Frontier Airlines

[seashell724]

Hi!

Can anyone tell me about frontier airlines? Never heard of them but see them often when searching for flights.
Good company? Reputable? Anyone flown them before? How does seating work?
Thanks!

 

[Disneyliscious]

I had never been on a plane in my life until March of this year and I used Frontier because they had the best price. Now, I cant compare them to any other airline because Ive only flown once (round trip, was 4 segments total) but I can share my experience with you.

I went to their website and booked there. During booking you can select your seats. If you want more leg room, those seats cost more. I can tell you the exit row seats and front row seats had an AMAZING amount of room. I looked because my bf is 6ft 7in and needs extra room so I wanted to check for him. You can also choose seating that doesnt cost anything extra which is what I did. I am 5ft 6in and about 230 lbs and I had absolutely no problems fitting in their seats. I had an aisle and window seat. I was very comfortable.

Depending on which seats/price/frequent flyer status range you choose, depends on when you board the plane. They board by Zones. They have zones 1 through 4. I was in zone 4 (cheapest ticket) so I boarded in the last group. I had no probs findinf bin space overhead and no probs getting down the aisle to my row 16 seat. On two of the segments they said the bins were full and asked ppl to check their bags, for free, but even when I got on the plane, people were still finding space.

The offered everyone a complimentary drink and had snacks/meals from $1.99-$7.99 to buy. They do not accept cash on the plane. It must be a credit/debit card. The plane was clean and I was very satisfied. I will absolutely use them again.

I notice Southwest is quite popular here but due to their seating arrangements I could never imagine using that airline. I want to pick my own seat. I compared Frontiers "paid" seats (those you pay more for to get more space) against United and AA, and Frontier had the best deal by far. Of course, that can change at any time.

To my knowledge, Southwest, Delta, and Virgin do not let you preselect seats. I will never use these airlines due to that reason. United lets you select your seat during booking but their charge is higher. AA is higher than Frontier as well.

If you choose the Economy fare with Frontier, you pay $20 each way for checked bags. You can upgrade to their Classic Plus fare and get 2 free checked bags each way. You also get a few other perks like a reduced fee on their "stretch seating". For Economy ticket holders, its approx $25 per segment for stretch seating. If you upgrade to a Classic Plus fare for $30 (each way) and get the stretch seating for $15 each way BUT you save on getting the free checked bags ($40 each way if you have 2 bags). They also have a Classic Plus ticket that costs even more but the perks arent worth it in my opinion.

I dont know how long they have been in business but yes, I would recommend them. There is no "first" or "business" class on their planes. Its all one area and the exit rows and very front rows are the only ones with mega leg room for the folks who need it.

Hope this helps!

 

[mhnewcomb]

I've only flown a few times too, but one leg of last year's Vegas trip was with Frontier. My husband booked the stretch seating for himself, and it really was awesome.

Also, the FA absolutely saved me from a bout of horrible ear pain upon landing using only a coffee cup with a heated wet napkin inside...pain was gone within one minute of covering my ear with that thing.

We usually fly Southwest, and we like it very much. But if I couldn't get the SW flight I wanted, the FIRST place I'd look would be Frontier.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi!

Can anyone tell me about frontier airlines? Never heard of them but see them often when searching for flights.
Good company? Reputable? Anyone flown them before? How does seating work?
Thanks!

Frontier is a good airline located out of Denver. My daughter and her family prefer Frontier to SWA because they can get assigned seats, something very important to her since they have two young children. It is a small charge to upgrade to nicer seats. The down side would be the extra charge for checked baggage.

Frontier often has sales that make them a little cheaper than SWA. We don't fly with them because we have so many more flights to choose from with SWA.

 

[kathie859]

Hi!

Can anyone tell me about frontier airlines? Never heard of them but see them often when searching for flights.
Good company? Reputable? Anyone flown them before? How does seating work?
Thanks!

They made news this week 'cause they implemented a charge for carry on luggage which doesn't fit under the seat.

A clarification of a prior post re: seat choice. Delta does permit passengers to preselect seats at no extra charge.

 

[wdwfan22]

Frontier is based here in Denver where I am. I have flown on them many, many times. My sister in law is a FA for them. They have been around for many years. I fly either Frontier or SW, whichever is cheaper.

They are a big airline with great customer service. Each plane has a tv in the seat back. You do have to pay, I think $5 to watch during the flight, or book one of their upper 2 seat catgories. If you go on their website, flyfrontier.com, you can learn all about them.

The only unknown for me is new charges I saw on the news they are implementing. Such as carry on bag charges, and charge for softdrinks. These may make me rethink them, unless their fare is enough less than SW to cover those charges.

 

[DebbieB]

To my knowledge, Southwest, Delta, and Virgin do not let you preselect seats. I will never use these airlines due to that reason. United lets you select your seat during booking but their charge is higher. AA is higher than Frontier as well.

Delta allows you to preselect seats for free. There are some "Economy Comfort" seats (more leg room) in the front of coach that they charge for but the rest are free. I think exit row is reserved for Medallions (very frequent fliers) in advance plus some in the front of coach.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I've only booked once with Frontier and my experience was so good I wrote a letter to tell them about it.

I was looking for flights home from Seattle last summer after our Alaskan cruise. Most airlines had times that got us back to Philly between 9pm & 12am. Our kids would have their 1st day of school the next day so that wouldn't work. Then I found Frontier & we'd arrive at PHL by 7:30 pm & it's priced lower than the legacy carriers.

A few months before the cruise, I get an email that our departure time had changed to 6am. I was so upset since this was their only flight of the day. We would still be on the ship so it would be impossible to keep this reservation. Before calling I searched around online thinking I'll have to cancel, get a refund & buy new flights with someone else. I found a United flight that would get us home by 9pm. Doable so I make a mental note of it.

When I call Frontier I was so ready for a fight, thinking I will really need to plead to get a refund. The lady was so sweet & said, 'no problem. We can put you on another airline. What flight do you want?" Wow! I told her about the United flight so that's what she put us on.

About another month later I see that United has changed their flight times too so that we'd have a longer connection & would get home late, like 10:30pm. In the meantime, I saw that USAirways has added a nonstop (the only one on any airline) that would get us home at 7pm. So I call Frontier again & explain how my flight is so much later & won't work so they put us on the nonstop with USAirways. We each earned over 2000 Dividend Miles to boot which gave us enough for 3 seats to Barcelona, making a Med cruise possible.

I LOVE Frontier & would book them again in a heart beat.

I also saw the CEO on Undercover Boss. I liked the guy.

 

[jce2]

These extra fees people are mentioning (for overhead storage and sodas) only apply to people that do not book their flight thru flyfrontier.com , Also, the cost to upgrade seats varies based on flight. For my flights to/from Orlando from Denver it only costs $5 to upgrade to the middle level of seats but $40 to upgrade to the top level.

 

[seashell724]

Wow! Thanks everyone! I love all the detailed responses!

So just to confirm...I CAN pre select my seats? Flying with little ones this is a must for me!

 

[seashell724]

Also, of taking a baby are you allowed to check a car seat and stroller for free?

Thanks!

 

[mrg013]

So just to confirm...I CAN pre select my seats? Flying with little ones this is a must for me!

Yes! You absolutely can pre-select seats on Frontier. Most seats on the plane can be selected at the time of booking for no extra charge.

What others have been describing is the fact that they do have some seats on the plane that you can pay to upgrade to, which are considered the best seats. It's up to you if you want to pay for any of these seats, but you can definitely pre-select the complimentary seats instead if you would like. The upgrade fees vary in price depending on length of flight. There are "select seats", which are the same as regular seats, but closer to the front of the plane. Then there are also "stretch seats", which are are larger upgrade fee, but offer the added benefit of extra leg room. They're either exit row seats or seats in the first few rows of the plane that have been designed to have extra leg room.

 

[CPT Tripss]

If you book a "basic" ticket through any provider other than Frontier, you'll pay a $25 to $100 fee for a carry-on bag stowed in the overhead bin. Frontier will not charge for a carry-on bag that you can stow underneath the seat in front of you, but that's a pretty tight limit.

Although many travelers will probably focus on the outrageous top $100 fee—which only applies if you don't pay until you check in at the airport—you can run that fee down to $25 by checking in through Frontier.com. Frontier also plans to charge a nominal $1.99 fee for the basic soft drink/tea/coffee service for travelers who purchased"economy" or "basic" fares.

http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/bag-fee-frontier-bold-gamble.html?id=14820689

 

[Dan Murphy]

I've normally flown Airtran in recent years. I did fly Chicago/Las Vegas (stop in Denver) earlier this year on Frontier. I thought they were excellent.

 

[tarak]

We flew with Frontier this past January after using AirTran the last few trips (AirTran no longer flies from our airport and Frontier took over where AirTran left off). Had no problems at all. We were able to check all baby items for free (stroller and baby bed). They were also checking carryons for free. My oldest daughter didn't want to check hers, but the rest of us were happy not to have to carry everything with us. We got a free bag for every extra disney tag we had. Their schedule is changing drastically in the fall and I'm worried they'll be pulling out of our local airport.

Also, our flight was absolutely the cheapest I've ever booked from Harrisburg to Orlando (non-stop). Just over $900 for five round trip tickets.

In short, we'd fly with them again in a heartbeat.

 

[WINTER]

Loved them last year. This year, not so much. I booked great rates with great times. Shortly after booking, my depart time changed from 4:30 pm to 6:45 am. My return date was cancelled and they re-booked me on another airline with a layover (original flight was non-stop). Since I booked, I have had numerous calls with changes whether flight # or time change. The only good thing is I do get in earlier which means more time with the mouse!

 

[homedad]

We have used them for ski trips out west and its our kids fav airline due to the TV in the seat. One of my best flights because didn't have to any entertaining on those trips.

 

[delilah]

Travelled via Frontier from IND to SNA last week for a medical conference. There were 3 scheduled flights from IND to SNA on the day I left. Two had layovers of about 30-40 minutes, and one had a layover of 5 hours. Since I was afraid to book a trip with only a 30 minute connection time, I opted for the 5 hour layover. The plane coming into DEN was late, and the 5 hour connection turned into a 6 hour connection. Most interestingly, the plane we were taking to SNA (Santa Ana, CA) was originating in San Diego, which is probably only about a 2 hour flight in length.

Then, on the way home, I was supposed to have a three hour layover. The most interesting part about the trip home was that it was, I think, in the older part of the Denver airport, in the part of the A terminal that in downstairs. You boarded the airplane by going outside and walking out to the plane and onto a ramp, sort of like how I did the first time I ever took an airplane back in 1978 or so. It was in the part of the airport that didn't really have anywhere nice to buy food, and the furniture was a bit worn out. I noticed that there was already a plane in the next gate to where we were scheduled to leave, at the time I got to the airport. The connecting flight that we were supposed to board to go to IND was late. As a matter of fact, it hadn't arrived yet until 30 min past the original departure time for our flight. And, then when it got there (no disrespect intended), there were more than 5 passengers with wheelchairs that needed to be taken off the plane (via the outside ramp). The wheelchair were in a locked off area, and the staff at the desk didn't have the key, so they had to call for a key. Then, off course, they didn't have 5 wheelchairs, so, they had to call to get them from elsewhere in the airport (remember, this is in the remote part of the airport). By then, it was fully an hour after our plane was due to leave. So, somebody made the executive decision that we would take the plane that had been parked at the next gate all along, for the past three hours.

All I can say about Frontier is that every time I use them, it is like a circus.

 

[andrews_dad]

I was excited when Frontier came to my home airport, Harrisburg PA for direct flights to MCO. Then I started looking at the prices. allegiant air has direct flights frm Harrisburg to Sandford in the $50-79 range, and then they tax on fees from everything from seat selection to carry on bags and the like. I think they might put a change slot on the potty doors... anyhow, even after fees I am not paying more than $100 per person per way. Frontier, foe the same dates (and many of the same sort of fees), are like $250-400 for one way!?!? Really weird.

 

[Codeaddict]

I was excited when Frontier came to my home airport, Harrisburg PA for direct flights to MCO. Then I started looking at the prices. allegiant air has direct flights frm Harrisburg to Sandford in the $50-79 range, and then they tax on fees from everything from seat selection to carry on bags and the like. I think they might put a change slot on the potty doors... anyhow, even after fees I am not paying more than $100 per person per way. Frontier, foe the same dates (and many of the same sort of fees), are like $250-400 for one way!?!? Really weird.

I don't understand it either. I also don't understand the cut back to two flights a week out of Harrisburg. Air Tran flights were always full or nearly full 7 days a week. I thought Frontier would have been a good replacement when Air Tran left and would do well.