If you fly from Frankfurt via Chicago to Los Angeles, sometimes you can stay in Chicago a few days instead of taking the next available flight to Los Angeles. A stopover occurs if there is a time span of more than 24 hours  between reaching Chicago and boarding the connection flight to Los Angeles. This concept allows you to connect several flight destinations into one one ticket, provided the fare rules allow a stopover and the flight schedules allow you to combine the places you want to visit in way that makes sense.
If you just change the plain at a transfer point, using the next available flight to the final destination of your flight, this is not considered a stopover in the fare rules. A stopover also does not occur, if the connecting flight is on another ticket.

How can I use a stopover? 
If you have a schedule with two appointments, and you find an airline who serves the flight destination which is farer away from your starting point, you can combine both points into one itinery. This carries sometimes a modest extra fee, ore the core fare remains unchanged. Only the tax charged will be probably a bit higher. But this is it. So organizing your trip with a stopover can save you a lot of money.

What if there is no suitable flight connecting the places I need to visit?
Integrating different flights for a reasonable price into one ticket requires in almost any cases that  the long distance flights are coming from one airline, or at least from one airline alliance. A feeder or an add on flight can come in some cases from another airline. So the stopover point usually needs to be a hub for the airline you use.
If you want to connect two destinations, which are both small airports without a hub function, stopover will not work. An example would be a trip from Frankfurt lets say to Medan and Surabaya in Indonesia. There is not way to include the way from Medan to Surabaya into a Ticket  from Frankfurt to Surabaya.
In such a case you need to combine an open jaw flight from Frankfurt to Medan and back from Surabaya to Frankfurt with an one way flight from Medan to Surabaya. This is possible without a problem, because the fact that you want to leave the airport in Medan and spend some time in that town means anyway that you need to check out, pick up your luggage and check in again. And, obviously, after a stopover break it is anyway your business to be back on time for the ongoing flight. The only drawback is that the price of an open jaw flight combined with an one way flight is probably higher than the price  of a stopover flight would be, if it were available.
It is generally not possible to book a stopover flight through a flight booking engine. Too many considerations are important for these itineries. But if you need to organize a trip which possibly could become a stopover flight, we are happy to assist you with our TailorMade Travelplan.

Luggage pitfall:
Sometimes you do not get the same luggage allowance for the on way flight, as you get for the long haul. This is especially true if you travel from the United States to Europe, or if you travel el from  Europe to South America. In these cases for the airlines the transatlantic flights the piece concept, meaning that you can carry in economy class 2 boxes with 23 kg each. But inside Europe, and inside South America, the airlines often allow only 20 kgs luggage. You have to check this, if you combine an open jaw flight with an one way flight. But I suggest that you have also an eye on the luggage permits if you book a stopover flight.

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