Frontier or US Airways $100 difference

[Cshel85]

Booking our flights for May Frontier is $100 cheaper than US airways, thoughts? I have flown Frontier out of Harrisburg 2 and 3 years ago but have been hearing some bad things about them.

thanks

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would avoid Frontier Just 2 weeks ago I found out by accident that they cancelled my return flight that was set to take off in just 8 days! They put me on a flight for the next day but that did not work out for me. Not to mention I found this out on my own when I went to purchase my seats. They NEVER contacted me about this change. I at least got my money back. I would stick with US air. They at least have a lot more flights a day than Frontier

Over Christmas my sister got stranded in Dallas by Frontier for over 8 hours because the pilots could not fly her return flight because they had been flying too long that day. FAA rules limit the number of hours a pilot can be flying.


My DH coworkers son got stuck last summer for 2 1/2 at the airport because his flight got canceled and he had to wait for a flight with availability. His whole plane was stranded because Frontier decided to cancel their flight 3 days before it was to take off.

 

[littlejimmy]

100 bucks? take the cheaper flight.

 

[1Grumpy9]

I have heard two horror stories about using Frontier in the last 2 yrs out of Harrisburg. One is they cancelled a flight and the other is they changed their policy for boarding and a co-worker had had spend and extra day in Denver on his dime before getting back home.

Have you checked into something at BWI? I haven't flown out of Harrisburg in a VERY long time because of the price. I used to love when AirTran was there (2011) and flights were cheaper, but now with Frontier, I just don't have the confidence.

 

[WDWFan06]

Us airways.

 

[mikehn]

$100 cheaper per person or in total? If $100 cheaper in total, I would go with US Air. For several hundred in savings, I would go with Frontier.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We flew Frontier for the first time in October - for 5 of us saved over $600 compared to SW! We had no problems at all and really enjoyed our flight.

 

[delilah]

I actually liked Frontier. I usually go to a meeting in California in the spring and have used Frontier for the past several years. However, this year, when I tried to book the trip, I learned that they don't have any return flights to IND during the month of April from SNA. I'm not sure what that is about. The meeting is the week after Easter, so a popular time of year to travel. In all honesty, I had one instance where the connecting flight in Denver was delayed for hours. I think the problems was fog in San Francisco in that instance. There's not much Frontier can do about that.

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

I have a few friends who had good experiences with Frontier, so we tried them last year. Like the first response you got, they cancelled both of our flights! Neither of the replacement flights worked for our trip. We got our money back, but had such a bad customer service experience. We had booked those flights several months out, and they cancelled those flights a few weeks before our trip. maybe it was a fluke, but I can't bring myself to try Frontier again. Not worth the worrying that it will happen again. $100 isn't worth my piece of mind. Jane

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If there are flight issues, such as weather delays/cancellations, mechanical problems, crew time-outs, etc., you are far more likely to be able to make alternate flight plans on US Airways, which has many more flights.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I would pay more for US Airways (which is in the process of combining with American Airlines).

The good experiences that people had with Frontier 2 or 3 years ago are not applicable to today's Frontier Airlines. At the end of 2013, Frontier Airlines was acquired by a private investment group led by former Spirit Airlines chairman William Franke. Over the course of 2014, Franke applied the formula that worked at Spirit.

The price difference may not be as big as it appears when you look at the total price.

US Airways and Frontier both allow each passenger to take one carry-on (overhead) bag and one personal (under-seat) item. On US Airways, the carry-on is free. On Frontier, the carry-on bag fee is $30.

Both airlines offer advance seat assignment. US Airways only charges for "choice" seats toward the front of the economy cabin, but Frontier charges its economy passengers for all advance seat assignments.

However, the biggest difference for me is what happens if there's a schedule change or a weather (or mechanical) cancellation. US Airways has a huge network of flights, especially combined with American, so the airline is well-positioned to get passengers to their destinations. US Airways even has interline agreements with the other legacy carriers and will accommodate passengers on another airline if there's a mechanical issue. For Frontier passengers, it's a another story (as some of the posts in this thread indicate).

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Read the posts on the Frontier FB page. Its a bed of mad angry people over the past week who have had nothing but trouble with them. canceled flights galore, pilots who can't fly because they have flown too long that day, no one at the ticket counter to help. Long hold times on the phone to get a new flight.