6

Once I flew from Milano Malpensa, Italy, to Entebbe, Uganda, with Turkish Airlines. After booking the flight (yes, I was young and stupid) I realized I had a 24+ layover in Istanbul so I called Turkish Airlines and I asked if they had some kind of accommodation and, to my big surprise, they booked a 4* hotel for me all for free.

I haven't had any other long layover since so I'm not sure whether this is common or not.

My question is: I'm flying AirCanada to Cuba with a long layover to Toronto, am I eligible for some kind of airline-paid accommodation?

|improve this question
  • What year was that? What class fare were you flying? – smci Jan 24 '15 at 0:16
  • Yes, I'd be interested to know more details about the itinerary too - its unlikely for economy passengers to get a deal like that from any airlines these days! – TCSGrad Jan 24 '15 at 7:18
  • It was August 2011 and it definitely was economy class. – Geeo Jan 24 '15 at 7:21
7

I believe that the room you got is specifically a service of Turkish to encourage you to connect through Istanbul. There is a general question on this at Does a layover of more than 6 hours entitle me to accommodation by the airline?. The answers there agree that in general, airlines don't give you free hotel rooms just because you have a layover.

That said, Air Canada does have a program that will give you a free room:

For connections over 6 hours, the Air Canada Stopover option includes one-night hotel accommodation and applicable taxes for one low price. The Canadian break comes at no additional airfare and your hotel is free with a Business Class, Premium Economy or Latitude and for a minimal fee with a Flex or Tango fare.

So in this particular case you are (once again) lucky.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.