The Flying Blue loyalty program has big news. According to One Mile at a Time, Flying Blue will be giving away free stopovers to award tickets on Air France and KLM metal in the coming days.

Flying Blue's Ben Lipsey is the senior vice president of customer loyalty. You can stop over for free for up to a year.

Suppose you are booking an itinerary from Los Angeles International Airport to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Flying Blue's layover rules allow you to stay for up to 23 hours in Amsterdam. If you want to stay in Amsterdam for more than a day, you have to book two one-way tickets.

You will be able to stay in Amsterdam for up to a year at no cost. Flying Blue's free stopover will be valid on flights connecting Air France to Air France and Air France to Air France metal.

If you're traveling from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) on Air France, passengers will be able to stop for up to 12 months in Singapore before continuing on the fifth freedom flight from Singapore to Indonesia. It is thought that this itinerary would cost the same amount of miles as traveling from Paris toBali.

You could fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for the same price as a ticket from New York to the Czech Republic.

Customers who are connecting from Delta to KLM will not be able to take advantage of the free stopover because it only applies to flights on Air France and KLM metal.

Air Canada Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer are some of the programs that allow stops. Each program has a different take on the topic. You can add stopovers to partner tickets for 5000 miles. Alaska allows you to add a stop on partner tickets, but only if you stop in the airline's hub. There is only one way for Singapore to allow stops on its own tickets.

There is a complete guide to opening jaws on award tickets.

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What free Flying Blue stopovers could mean for travelers

Air France is launching a new business-class cabin. PHOTO BY ETHAN KLAPPER/THE POINTS GUY

Lipsey said that Flying Blue customers will be able to stay for up to 12 months on a stop on their way to their final destination.

Almost all of Air France's and KLM's flights originate or end in Amsterdam and Paris. Tourists will be able to visit another city at no additional cost if you have free stopovers.

A couple of days in Amsterdam or Paris would have been ideal for breaking up the two back-to-back 10-hour red-eyes and acclimating to the time zone.

Travelers have up to a year to decide how they want to book their connecting flights. Students studying abroad in Europe can choose to stay in Amsterdam or Paris for a couple of weeks and then travel to another European city for the rest of the semester. It's perfect for a weekend trip.

Many questions are still unanswered. Is it possible to get free stopovers on one-way tickets. How about flights between Europe and North America? We will keep you posted when we learn more about the project.

There is a first look at Air France's new business class.

But website improvements need to be made first

Air France and KLM have technical issues that should be prioritized. AIRFRANCE.US

There are hurdles that Flying Blue needs to overcome in order to have a website.

Air France and KLM have websites that are hard to use.

You need to log in to your Flying Blue account to check for award availability. You can enter your origin, destination, travel dates, number of passengers and desired cabin after you select "Book with miles." You can see a preview of dates and mileage prices. The previews don't always match the actual prices when you click on them.

Air France and KLM have technical problems that prevent them from running another search in that session. If you want to change the number of travelers or check another city pair, you need to close your tab, clear your cookies and log back in.

It's hard to find Flying Blue awards because of these issues. If these issues persist, we'd like to see Flying Blue devote its resources to a stable booking tool.

There is a guide to earning and redeeming with Air France.

Bottom line

We'll be sure to keep you updated on how to maximize Flying Blue's free stopovers. We think free stopovers will increase Flying Blue's customer value proposition.

Flying Blue miles can be transferred at a 3:1 ratio from American Express Membership rewards, Bilt rewards, Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou.