Frontier Airlines from Allentown, PA

[msr709]

Has anyone flown them yet that care to share the experience? I want to book with them for June 2013 and would like to hear some feedback first, if anyone would care to share? TIA

 

[Ahrizel]

Give me 2 weeks and I'll let you know. We fly out on Oct 6th. I have no idea, but I'll post after our flight down to give you an idea.
Mary

 

[Katie's Mom]

I just booked from Trenton for 12/31. Rate was $510 for 3 RT. Cannot beat that price, but I am nervous about using different airport and airline. Normally we fly out of Philly. Look forward to your review of Frontier.

 

[Lady Lady]

I flew with them in July. I fly out of Allentown all the time. I avoid Philly when I can. The airport is really nice.

I drive past the airport every day on the highway to it. It is easy to get to and at the airport the signs are helpful. The biggest different between Philadelphia and Allentown is Allentown does not have other vehicle traffic that feels like you are being pushed. Traffic should not be bad in the Lehigh Valley if it not rush hour and even then, the slower flow keeps moving, not like Philly.

Parking is very close to the terminal. I have walked from the economy lot a few times when I felt I was running late and had no patience to wait for the shuttle. However, the shuttle is nice. If they are waiting in the lot which has happened quite a bit, they will drive to where you are parked and pick you up there. Also when you return, they will drop you off at your car. The economy lot price is 10 a day with a week rate of 60 that is lower than Philly economy. They also have long term parking and valet parking if that is what you want. Check out lvia.org.

If you are dropping off someone before parking, you are mostly going to be the only one car in that area. It is not busy at all. Departure is at the upper level and arrival is at the lower level. I am not sure where the check in will be, AirTran was still at the airport when I flew Frontier. But both areas are easy to find since it is a small airport.

Checking in with your luggage will be quick. Your flight is the only one, so there will probably be only a few people in line at most. It has kiosk check in just like a large airport. The staff at the airport has always been very friendly. If you are not checking luggage, you can go directly to security.

Security is usually very fast, except when there are charter flights where people arrive on a bus together. Even then it was not more than 15 minutes. Once though security, there is a cafe/bar or SubWay that offer food. If you only want to get drinks, the news shop is right there.

Flights at Allentown are rarely cancelled for weather. I would be concerned in a snow storm (check before you leave), but your drive would be worse to get there.

And you do not need to be there 2 hours ahead of time. I usually arrive 1.5 hours before. This time includes parking and I like to get water from the shop before the flight.

Flying out of Allentown will be way more relaxing than Philadelphia.

 

[xbatman]

I don't know if you've flown from ABE before, but PP is right - airport is a breeze.

As far as Frontier goes, we won't be flying them until Thanksgiving week. I'm interested to hear experiences also.

 

[Dink37]

I fly Frontier all the time, or at least I used to anyway; they recently pulled their hub out of Milwaukee and now the flights they offer out of here are kind of sad. Anyway, we just flew they again last week going to Seattle via Denver. Being tall, I've always purchased their Stretch seating upgrade, worth every penny IMHO. You get one free non-alcoholic beverage during the flight, all snacks and alcohol will cost you extra. Only credit/debit cards are accepted on the plane, no cash.

The flight attendants are usually quite friendly and helpful, although I've run into a few crews here and there that aren't the happiest bunch. If you have a connection, the transition is pretty smooth. I've never had a issue with lost or delayed luggage.

The pricing was always decent and they're good about running on time, so I think it's worth it to give them a shot. Like I said, they used to be my airline of choice until they cut almost all the flights out of here. Now we have to go to Denver to go anywhere for the most part, which is fine to travel west but if we're going to the east coast, that's a bit too much extra travel for me.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We flew Frontier out of Harrisburg in June and I was so impressed! I thought their customer service was great. My kids loved being able to watch Directv in their seats. The gate staff was so imformative. When our plane was 15 min out they alerted us so we could make a potty break before boarding. I wrote to them about becoming a resort airline check in desk participating airline and they told me they are working on it!!!

 

[Ahrizel]

I'll post after my flight this weekend. But I've flown from Allentown several times, the airport is small and easy to handle. I'd much rather fly from there than Philly. The airport is small enough to easily navigate, and parking is close and reasonable. There isn't much food or entertainment, but the ease of the airport certainly makes up for it. The only major traffic snag can be route 22, the traffic can be ugly on it. The airline, who knows. But the airport is a good one.
Mary

 

[DonnaL]

We're using Frontier from MCO to ABE mid December....just booked a long weekend trip last week....so will let you know after that. I do like the time of the flight from MCO though.....I believe we depart around 12:15 p.m....great because we won't have to be up and heading to MCO at the crack of dawn yet still get into ABE during daylight hours. For our trip to MCO we're using Allegiant out of AVP (which is practically in our backyard) on Thursday morning..which is also a good time...we're in Orlando by 1:30 p.m. We haven't flown Allegiant before either.....so I'm anxious to try both of them....especially given the fact we can avoid PHL...however, keep in mind Allegiant flies into Sanford Orlando not MCO so you do need to plan for alternate transportation since ME is not an option....we got a great weekend price on a rental car....which we haven't done for several years now.

 

[msr709]

I'll post after my flight this weekend. But I've flown from Allentown several times, the airport is small and easy to handle. I'd much rather fly from there than Philly. The airport is small enough to easily navigate, and parking is close and reasonable. There isn't much food or entertainment, but the ease of the airport certainly makes up for it. The only major traffic snag can be route 22, the traffic can be ugly on it. The airline, who knows. But the airport is a good one.
Mary

Thanks Mary! My main concern is buying a ticket now for June 2013 and then them leaving ABE. So many new airlines go under so fast nowadays! Here's hoping we do make and you have a wonderful trip!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

Thanks Mary! My main concern is buying a ticket now for June 2013 and then them leaving ABE. So many new airlines go under so fast nowadays! Here's hoping we do make and you have a wonderful trip!

what would happen in a situation like that? i was just looking at them for april of 2013. allentown isn't normally an airport that we would use...we usually fly from buffalo...but time wise to get there is about the same, and frontier prices are some of the best that we are finding. we usually fly southwest, and i've never really considered what would happen if frontier were to go under!!

 

[disneymarie]

Has anyone flown them yet that care to share the experience? I want to book with them for June 2013 and would like to hear some feedback first, if anyone would care to share? TIA

Flew them last Wednesday out of Allentown. I do not like the airport set up. Check in up stairs, downstairs Smmaall elevator again fir security. The back up the tiny elevator to the gates.

The tickets I got at mostly $55, $73 then airport fees of $20. Each check bag prepaid online was ant $20 one leg, the overhead bin was $16 prepaid, something the size of a backpack is free under the seat.
The kicker.... Except for a glass of water for a pill, water, soda etc was $2.50 pack of cookies was $3.00.

When landed 2 hrs later, there was no cart for our luggage we drug it behind the EVC, one behind stroller, piled high with carry on's.

I had a much better exp doing AirTran in March through Harrisburg. I booked the Allentown as our Scranton PA did not have any out going flights Sept. when we left, leaving Thursday we are flying into Scranton. Our local airport.

There is no Mickey express. Two weeks before the trip Alamo was $499, and $600, I used Hotwire cancelabel rate at $300.14. Do not book through Alliegiant, added fee in the cost. Sandford is twice as far as MCO, more fuel. Much more for town car. I got our Town n Country with Enterprize, stow n go seat so tons of room.
Check the car over, we had the front passenger door hitting into front fender. Several dings.

If I were planning this far out, go with Frontier to MCO, from Allentown. At least you know you'll get carry on's free, and a free juice.
The one positive is super quiet flight...never heard it so quiet.
Trying tomorrow to do a pre check in and preboarding here at Disney.

Oh, pack light 40 lb check luggage 80 inches. pre check it or $$$ huge pain now to figure out out packing tonight, I may turn two overheads at $32 into one checked for $20 hoping its not overweight.

PS I agree about RT 22, we made our flight with 30 mins to spare because of the traffic. It was a 10:30 AM flight.

 

[msr709]

Flew them last Wednesday out of Allentown. I do not like the airport set up. ..
There is no Mickey express. ....

What did you mean by that? No Magical Express? Why if landing in MCO, I thought that the yellow tags for ME would instruct them to pick up the luggage and take to WDW resort??

 

[xbatman]

Magical Express should not be a problem, I made my reservations for it and it wasn't any problem.

As far as I know, Frontier hasn't been added as a participating airline for RAC. Coming back you will still be able to use Magical Express, just need to take bags along on bus and check them at the airport.

Concierge desk should still print boarding passes for you if you ask.

 

[Lady Lady]

Paying for carry-on going in the bin sounds like Allegiant and not Frontier. Also Allegiant flies into Sanford, not Orlando International, so that is why there is no Magical Express. Carry-on on Frontier is free and also the non-alcohol drinks are free. And Frontier arrives at Orlando International, so there Magical Express.

Yes, Frontier is not participating in RAC. So if you are using Magical Express to back to the airport, you will need to take your luggage with you on the bus.

Yes, on Frontier you need to pay for your checked bags. One way you may be able to save is to upgrade your fare to Classic. One way Classic is around 25 dollars or under extra for a ticket, and with one check bagged at 20 dollars and the second at 20 dollars, you may be able to save. But you get extras for it. 2 free checked bags, free in-seat directTV on the flight (6 dollars otherwise) and choice of seats closer to the front, ability to change flights for free.

Frontier has found a market at Allentown. They used to have one departure and one arrival a week directly to Orlando. Now they are up to 4 a week with better times. AirTran was up to 2 departures a day to Orlando where most flights were full, before they left the airport because they wanted the area flights based out of Philadelphia.

As for the flights I had, I chose the Classic upgrade for both ways. I was on vacation, so I like a little pampering for my flights. I also went with Stretch Seating and chose the second row. Because of this I felt I was flying "first class" on Frontier, who does not have a first class section on their planes. For Classic, I could have the free 2 pieces of luggage - which on the way home I usually have 2 (I buy too much at WDW). The nice thing was on the flight, DirectTV is free for Classic. The flight attendant comes around and swipes their card to pay for it. Because I was near the front of the airplane, the drink cart came to us first. The flight both ways were uneventful, which is how I measure a good flight. We left on time both ways. I watched the TV until we were able to use electronics. I buy magazines to read on flights, but on these flights they went mostly unread.

 

[msr709]

Paying for carry-on going in the bin sounds like Allegiant and not Frontier. ... One way you may be able to save is to upgrade your fare to Classic. One way Classic is around 25 dollars or under extra for a ticket, and with one check bagged at 20 dollars and the second at 20 dollars, you may be able to save. But you get extras for it. 2 free checked bags, free in-seat directTV on the flight (6 dollars otherwise) and choice of seats closer to the front, ability to change flights for free.

Frontier has found a market at Allentown. ....

Thanks for this information, its reassuring. I was planning on getting the Classic, mainly because we are traveling with a toddler and I think we could use the extra room and bags. Glad to know I was planning correctly! Didn't realize about the DirectTV being included, that's a big bonus for us since that would keep our little one quiet. Was planning on taking a portable DVD player, maybe won't have to now. Not being on RAC is not a big concern since we are only staying a couple of days and then moving on to a vacation home offsite. Thanks again. Everyone on these boards is always so helpful. I'll report back after our trip to "pay it forward"!

 

[disneymarie]

What did you mean by that? No Magical Express? Why if landing in MCO, I thought that the yellow tags for ME would instruct them to pick up the luggage and take to WDW resort??

My fatigue, sorry I flew Allegiant to Sandford/Orlando from Allentown. There is no ME.....I was frustrated at cost add on's and poor airport set up; check in upper, security, lower, the plane upper with tiny elevators.
A bottle of water was $2.50 but the one ticket was $55.

Prepay check bag, $20, overhead storage $16, one carry on back pack size free. Avg ticket was 97 with fees, some seats were $35, $55, $75.
Many people stowed their back pack in the overhead leaving no room for our paid bag.

I would take Frontier which took over the AirTran from Allentown, or prefer Harrisburg. The Advantage to Allegiant this week was flights to local airport Wilkes Barre/Scranton.
Return there was much, much better. Twenty minutes we were home.

Be cautious about Rt 22 traffic, delays and accidents.

 

[Ahrizel]

We flew from Allentown on Frontier this morning. We did the classic fare, which included the checked bags and tv, and paid for stretch seating as we are both tall. The plane was full. They give you a drink for free, any snacks are extra. But the flight was fine with no problems. If are trip home is anything similar I would have no hesitation on flying Frontier again. If you need the legroom the stretch seating is worth the upgrade. The tv was nice, watched Brave on the way down. Flight attendants were nice, boarding was slow-people trying to stow carry ons clogged the aisles. Despite living 30 minutes from the Avoca airport, I would prefer to fly into Orlando and not deal with Allegiants crazy fees. I wouldn't be worrying about flying Frontier, no problems for us or our friends who flew with us.
Mary

 

[DonnaL]

I agree with you, ahrizel, about Allegiant's fees.....and we live 5 minutes from AVP. However, for our trip in December we are flying Allegiant from AVP and using Frontier back to ABE....only because the flight times work better for us.
We'll just have our daughter drop us at AVP for the Allegiant flight to Sanford...we were planning to rent a car in Orlando this trip anyway..... and then rent a car to drive home from ABE for the return.....which is about same cost as paying for parking if we were leaving a car at the airport. Glad to hear Frontier is OK....we've traditionally been either SWA or Airtran....and love them both.....but, really tired of making the drive to/from PHL for flights....we loved when AT was at ABE for a few years.