This flight is called your connecting flight. Connecting flights are often parts of interline agreements, in which airlines agree to handle passengers whose flight itinerary involves travelling on multiple airlines. Want to know about other airline industry terms, why not read our guide to common airline lingo?

When you have two flights to reach a single destination, it is most commonly called a "connecting flight" or a "layover." The individual segments of the journey are referred to as "legs" or "sectors." For example, if you fly from New York to London with a stop in Reykjavik, the stop in Iceland is your layover, and the two separate flights are your connecting flights. If you are specifically booking a trip that visits multiple cities with a long break in between (more than 24 hours), it is called a "multi-city flight" or a "stopover." In airline industry terms, this is often called an "indirect" itinerary. There is also a distinction between a "connection" and a "transfer"; a connection usually implies you are staying with the same airline or its partners on one ticket, while a "self-transfer" means you have booked two separate tickets and are responsible for moving your own luggage between the flights. In 2026, many travel apps use the term "1-stop" to denote an itinerary with two flights, allowing travelers to quickly differentiate between a "non-stop" journey and one that requires changing planes at an intermediate hub.