Frontier Airlines to the rescue! (Trip complete update)

[DisneyRegulars]

When Southwest released their Christmas flights I missed the opening window by a few hours and flights were already well above our flight budget of $1200. We resigned ourselves to once again driving down to Disney from upstate NY.

Well today while trapped in the car I started searching around all the major airports within a five hour drive from us, and found us round trip flights direct from Philly on Frontier at fantastic times for $638 for three people including a checked bag. I'm totally psyched! Instead of spending a two days driving, we will now be arriving a whole day early to Disney, AND we don't need to leave on Christmas Day. I'm so much more excited about this trip now that we've eliminated 26 hours in the car.

Then I went online to hunt for available studios for our extra night, and found a Theme Park View studio at BLT for the 26th which will make for a very special start to our trip. I can't wait to relax and watch the fireworks from our room on our first of 13 nights!!!

We've never flown Frontier before, is there anything we should be aware of? We've already paid for one checked bag, and chose the cheapest seats on the plane.

Does anybody have a favorite place to park in Philly for the airport or any other Philly travel tips? Thanks!!! I'm so excited we don't have to drive the whole way!!!!

 

[bit413]

I always fly Frontier to MCO. It is basic and you pay a fee for everything extra. However it gets the job done and is reasonable. I would not pay for assigned seats. They will assign you free seats at check-in. Download the app and you don't even have to print boarding passes.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I would not pay for assigned seats. They will assign you free seats at check-in. Download the app and you don't even have to print boarding passes.

A little to late for the seats, but good to know for future. Do they do a good job of sitting families together? At least one parent next to a child? This time, not knowing, I was happy to pay $20 for us all to be in the same row.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I can't attest to Frontier, I've only flown them Solo, but we fly Spirit from AC and get some pretty fantastic deals sometimes. I've NEVER paid them for a seat and they have always put us together. I think it's a ploy to con you into buying seats. If enough people bought seats I guess you could be split up, but it's never happened for us.

 

[sneffg]

We flew frontier at spring break, they wouldn't let children sit by themselves. They actually moved families that had their kids sitting together so they were with a parent. That being said, we had major delays and no one to tell us what was going on. Which bothered my husband more than the rest of us, but their desks weren't staffed the way we are use to, so we couldn't get any information. Other than that, basic, basic, basic airbus transportation. Our flight was only 2 hours so not bad, but the seats were uncomfortable. But I don't care I'll take a cheap 2 hour flight to get to my happy place!

 

[CarolynK]

They do have tempting fares, but they were known in Milwaukee for constantly changing/cancelling flights, and they did not have a daily schedule to MCO - only 3 or 4x/week.
We flew them once, but since we always fly around school holidays (kids), we had to use an airline on which we could rely (Southwest).
This is our experience, I know many people like Frontier.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We like Colonial off site parking. You have to make a reservation ahead of time. They have always provided good service for us.

http://www.colonialairpark.com

Bobbi

 

[bumbershoot]

If they don't have several flights a day, and since it's winter, get to Philly early, get to the airport early. If a storm is coming in, maybe even see if you can leave a day earlier, if there's only one flight per day. Watch the weather country-wide and stay aware.

(that all goes for any flight...but it's especially crucial with a smaller airline that might not have flights leaving hourly. Heck, even with the bigger/busier airlines it can be an issue...DH had his flight, that he was 2 hours earlier than usual for, flat out cancelled the other day in JFK, no other flights available as they had been cancelled, he took an hour long taxi ride to LaGuardia, and had to wait until after midnight for his new flight to finally leave once the weather had passed....IF we had taken our advice and monitored the weather and airport websites, we MIGHT have been able to get him out of JFK on an earlier flight...maybe...he was flying United, and ultimately flew Delta, but that weather cancelled a LOT of flights...)

 

[n2mm]

They have great fares and we flew them once out of Dulles. I wouldn't fly them again. They had terrible customer service and they only flew one flight a day (in the evening). They were always late and sometimes cancelled. With only one flight a day, you were out of luck if they cancelled. When we checked our bags, there were only 5 families in front of us, but it took over 30 minutes. There was a family screaming at the agent because the wait caused them to miss their one and only flight. When it was time to board, you could not hear what was going on and no one seemed to have a clue or cared. We felt good that we were only 3 hours late and got into MCO around 10:00PM, so happy they didn't cancel their only flight. I regretted booking with them as soon as I started reading all of the reviews and started watching their flight departures as my trip got closer. They were averaging several cancellations a month out of Dulles. Maybe it's gotten better, but I could never go through that stress again. When we flew them (November 2014) I don't think they participated in RAC, but we didn't fly home with them. We came home on United. I know my post is negative, but I wanted to share my experience. Hope your flight is good.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

They have great fares and we flew them once out of Dulles. I wouldn't fly them again. They had terrible customer service and they only flew one flight a day (in the evening). They were always late and sometimes cancelled. With only one flight a day, you were out of luck if they cancelled. When we checked our bags, there were only 5 families in front of us, but it took over 30 minutes. There was a family screaming at the agent because the wait caused them to miss their one and only flight. When it was time to board, you could not hear what was going on and no one seemed to have a clue or cared. We felt good that we were only 3 hours late and got into MCO around 10:00PM, so happy they didn't cancel their only flight. I regretted booking with them as soon as I started reading all of the reviews and started watching their flight departures as my trip got closer. They were averaging several cancellations a month out of Dulles. Maybe it's gotten better, but I could never go through that stress again. When we flew them (November 2014) I don't think they participated in RAC, but we didn't fly home with them. We came home on United. I know my post is negative, but I wanted to share my experience. Hope your flight is good.

Yikes!!! I guess worse case we get back in our car and make the drive! They have several flights out of Philly on our departure day, I think we chose the middle one, so that should put us in a good position to either move up or maybe catch the later ones if need be. I will make sure to add some extra time for checking our bag.

 

[DizDaD7]

Yikes!!! I guess worse case we get back in our car and make the drive! They have several flights out of Philly on our departure day, I think we chose the middle one, so that should put us in a good position to either move up or maybe catch the later ones if need be. I will make sure to add some extra time for checking our bag.

I was checking out flights as well back in Feb. for our Nov. trip...Stumbled across Frontier website & saw incrdeible deals. Out of Trenton & also Philly. My DW was way too skeptical, & for all the reasons that the PP's posted we ended up waiting for The JetBlue flights to roll around.

I'm glad we did because we've encountered numerous problems w/ the other major airlines. United & Delta etc.
But like I said the $593 for 4 of us was REAL enticing.... We would of had to add a night at a hotel in philly & parking and stuff, so that woulda brought it up to around $850 or so... What we have now is $294 a person leaving on at Night & arriving back also at night....

 

[sneffg]

Frontier is definitely a last resort if you are in a bind. We waited 4 hours when our flight was delayed. They didn't even post that it was delayed until boarding. By then you are already at the airport. And they only delayed an hour at a time. No one at the counter to talk to and only 1 flight for the day! It was so frustrating. On our way back we paid for an extra suitcase. They charge a lot more if you don't add it on at online check in....Then we were about 3 lb over. Had to unpack 2 suitcases on the floor for a couple of pounds or pay for a whole extra suitcase! Really they gouge you with the baggage and seat assignment. No free drinks at all, I am all about saving $ but when it comes to flying somethings are worth the extra!

 

[minniqt7]

Fly Frontier often from Philly. No problems. It is a basic airline and a 2 hr flight. New plane!!! Comfortable seats and nice crews. You can bring your own drinks and food on board so no worries there. Only thing if you have the first flight out the desk only opens for bag check an hour and 15 before flight so the line is very long but it moves fast. 2nd flight out was no problem. Prices are very good so you can't beat it. Have a great trip!!! We usually stay over in Philly the night before as we usually go on a weekday and the we can avoid the crazy traffic hassle or weather related issues. They shuttle you over and drop you right at the terminal for Frontier. Easy peasy!!!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Fly Frontier often from Philly. No problems. It is a basic airline and a 2 hr flight. New plane!!! Comfortable seats and nice crews. You can bring your own drinks and food on board so no worries there. Only thing if you have the first flight out the desk only opens for bag check an hour and 15 before flight so the line is very long but it moves fast. 2nd flight out was no problem. Prices are very good so you can't beat it. Have a great trip!!! We usually stay over in Philly the night before as we usually go on a weekday and the we can avoid the crazy traffic hassle or weather related issues. They shuttle you over and drop you right at the terminal for Frontier. Easy peasy!!!

Yeah!! A happy story!

I have been reading a lot of terrible terrible reviews online. I think a lot of frustration with Frontier comes from customers not understanding their ridiculous fee structure for seats and baggage and being caught off guard.

I will definitely report back on my experience, and would love to hear more Frontier stories.

 

[DizDaD7]

Yeah!! A happy story!

I have been reading a lot of terrible terrible reviews online. I think a lot of frustration with Frontier comes from customers not understanding their ridiculous fee structure for seats and baggage and being caught off guard.

I will definitely report back on my experience, and would love to hear more Frontier stories.

Best of Luck...Hope all goes well...Have a great trip

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Here's the thing...

If you are looking for an airline that has never had an issue... start driving. (For the person who posted that they fly Jet Blue because of issues on Delta etc... Trust me Jet Blue's 'horror story' can beat ALL of the other airlines combined. When one storm forces you to shut down for over a week you win a prize for problems!)

 

[skateshome]

Their seat tables are the size of a large cell phone. LOL!
You hit the nail on the head with people being caught off guard by all the fees. It is the definition of no frills airline.

 

[PAGran]

We flew from Philly in February for some last minute magic. Round trip for $30/person. No problems. We were happy.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

So our trip is complete and it went....perfectly! Would totally make the trek to Philly again to take advantage of the cheap Frontier flights. The only thing that could have been better would have been the weather on the drive home.

We measured the dimensions of all our bags, were very familiar with the possible lines so arrived very early, and just had a generally great on time trip with this low cost airline.

 

[CarolynK]

That's great! Traveling this time of year has such potential for weather to become an issue, glad you had no problems!

Are you doing a trip report?