selecting long layovers so you can sleep in a hotel?

[compozer]

My son teaches and we like to do dive trips over his Christmas and Easter breaks.  We started doing  Friday evening flights ( he has school until 3:45) for the first leg and staying at a hotel overnight rather than going all the way on Saturday mornings.   He has a week so we don't have a lot of choices.   Yes, it can add $300 - $500, depending on the city, to the cost but being refreshed when you arrive at your final destination is a plus.   Traveling during those times means we could have weather issues (heck there are so many issues that can delay flights these days)  and I figure it would be best to get as far south as possible.  This worked great over our last trip and I am wondering if my husband and I should start doing this on long international flights.   

 

One downside for going with my son is that hotel rates are high because he can only go over holidays.   Another one is having to drag luggage to and from the hotel.  Last time, we had four bags with our dive gear, etc. plus carry ons and had hoped we could check them in for the next flight but they do not allow it if it is over six hours.    

 

Do any of you do this?   I am very interesting in any of your thoughts.  Thanks.

 

 

[Zach1213]

I do sometimes for business...just the way my meetings end and flights are times, I often can't make it home but can start my journey and then stop for the night...for example get out of Europe at 3pm or so, make it to Chicago and spent the night, and get the rest of the way home in the morning. I enjoy it...but my company is paying for it, so it's not a big deal. I have done it on vacation a couple times where flights just didn't line up right and I've had to spend the night in Dallas or LA after a longhaul flight, and I do wake up refreshed and ready to go the next morning.

 

If you can afford it, it's not a bad thing to do.

[Alaskanb]

We have done it when flights have been delayed or cancelled and felt much better for it! I have yet to plan one but it is always at the back of my mind. 

[buggins0402]

We’ve added an overnight in AMS, due to FF availability. On a return, we got into AMS early enough to take the train downtown for a walk and dinner. We stayed at the airport Sheraton, attached to the airport and caught the first flight home, the next day. Actually, got in early enough to go into work for a few hours. The AMS stay was a  Sunday night so hotel cost was cheap.  Overall, adding the AMS evening wasn’t much more than many pay for an excursion and it was nice to revisit Amsterdam.  

 

We also once added a night in PHL, before flying to VietNam. Again, due to FF availability.  But, it was nice to cut the long flight time down....to make the overseas flight we would have had to get up for a very early flight to PHL and then leave enough time to connect to Beijing and then onto Saigon.  It was nice to start the long flights well rested, after a hotel stay.

[FionaMG]

Yes!

We started doing this in December 2017 when we were travelling transatlantic from Portugal to Miami for a cruise. 

On previous occasions we would get a connecting flight from our local airport (Faro) to Lisbon but that meant getting up at 3.30 am and then spending 4 hours in Lisbon airport before our transatlantic flight, resulting in being totally exhausted when we finally made it over the pond.

Two years ago we rethought the process and booked the connecting flight for the evening before with an overnight in a hotel under 5 minutes walk from the terminal building. Our carrier (TAP Air Portugal) does not charge extra for the longer layover and they keep the heavy bags because the connection time is under 24 hours, so all we need to do is stroll from the airport to the hotel with our overnight bags.

A good night's sleep, a decent breakfast and we're ready to face the long flight and still have some energy left on arrival. We did the same thing last year again and are doing it for the next trip too. Definitely worth the extra cost of the hotel room for the night.

[Globaliser]

I've only done this for schedule reasons, or because I want to make a stop. If it's a trip that I can do non-stop, I try not to inject a stop into it because that makes it more tiring as well as eating up time I'd rather spend at my destination.

 

However, the most recent occasion on which I've planned this was for a trip to Munich, for which we have to leave after work on a Friday and we have to be in Munich by Saturday early afternoon. The first part made flying from Heathrow difficult, but a flight from City would require an overnight in Frankfurt before flying on the next morning. So we started planning for the latter. Until a lightbulb came on in my head: stay overnight at Frankfurt, and then take the train to Munich the next morning.

[terry&mike]

On a rare occasion I will do something like this.

In December we are heading to Bali, our plane arrives in the middle of the night (12:50am) in Singapore, and the flight to Bali was to leave at 6:00am. I gave it some thought, and then scheduled us on a flight to Bali leaving at 1:00pm, and booked a hotel room in Singapore airport. This way we get some proper sleep, a shower, and continue on our journey feeling a bit more human.

I've also stopped and stayed the night in Atlanta on my way to South Africa, then started the long journey the next morning feeling fresh and rested. 

There are times when a bit more money is worth being spent to have a better experience. 

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, terry&mike said:

There are times when a bit more money is worth being spent to have a better experience. 

 

It's also worth seeing if it actually is more money. I have seen cases where changing your flights by a day creates enough of a savings that stopping in a hotel for the night adds no real expense besides time...and sometimes can save money. Each case is different, of course, but it has happened.

[iancal]

Once we leave we just want to get to our destination.  Each of the past five years we do a 24 hour flight to SE Asia, 18 hrs to come home.  We do not consider stopping.  When we travel we try to book flights with only one stop.  Sometimes this is not possible.

 

The one exception is coming home from Australia.  We typically do one way tickets.  It is less expensive for us to fly to HNL on a low cost airline.   Stop in HNL for a night or two.  And then travel home.   The savings pays for our hotel rooms. 

 

It is a long flight direct.  Two years ago we did 17 hours to the Philippines but we had business class seats that turned into a bed.

Edited April 30, 2019 by iancal

[Zach1213]

30 minutes ago, iancal said:

Once we leave we just want to get to our destination.  Each of the past five years we do a 24 hour flight to SE Asia, 18 hrs to come home.  We do not consider stopping.  When we travel we try to book flights with only one stop.  Sometimes this is not possible.

 

 

I do think there is also a difference between wanting to push through and being able to push through. In OP's case, it's either leave Friday evening and stop part way, or leave Saturday morning and go the whole way. In that case, both for starting vacation early (even if you don't get to your destination) and getting to your destination earlier on Saturday, it makes sense if it can be afforded. In my example, the business meetings are a prime case - I may not be able to get out of London in time to get home on Friday night, but I can get out of London in time to get to Chicago on Friday night, and home at 9am on Saturday (instead of 3-4pm on Saturday if I waited until Saturday morning to leave London).

[FionaMG]

In our case, we find that the extra night at the start enhances our holiday. We can leave home at a comfortable 3 pm instead of 3.30 am; we arrive in Lisbon in time to go out and enjoy dinner and sometimes a show in the city centre; and when we arrive in Miami we are not so completely worn out from the journey that we are able to go out and enjoy dinner there rather than simply crashing into bed exhausted. So to us, it's well worth the 100 euros extra for the hotel room.

It would be pointless on the way home, however, since the transatlantic flight comes first and all that remains is a couple of hours layover and a 30-minute flight to our local airport. By then, all we want to do is get home to bed! 

[slidergirl]

I've done this a few times when I have been using FF miles to cobble flights together.  I don't mind a long stay because I'm not particularly comfortable crammed in a metal tube with a full load of people (yes, I get claustrophobic).  I've flown from the West coast to Cleveland, overnighted, and caught a morning flight to Montreal to connect to a flight to Prague.  Yep, I can do pretty esoteric routing to use FF miles!!!  I've spent 12 hours at LHR between my flight from DFW to my flight to Nairobi.   I've overnighted a few times at the Sheraton inside CDG from flights from Germany and Italy to catch the early nonstop flight back home.   Now, you have to be careful, at least on Delta - they make a "connection" under a certain number of hours and then it becomes a layover, causing different pricing at times. 

[Ashland]

Yes...this is where I get confused...connection vs layover ??

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Now, you have to be careful, at least on Delta - they make a "connection" under a certain number of hours and then it becomes a layover, causing different pricing at times. 

 

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Yes...this is where I get confused...connection vs layover ??

 

"Layover" is a meaningless non-word in this context. "Connection" also has a specific technical meaning. Although any of us can accidentally use language loosely, sometimes some people use these words without knowing what they mean because they sound more jargony and knowledgeable than something like "changing planes".

 

Fare rules generally differentiate between "transfers" and "stopovers". I think that what slidergirl means is that in some cases, cheaper fares may provide that no stopovers are permitted; and that sometimes there will be a rule that a connection that involves a stop of up to (say) 4 hours is a transfer, but beyond 4 hours the connection is treated as a stopover and therefore not permitted. So if you want to have a connection that's longer than 4 hours, the cheaper fare would not be valid and you would need to pay a higher fare for that itinerary. Alternatively, the fare rules may provide for a surcharge if you take a stopover.

 

In the case of the fares I use on which it matters, the break point between "transfer" and "stopover" is 24 hours. But ISTR that 4 hours is a common break point in the US domestic market.

[FlyerTalker]

Connections are four hours OR the next flight out, whichever is longer, for USA domestic itineraries.

 

For international itineraries, the time is 24 hours OR the next flight out, whichever is longer.

 

As long as you are within that time frame, you are a "connection" or the alternative term "transfer".  Anything outside that is a "stopover".  Fare rules specify if stopovers are allowed, and if so, for what cost. They also specify if transfers are allowed, and if there is a limit to how many.  If a stopover is not allowed, you are "breaking" the fare by having such as stopover - usually this results in you paying for two point-to-point fares.  AAA to BBB, then BBB to CCC, rather than a through AAA to CCC fare.  Exceding the allowed number of transfers also may "break" the fare.

 

There are also other considerations, such as allowed routing rules, and Maximum Permitted Mileage, but we won't get into those today.

[brian1]

21 hours ago, terry&mike said:

On a rare occasion I will do something like this.

In December we are heading to Bali, our plane arrives in the middle of the night (12:50am) in Singapore, and the flight to Bali was to leave at 6:00am. I gave it some thought, and then scheduled us on a flight to Bali leaving at 1:00pm, and booked a hotel room in Singapore airport. This way we get some proper sleep, a shower, and continue on our journey feeling a bit more human.

I've also stopped and stayed the night in Atlanta on my way to South Africa, then started the long journey the next morning feeling fresh and rested. 

There are times when a bit more money is worth being spent to have a better experience. 

That transit hotel in Changi is brilliant.Our friends rented a room for a part day on the way back from Aus.Had a swim, showered and a couple of hours kip.

[terry&mike]

9 minutes ago, brian1 said:

That transit hotel in Changi is brilliant.Our friends rented a room for a part day on the way back from Aus.Had a swim, showered and a couple of hours kip.

Oh nice! We are at the Crowne Plaza Changi, is that where they stayed? It's connected to airport, and the reviews are awesome. Looking for a good sleep and a hot shower.

[brian1]

16 minutes ago, terry&mike said:

Oh nice! We are at the Crowne Plaza Changi, is that where they stayed? It's connected to airport, and the reviews are awesome. Looking for a good sleep and a hot shower.

It's called Aerotel and is available to all transit passengers from all terminals.

[Voelfgar]

I live in WI and the wife and I do that quite often when travelling out west, particular to Puerto Vallarta. We'll take an late afternoon flight to like Phoenix or DFW getting in around 8pm or 9pm. Then fly out then next morning to PV so we can get there early to mid afternoon. Otherwise, flying out on Saturday, we wouldn't get into PV until like 6 or 7 in the evening.

[slidergirl]

21 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

"Layover" is a meaningless non-word in this context. "Connection" also has a specific technical meaning. Although any of us can accidentally use language loosely, sometimes some people use these words without knowing what they mean because they sound more jargony and knowledgeable than something like "changing planes".

 

Fare rules generally differentiate between "transfers" and "stopovers". I think that what slidergirl means is that in some cases, cheaper fares may provide that no stopovers are permitted; and that sometimes there will be a rule that a connection that involves a stop of up to (say) 4 hours is a transfer, but beyond 4 hours the connection is treated as a stopover and therefore not permitted. So if you want to have a connection that's longer than 4 hours, the cheaper fare would not be valid and you would need to pay a higher fare for that itinerary. Alternatively, the fare rules may provide for a surcharge if you take a stopover.

 

In the case of the fares I use on which it matters, the break point between "transfer" and "stopover" is 24 hours. But ISTR that 4 hours is a common break point in the US domestic market.

 

My bad.  3 hours of sleep in 2 days - I couldn't think straight...

 

[Zach1213]

9 hours ago, terry&mike said:

Oh nice! We are at the Crowne Plaza Changi, is that where they stayed? It's connected to airport, and the reviews are awesome. Looking for a good sleep and a hot shower.

 

I've stayed at the Crowne Plaza several times (I usually stay in the city, but occasionally spend a night or two at the Crown Plaza) and it's always a nice experience, and of course convenience is great.