is perfectly legitimate, and you won’t face any issues with the airline as all segments are flown. However, keep in mind that if your itinerary is affected by delays or cancellations, the airline might not honor the layover stop and could rebook you on a different connection or even a direct flight. Additionally, you likely won’t have access to your checked luggage during the layover, so pack accordingly.

While not a guaranteed way to save, long layovers are a useful addition to your flight search routine. They’re a popular strategy for flexible travelers to save money by exploring connection cities. With the right tools, they can also help reduce costs on a predefined itinerary.

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