How do you arrange stopover flights?

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I really cannot see how to do this. Thinking of going to South Korea the direct flights are pretty expensive but there are airlines which fly there but with a stop.
I really would prefer to use the price difference to have an overnight stay somewhere and have a new experience but I really am not sure how it works. Can you leave the airport ? No point in just waiting in an airport really.
Do I need a travel agent we usually sort stuff for ourselves but I'm struggling to understand!! Please help!

We have left the airport before, flying to new Zealand via Hong Kong and then again via Singapore. As long as you have the right visa and are back for the next flight.

Well if its just a stopover then you may not have time to leave the airport as most stoppovers are a few hours. If you actually want a day or two in the place then you will need to book separate flights I think. Some airlines will do multi destination flights and you can add in your different dates. You will also need to check whether visas will be needed etc.

Of course you can leave the airport (assuming it’s a country that you’re covered for, visa wise). We flew to Paris via Milan and had 6 hours to kill, so hopped on a train to meet friends in the centre.

Just decide what’s happening with your luggage, if it’s checked through, or whether you need to collect and re check it in for the next flight. Obviously you need to factor in immigration wait times, luggage wait, getting transport to city centre, plus the reverse, to see if it’s worth your while.

Option 1, you can deliberately book an indirect flight which has a very long layover, so you have time to leave the airport and have a look around. You can leave the airport, but remember you’ll have your bags with you and you need to be back 2 hrs ahead of your next flight to check in again. Also many airports are far from the city. So this option often doesn’t give you long enough to have a proper visit really.

Option 2, you can book 2 separate flights, to the stopover destination and then from the stopover to final destination. Then you can choose your length of stopover. However as this is 2 separate bookings, the risk is on you if one of the flights gets changed or delayed and the two flights no longer work well together.

You don’t need a travel agent. I book flights using Expedia or Opodo or Kayak for example. Or the airline’s own website.

Try skyscanner and set the filters to include stop over.

If you fly with Emirates to Seoul they offer a Dubai overnight stopover

You can leave the airport, you may not see very much though if you just stay overnight? We often have stopovers. I usually use Skyscanner to guage prices, then once you know where you want to stop and which airline, I usually book direct with the airline. If the stopover is short enough then you might be able to just book it as a return trip. Otherwise book it as a multi-stop journey enter as flight 1: UK - stopover, flight 2: stopover -Seoul and flight 3: Seoul to UK. Sometimes the multi-stop option can be hidden a bit on the website, depends on the airline.

If you want to visit the country/town, you may have to arrange a visa to leave the airport, that may or may not be cheap/easy.

If you arrange for two separate flights you will have to go through immigration, collect luggage, store it somewhere/check into a hotel and then do the same in reverse the next day.

Otherwise you have a stoppover for a handful of hours and just wait behind security for your connecting flight. In this case it may be worth checking how much a lounge pass is.

You can also just book two flights, even with different airlines. Skyscanner is great for putting that sort of thing together.

First you say, for example, I want to go to Seoul from London but not direct (you can uncheck the box for direct flights). You'll see lots of really cheap options via China on Chinese airlines (which are also shorter flights as they can use Russian airspace), but if you don't want a stopover in China you scroll on down and there is one with a stop in Bangkok. You click on it and see how long the stop is. In this case it's 8 hours, from 15:00 to 23:00 local time, which isn't much of an excursion. But now you know there is a flight from Bangkok to Seoul at 23:00, which probably goes every day, so you can look for flights from London to Bangkok and then Bangkok to Seoul, with the second flight being the next day, and have an overnight and full day in Bangkok. Of course you would need whatever ETA/e-visa might be needed to enter Thailand.

However, you might find also find that the flights are not as cheap as the immediate transfer in the airport would have been, because you are now in effect making a direct flight from London to Bangkok, which is kind of the same as your direct flight to Seoul. 🤪 Basically, less convenient/comfortable flights are cheaper, which probably ought not to be a surprise.

One additional issue: If you book two absolutely separate flights and one gets cancelled you have no rights regarding the second one.

So if your first leg is cancelled and that means you miss a hotel reservation or even the second flight this may be just your problem, not the airline's one as you haven't booked it via them.

Lots of airlines do free stopovers when you book an indirect flight. It's really worth seeing an agent.

Trailfinders were really useful when we were doing this to NZ. Had 3 nights in Singapore in one direction, 3 weeks on the return (actually spent that time in Malaysia). Same cost as had we just had a 2 hour layover. All on one booking.
Some places in the middle east are really geared up to this. I think Muscat had different length day tours you could book from the airport.

Oh that's great! Did you have to book the entire trip with trailfinders as well?

You're getting lots of advice on the stopover side, I just wanted to jump on and say South Korea is gorgeous, especially the countryside and Seoul as a city is fabulous and great for exploring on foot! I hope you enjoy it 🇰🇷

Doable, but for this I'd probably book two separate flights.
So, for example, look on Skyscanner and untick direct flights and then see what the layover locations tend to be. I've just looked from Heathrow to Seoul and you could have a layover at Dubai, Doha, Shanghai, Beijing or Bangkok. Out of the options, I'd choose where I'd like to stay a night or two, and then book the leg (for example) Heathrow > chosen destination, and then the next flight from there onto Seoul (for example) separately. Play around and see what prices work best and where appeals to you.

It is doable, me and my partner do this every year to keep the cost down on flights to Australia.
You have to check the visa requirements for each country but usually just a simple online form to fill in, we book two separate flights.

Last year we did Manchester to Kuala Lumpur (first flight) and then (second flight) KL to Brisbane with a short stop in Singapore. We’ve ended up spending a day or two in some beautiful places and getting to explore new countries on the way there which has saved us literally thousands. We did china the year before (visa requirements were tricky for there but we did it!), most countries have a very straight forward tourist/short stay visa process though.

I honestly would recommend sorting it yourself and not paying an extra fee to a travel agent, it just takes a bit of research and getting the timings right. If you know where your final destination is, start looking for flights in that direction.

The only tricky bit is luggage (I.e making sure both flights are long enough that you get similar luggage allowance or paying the fee to check a bag). There are also places in the airport that you pay a fee to and they’ll hold your bag for the day if you’re not doing an overnight stay. We did this on 20 hour layover in Singapore for about £8

Also just to add we’ve got a direct flight this year with a 18 hour stopover in Shanghai, the airport offer a free tour of Shanghai during the layover. I think they offer something similar in Singapore. So worth checking out direct flights with a longer stop over somewhere and checking out the airport website to see what the offer

Hi look for the longest travel times. I’m going to the Caribbean soon with 2 days in Boston. They were in the longest flight bit.

You have two choices OP when you book your flights:

a) Book A to B, and the airline will give options with varying lengths of wait between connecting flights at C. In most such cases your luggage will be checked through, so if you want to leave the airport you will probably need to bring anything for that in hand baggage.

b) Book a multi city option, where you specify A to C, C to B etc. you can input the date for the second flight which means you can stay over for X days on route at the connection city. This is good if you want a couple of days to explore, rather than a few hours.

Under both options you should check visa requirements of the place you are stopping over at. Some might allow you through immigration and out of the airport for a short period without a visa, others will not.

Generally I like to allow at least 3h between connecting flights to allow for airport transit and a bit for flight delays. If you book everything on one ticket and miss your connection, the airline should rebook you on the next flight. I don’t generally recommend booking each leg of the flight separately as the airline then has no responsibility for your onward travel if the first flight is late and you miss your connection.

I’m a very frequent flier and I’ve done a lot of flight connections, so feel free to ask me any questions.

You don’t need to book separate flights, I regularly used to fly into Dubai, stay for a few days and fly onto Doha. Have a look at airlines that offer a stop and put in the date you want the next flight.

Reading some of the above my head is starting to spin so I'll chuck a link in, "directs" can sometimes be a bit disappointing..

https://www.airhelp.com/en/blog/direct-vs-non-stop-flight/

I'd also second a comment upthread about the risks of booking completely separate, unconnected flights - if there's a major delay or even cancellation on the first sector then you have zero protection if that delay/cancellation impacts on subsequent sectors.

It should be possible to book a pair of formally connected flights from A to B with an intermediate layover with most airlines/most alliances.

I’m going to South Korea in August! Well my actual destination is Okinawa but I’ve arranged a stopover in Seoul! If you want a long layover, i.e. a few days in one place then select “multi city route” when booking flights, alternatively book them all separately, I also found flying during the week a LOT cheaper than weekends. Flying to China is pretty cheap (almost half the price) so if that was somewhere you fancy visiting then you can arrange an ongoing flight to South Korea with an Asian low cost airline, such as HK express, Eastar, Peach, T’way etc…. that’s how I arranged mine anyways!

Trailfinders are really good at this sort of thing and no you don’t have to book everything with them, just the bits you want

This also! 👆 If you’re going to book separate flights… don’t arrange them on the same day!

Thankyou all I am feeling much clearer.
And silver coins if you're willing to share any advice that would be great . Thinking Seile- busan- jeju but any tips would be great !