Frontier in October....

[kristenrice]

I'm planning an October trip that, so far, is just myself and my DD16. DD will be a sophomore in high school. I scheduled the trip over her fall break and the plan is to depart on Tuesday evening on a SWA flight that departs at 6pm. That way, she won't miss any school since she is off on Wed-Friday. I plan to return on Monday (DD will miss that one day of school) since I am scheduled to work at 0500 on Tuesday morning, but the only reasonable options on SWA either depart at 0700 (that's the cheapest, but WAY too early for my liking) or landing at 1130 pm. DD is normally up until at least midnight anyways so she said she would be fine with going to school the next day, but I would definitely need to take the next day off of work. It would not be an issue since I have plenty of time off available. I have enough SWA points to get both of us on the flight TO Orlando on points, but I would need to pay cash to get us back. On SWA, it would cost about $400 ($199 each).

I looked at Frontier...an airline I had never considered because I have not heard great things about them...and I see that they have a non-stop flight that departs at 2:30pm and arrives at 5pm. Those times are PERFECT! I looked at the price and went through the booking process. Even after I added in seats, luggage, priority boarding...everything except making the fare changeable or refundable...the total cost was about $360. The thing is, there are no more flights on Frontier from MCO to GRR until Thursday! That means if something goes awry, we could be in for an adventure.

Normally, I would simply pay the extra $40 and book with SWA, but in this situation, there is more to it. It's not just the money, but the fact that the Frontier flight is non-stop (the SWA flight has a 45 minute layover in MDW...which is WAY too short, IMHO) AND the SWA flight gets home so late that I would have to take another day off of work and my daughter would surely be exhausted at school the next day.

For those of you who have flown with Frontier, would you take that flight? I am aware of the risks of what could happen if there is a delay and I am prepared to have a "Plan B". Driving home from Florida is not an option as it is a 24 hour drive (no stops), but we could hopefully snag a flight into GRR, DTW, MDW or ORD. (Frontier actually has a flight the next day into DTW) Am I just being super-paranoid? I haven't heard "horror" stories about Frontier, but I have not heard rave reviews about them either. I am not looking for anything first-class...I just want a clean, safe flight home.

 

[e_yerger]

So, I know this doesn't really answer your question, but US laws require airlines to give a full refund if they change your flight details beyond a certain point. Frontier canceling or rescheduling your flight to be for the Thursday date, you would be entitled to a full refund of your flight costs.

 

[rwdavis2]

From what I've seen of these small airlines (Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant) are that if your flight is cancelled they may not be able to get you on one of their planes for a day two. And I agree that 45 minute layover is too short. Best of luck.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Airline tickets are constantly changing. I use skyscanner website for all of my tickets.
Personally I would try and stay with SWA if the fare is close to the same. SW has awesome customer service and two bags free.
We fly Spirit frequently because I travel to see my mom and all I need is a backpack. I have never had an issue with the flight but the staff is rude and you cant get them on the phone only chat. When we flew frontier it was similar I think the ultra low airlines are alike.

 

[AndreaDM]

People love to hate on Frontier, but I fly them several times a year and only once did I have a delay, it was a few hours delay coming home from Cancun like 5 years ago.

 

[EACarlson]

Do you have enough SW points to book the return flight? If so I would buy the the Frontier flight for the trip home and hold the SW flight on points as a backup. If your Frontier flight looks like it's going to take off on time you could then cancel the SW flight and get your points back.
This has always been my concern with Frontier, Spirit and Allegient. As most of the time I fly for a specific business engagement, where even just a few hours delay could easily mean it's a trip in vain, and a day delay is unacceptable.

 

[ypv]

I've flown Frontier a handful of times. Do I like it? Not really, but price and time are big factors for me when I book. In your situation, I would probably book Frontier and hope for the best. They do charge for bags, assigned seating, drinks on the flight etc., so you should factor that cost in as well. I have heard horror stories (flight cancelled, no reasonable alternative), but haven't experienced one myself.

I actually have a return flight from MCO scheduled in May. Why did I choose Frontier? Direct flight and good price.

 

[kristenrice]

I've flown Frontier a handful of times. Do I like it? Not really, but price and time are big factors for me when I book. In your situation, I would probably book Frontier and hope for the best. They do charge for bags, assigned seating, drinks on the flight etc., so you should factor that cost in as well. I have heard horror stories (flight cancelled, no reasonable alternative), but haven't experienced one myself.

I actually have a return flight from MCO scheduled in May. Why did I choose Frontier? Direct flight and good price.

This is exactly my situation. We aren't talking about a cross-country flight...it's 2. 5 hours (Orlando to Grand Rapids, MI) so snacks and drinks aren't a huge deal. As far as the other "extras", I factored in the cost of bags (carry-on and checked), priority boarding and seat selection. Frontier comes out $60 cheaper...and that is if I do NOT choose EBCI with SWA. Not only is Frontier cheaper, but it is non-stop and the times are WAY better for our schedule.

Do you have enough SW points to book the return flight? If so I would buy the the Frontier flight for the trip home and hold the SW flight on points as a backup. If your Frontier flight looks like it's going to take off on time you could then cancel the SW flight and get your points back.
This has always been my concern with Frontier, Spirit and Allegient. As most of the time I fly for a specific business engagement, where even just a few hours delay could easily mean it's a trip in vain, and a day delay is unacceptable.

I don't have enough points now, but this is a great idea. I will continue to earn more points and if they run another sale, I might just buy some more and use them to secure an "insurance" flight. They just had a 40% sale that I wish I could have jumped on, but we were currently on our spring vacation and I had all of our vacation funds tied up. I wish I would have known that I was going to come home with almost $1000 left over. I could have bought 60K points for $990!

 

[EACarlson]

I don't have enough points now, but this is a great idea. I will continue to earn more points and if they run another sale, I might just buy some more and use them to secure an "insurance" flight. They just had a 40% sale that I wish I could have jumped on, but we were currently on our spring vacation and I had all of our vacation funds tied up. I wish I would have known that I was going to come home with almost $1000 left over. I could have bought 60K points for $990!

Be aware SW just devalued points by about 6%. I haven't looked at what my flights would cost now but that might change the calculus for some people.

 

[MarcIsMe]

I have flown Frontier about seven times in the last 3 years and I have always done it bare bones due to short 3 to 4 day stays. No seat assignment and just an underseat bag. I have only had one flight canceled before the trip began (they stopped serving Austin). I am using them in May to go to Orlando. Personally I would not use them going to a smaller airport due to lack of options, but Orlando has plenty of other airlines to work something out.

 

[kristenrice]

I just decided to go with SWA. They are having a sale on points right now and I was able to buy enough points so that my daughter and I can now fly on points both ways and it only cost me $275. The points haven't credited to my account yet, but I went ahead and booked the return trip since there were only (5) tickets left at the "low" fare. I'm sure there will be many fluctuations between now and when we leave so I will keep an eye on it. I also added EBCI to our return flight. I am still debating about adding it to our flight to Orlando. I always add it for the trip home because I do not want to worry about checking in on the day before we leave. I just don't know if I want to add it for our flight down...we have a 6pm departure so checking in the day before shouldn't be an issue. I am supposed to get out of work at 5pm and even if I am late, my daughter should be available to check us in.