Anyone Here Flown Frontier Recently?

[AKL_Megs]

Has anyone flown with Frontier Airlines since they became a low-cost ala carte airline like Spirit? We are considering them but I'm curious if they are terrible since the change. Any recent reviews? Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

Terrible? No. They have not had any reports of maintenance issues or anything like that, to my knowledge. Minimalist? Yes, rather.

You do have to do your pricing carefully, because all aspects of your flight are charged, including seat assignments, checked AND carry-on baggage (by which they mean rollaboards, not a tote or briefcase, which is still free as long as that is the only thing you take aboard.) Those fees can add up to a lot, so unless the fare itself is one of their REALLY good sales, they don't undercut their competition by that much once you add in the extras.

Their newest planes, Airbus 321s, have been stripped of some features to lower weight. The seats do not recline and are not truly padded (they feel a lot like canvas lawn chairs), the tray table is about as large as an adult's shoe (~ 4" x 10"; just large enough to hold a drink), and the seat-back pocket won't hold anything thick such as a book. All drinks/snacks are charged for as well, so you would want to bring your own on board; airport gift-shop prices are lower. I thought that the seats were OK for a short flight, but I'd hesitate to take a trans-con on a Frontier A321 unless it was an emergency.

 

[my3qutees]

I agree with NotUrsula. Seating is definitely not comfortable and I would hesitate to take any flight longer than 2 hours.
One positive note - since they charge for carry-on baggage, many people check their bags, so boarding onto the plane goes much quicker.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

My brother was on a Frontier flight out of MCO recently. He got a text message at some point early in the day that his flight was significantly delayed (several hours), but then never got a follow-up when that changed and the flight actually left on time. He missed the flight. That was frustrating.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Thanks everyone! NotUrsula's comment had me feeling as though my concerns were valid, and I ended up snagging a $97 deal on Southwest on a whim. But I appreciate the comments and hope they help someone else too!

 

[YachtClubWoman]

Frontier = one of the worst flights I have ever had

 

[AlohaNow]

I have never flown them but some friends and co-workers have and their stories are legend. And I do not mean that in a good way!

 

[Brer Chump]

Flew them on Memorial Day weekend on a 4 hour flight. We got the combo package which included a checked and carry on bag along with a larger front seat. It was one of my most pleasant flights.

Clean plane and friendly crew.

 

[phillymummer]

SCRATCH THAT

After the price of adding on carry-on luggage for both trips, it is cheaper to fly SW)


How important is it to pay for an assigned seat? If I get to the airport early, is it likely I will get a seat with my daughter? Or should I go ahead and shell out the $$ for a seat?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My brother was on a Frontier flight out of MCO recently. He got a text message at some point early in the day that his flight was significantly delayed (several hours), but then never got a follow-up when that changed and the flight actually left on time. He missed the flight. That was frustrating.

That's a good lesson to learn. Flights can be delayed, then circumstances change and they leave on time, or earlier or later than anticipated. You need to be at the airport in time to make the original scheduled departure time.

 

[Dis703]

I've been on 5 Frontier flights in the last year and have been very happy with them. We've avoided any baggage fees so far by traveling with backpacks and diaper bags under the seat. Staff has been great and we've been on time or early so far with each flight. Their prices fluctuate a lot but we've snagged as cheap as $50 RT and at most $100 from NJ/PA, which is crazy cheap. That's paying for seats as well. I did join the Club Den because it's more than paid for itself within one flight.

And what I thought was pretty amazing for an airline, they waived my change fee with a doctors note when I was sick with the flu and had to change my dates. And they credited the amount of the flight and took care of it within minutes of my submitting the paperwork.

Very happy with them and they are now our go to airline.

 

[AngiTN]

That's a good lesson to learn. Flights can be delayed, then circumstances change and they leave on time, or earlier or later than anticipated. You need to be at the airport in time to make the original scheduled departure time.

That's odd advice if the flight changes by hours, or a day. Who wants to hang around the airport for hours and hours on purpose?
We recently had a flight delayed, got the notice as we were leaving Epcot that our flight out that night was late and as such, we would miss the connection to our home airport, leaving us overnight in the airport. No way was I going to MCO at that moment, not when it went from a departure 2 hours later to one 8 hours later. Who really does that?
I would watch it to be sure it doesn't change back maybe.

 

[phillymummer]

UPDATE- I went ahead and purchased the flight. I had the waiting game. I feared if I waited the price would go up and then I would be cursing at myself. I am happy with the decision.

So, I'm ready to pull the trigger on my flight in November. Right now it's $94 one way (This is out of Philly on the wed of jersey week and Veteran's day). I *hate* the price game with airline prices. I have never flown frontier before, but over the past week I have been checking prices, I have noticed a lot of sales and even saw the price of one flight go down.
How likely is it that I will get an even lower price on my flight (it's the last flight of the day) considering the time period? How likely is it the price will go up? I am willing to pay the $94 because I have *never* found prices that low before that worked with my schedule. But I will cringe if I see my flight drop to say... $69 or less.

 

[KrazeeK120]

That's odd advice if the flight changes by hours, or a day. Who wants to hang around the airport for hours and hours on purpose?
We recently had a flight delayed, got the notice as we were leaving Epcot that our flight out that night was late and as such, we would miss the connection to our home airport, leaving us overnight in the airport. No way was I going to MCO at that moment, not when it went from a departure 2 hours later to one 8 hours later. Who really does that?
I would watch it to be sure it doesn't change back maybe.

I agree with this. There's no point to sitting in an airport for many hours if you know your flight has been delayed...that's probably the purpose of the email/text notification, no? I would also probably check periodically just to make sure nothing further had changed.

 

[jtopp]

Grab the SW flight. It's cheaper, and you will be on a more comfortable aircraft without all of the fees that's Frontier has. Another plus-- SW has more flights out of PHL, so if one gets canceled, you can be booked easily on another SW flight. You might not be so lucky on frontier, with their limited flight schedule in PHL.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

UPDATE- I went ahead and purchased the flight. I had the waiting game. I feared if I waited the price would go up and then I would be cursing at myself. I am happy with the decision.

So, I'm ready to pull the trigger on my flight in November. Right now it's $94 one way (This is out of Philly on the wed of jersey week and Veteran's day). I *hate* the price game with airline prices. I have never flown frontier before, but over the past week I have been checking prices, I have noticed a lot of sales and even saw the price of one flight go down.
How likely is it that I will get an even lower price on my flight (it's the last flight of the day) considering the time period? How likely is it the price will go up? I am willing to pay the $94 because I have *never* found prices that low before that worked with my schedule. But I will cringe if I see my flight drop to say... $69 or less.

That is why I purchase the Works. My flight next week dropped $30 and I was able to get a refund of $30.

 

[georgina]

That's odd advice if the flight changes by hours, or a day. Who wants to hang around the airport for hours and hours on purpose?
We recently had a flight delayed, got the notice as we were leaving Epcot that our flight out that night was late and as such, we would miss the connection to our home airport, leaving us overnight in the airport. No way was I going to MCO at that moment, not when it went from a departure 2 hours later to one 8 hours later. Who really does that?
I would watch it to be sure it doesn't change back maybe.

We once had a flight that was seriously delayed suddenly change back to the original time. It was the first leg of a 3 flight international trip, and I had spent an hour on the phone getting us rerouted, when suddenly it changed and I had to get our original flights back! Just last month we arrived at an airport to see a 3 hour delay, went and ordered dinner only to check and see that the time had changed and we had to scramble to get our food to go. There were many other folks in the restaurant who were doing the same thing. If we weren't already at the airport we would have missed the flight. You can't always rely on notifications of changes.