Frontier Airlines out of Delaware - Review

[drgnfly30]

I know a few of you were interested in flying Frontier out of the newly established routes out of Wilmington DE (New Castle County Airport - ILG). I wanted to post a 'review' now that I've completed my trip!

I loved the fact that it was a mere 5 miles or so from my house, we parked right out front (no parking fees $!!), we weren't checking bags so walked right up to the kiosks & printed our boarding passes, & proceeded to walk the 20 or so feet to the security line.

My carry on bag got pulled, the TSA person (who was a real treat > insert sarcasim) practically yelled at me to NOT TOUCH THE BAG & stand AWAY from the table as she proceeded to pull EVERYTHING out of it. She then rescanned my bag & the now separated cosmetic etc bags that I had so carefully packed... 3x. She finally found a tiny pair of nail clippers that I have been traveling with in my carry on bags since 2002, by tiny I mean like baby clippers. She informed me that I could take them back to my car & come back through security. I said you can toss them... she repeated "YOU CAN TAKE THEM TO YOUR CAR AND COME BACK THROUGH".. I repeated.. "NO THANKS! YOU CAN TOSS THEM".... She did so and then rescanned my bags AGAIN, leaving me to repack everything including putting the items back into my Space Bags right there on the spot. Not fun.

I'm only pointing this experience out because I saw them do this probably 4-5 bags while I was standing there.. I've been through large Int'l Airports on MULTIPLE trips and have NEVER seen them pull that many bags in those security lines! Clearly they have alot of time to thoroughly screen those bags.. not to mention her attitude & tone was over the top.

Upon the boarding announcement we walked outside, down the sidewalk & up the ramp to the plane, they were boarding both from the front & rear doors so that made it quicker.. good thing because we flew out on 8/13 about 10 mins before torrental rain & tornado warnings started. We were delayed about 30 mins until the tornado warnings subsided.

Take off was quick since we (obviously) were the only flight out ! No waiting to taxi or waiting on the tarmac etc...

The Direct TV was on the entire flight down (they never made us pay or turned it off) not sure if that was a mistake or not... because on the flight back they did turn it off after take off & to make you pay.

Seemed that the beverage/snack service took then entire flight to get down the plane & hit every aisle, probably because they had to process the credit card payment for every transaction!

Arriving back in Delaware was also a breeze, again we didn't check bags so we didn't have to wait... that was a good thing because the baggage claim area is a hallway w/out an actual carousel but an area about 8 feet long where they put the bags through a window from the outside.. I could see that getting very crowded very fast! We went to the car parked right out front & were home in a matter of minutes!

Overall, I would definately look to use Frontier out of ILG again! Just remember not to pack those tiny nail clippers!

LMK if there's anything specific you'd like answered!

 

[mckelvey72]

Thanks for the review..I have been wondering how it was. We were going to use them for our December trip, but my wonderful children decided they wanted to take the 17 hour auto train...ugh!! So next October when I take my mom, I might give it a try if it works with our dates..I know they only fly on certain days and we are not staying 7 days in order to do Saturday to Saturday...so we will see if they put in more flights or what happens.

Glad you had a nice trip and sorry you had to lose your clippers !!!

 

[drgnfly30]

Gah.. the AutoTrain! We tried that in like 2004.. never again! Good luck!

We flew out on Tuesday & back home on Saturday.. you could also consider flying in/out of Tampa/Orlando since they fly on different days.

They seemed to be doing a pretty good business so it's possible they could add flights... now if they would only start to fly ILG to Cancun!!!

 

[richmo]

Sounds good, I'll add flying Frontier to/from ILG on my list of alternates. We take the Blue Route down to PHL. Going south on I-95 to ILG instead of north to PHL seems like it should be almost the same.

I haven't done it personally, but I've also heard good things about flying Frontier from Trenton, so that's another alternate along with Allegiant from Allentown.

One I'm scratching off my list is Spirit from Atlantic City. Tired of their nonsense.

 

[mckelvey72]

Gah.. the AutoTrain! We tried that in like 2004.. never again! Good luck!

We flew out on Tuesday & back home on Saturday.. you could also consider flying in/out of Tampa/Orlando since they fly on different days.

They seemed to be doing a pretty good business so it's possible they could add flights... now if they would only start to fly ILG to Cancun!!!

Yeah, I am not sure how I feel about the auto train but I will try anything once!! The kids think it will be an adventure and hubby hates flying anyway so will see how this alternative pans out. I will say it was cheaper to do the train then it was to fly and rent a car and stay an extra night. So hoping it works out OK!!! Seems people either love or hate it. I booked rooms for us so hoping that might help.

 

[drgnfly30]

I booked rooms for us so hoping that might help.

That might! We didn't & it was horrid! And by morning the bathrooms were just gross.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Your nail clippers were fine; I would probably have asked to see a supervisor if I had time just because the TSA employee sounds like she was a pain. The behavior of TSA has nothing to do with the airline.

 

[drgnfly30]

Your nail clippers were fine; I would probably have asked to see a supervisor if I had time just because the TSA employee sounds like she was a pain. The behavior of TSA has nothing to do with the airline.

My husband told me to stand down because the last thing we wanted to do was cause a delay.. if we missed the plane there isn't another and the clippers can be easily replaced.

The review is as much about ILG (and their resident TSA staff) as Frontier itself.. Frontier's limited flights are the only commercial flights out of this tiny regional airport.

 

[mrsmouse1960]

So glad you posted your review. We are less than 20 minutes from the airport, over the bridge in NJ. We are DVC members so we travel down to FL several times a year and New Castle would definitely pay off. We road past the airport this past weekend and wondered about paying for parking - you answered that one. Looks like I need to put my research cap on and start checking out flights out of New Castle and planning our travel schedule for 2014. We are headed down at the end of September, but after that it won't be until 2014 (but several times in 2014 of course).

Thank you for the info.

 

[TinkandCrew]

Thank you for posting this review. We literally live right up the street from ILG and we have already purchased our tickets for our trip in April. I'm also glad to get the heads up about the thorough screening process. I'll be prepared for sure!

 

[natt]

I can't believe I searched and found the specific info to DelaWHERE! Our plan has been to drive this Spring, but just this evening the discussion of trying Frontier came up. We would need to check bags, but it all evens out vs driving to BWI and parking/hotel costs.

Question; Did you use Magical Express? Is it honored using Frontier? I know you didn't check bags, but wondering if you have the details. Thanks again for this!

 

[doug1985]

Hello all, new to the board here! I actually just joined to get a hold of the OP, drgnfly30, to ask a few questions about your experience at ILG. I'm in the process of planning a trip for the first week of April. I'd like to fly out of Wilmington since we live in Newark, a 10 minute drive and free parking... can't beat that. Anyway, I can't send you a private message until I hit 10 posts If you could, please PM me! I would greatly appreciate it. Hope to hear from you soon!

 

[helenk]

I can't believe I searched and found the specific info to DelaWHERE! Our plan has been to drive this Spring, but just this evening the discussion of trying Frontier came up. We would need to check bags, but it all evens out vs driving to BWI and parking/hotel costs.

Question; Did you use Magical Express? Is it honored using Frontier? I know you didn't check bags, but wondering if you have the details. Thanks again for this!

You can use Magical Express as long as you land in MCO and stay at a Disney resort. The bus service has nothing to do with what airline you travel on. For the flight down you tag your bags and they are picked up and taken to your resort.
I think your concern would be checking your bags with RAC for the trip back home. I am not sure but I do not think that Frontier is a participating airline. Therefore you can still use ME for your trip back to the airport, but you can not check your bags with RAC, and will have to take them on the bus with you.

 

[xbatman]

You can use Magical Express as long as you land in MCO and stay at a Disney resort. The bus service has nothing to do with what airline you travel on. For the flight down you tag your bags and they are picked up and taken to your resort.
I think your concern would be checking your bags with RAC for the trip back home. I am not sure but I do not think that Frontier is a participating airline. Therefore you can still use ME for your trip back to the airport, but you can not check your bags with RAC, and will have to take them on the bus with you.

Yes, you need to take your bags with you to the airport. After you get your bags from the bus driver at MCO, just take the elevator to the 3rd floor and drop them at the Frontier counter. Very easy. It was just DD10 and I and we had no problem at all.

We flew to MCO on Sat., 12/14 and returned on Thurs., 12/26. We're from Coopersburg, PA (near Allentown), so it was a little farther to go to ILG but so much less complicated than Philly.

The parking lot only had a couple spaces available when DH came to pick us up, but that's probably because it was during the Christmas travel period. You probably wouldn't have any trouble during a less busy time.