Tell me about Frontier Airlines

FWIW, I use a Vera Bradley Weekender bag that fits their personal size dimensions of 18"x14"x8" and can fit plenty for a trip of up to 5 days depending on my needs. Last week for example, that was 5 pairs of capris, 5 light blouses, an extra pair of shoes, 2 pairs of pjs, a couple tank tops, my purse/backpack that I use in the parks, cosmetic bag w/make up, a small wallet/purse, a pouch of jewelry, a jam packed quart bag with my liquids. a small bag w/ medication, toiletries, etc. It took a little thought and practice at first because I was used to the old days of free bags and packed everything "just in case," but you really can fit quite a bit within the personal size dimensions.
Impressive indeed.
I can't comprehend 5 days, 5 outfits. How does one know that far ahead what you'll want to wear for 5 straight days? I change my mind at least 5 times each morning, 90% of the time ending up in something 180 degrees different than what I sat out the night before. For 5 days I'd have to have at least 10 outfits or I'd get all twitchy inside, LOL

Thankfully, when we need a budget trip, we can use Southwest, typically for $59 (or less) each way out of ATL, which includes 2 checked bags! That's more my speed. Even a 3 day trip gets a full size checked bag, at weight limit of 50 lbs to start. Oh, how I wish I could travel light. I've tried and it fails every single time.
 
I’m another who tries to take southwest out of PHL and if I can’t or the price is really high, I’ll use BWI instead. Ride is not that bad (about 1.5 hrs) and I prefer their parking compared to PHL
 
I’m another who tries to take southwest out of PHL and if I can’t or the price is really high, I’ll use BWI instead. Ride is not that bad (about 1.5 hrs) and I prefer their parking compared to PHL

Some of us dont have that luxury and have to use PHL exclusively. Returning from MCO the last nonstop for us on SW is at 230pm. We usually can get a later flight home between 6 and 8 pm but for some reason SW has decided to not schedule any evening flights at all on Jan 9 let alone the day before or the day after. For what reason we will never know. That is why we decided to go with Frontier since there is a 1119pm departure non stop that night. Now we have the entire day to do what we want and dont have to catch our ME until around 8pm.
 
Have flown on Frontier several times and have never had any issues. You can clearly see the pricing on their website, unlike Spirit where they try to obscure their pricing until you are actually ready to buy a ticket.
 


Think of a plastic cafeteria chair. That's what you'll be sitting on.
My husband flys F when he's alone. I went along once on a F flight and said never again!!
 
My nephew has flown them from Michigan to Orlando, and said that was as long as a flight he would do in their uncomfortable seats. And their tray tables are teeny tiny. Oh, and the first time he booked them his non stop flight was changed to one with a overnight layover, a thousand or so miles in the wrong direction.
 
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We've flown them 4-5 times and have always been pleased. We're flying fom BWI to MCO in less than 2 weeks. Helpful luggage/seat hint- if you book the tickets, but wait for the add-ons, the price sometimes drops. With seats, if you've already selected and you see that the prices are lower, select new seats and they'll put a credit on your account for the price difference.

My husband used them for work one time and had a flight delay of less than an hour and they issued a voucher for $25 to everyone on the flight. We flew American through Philly in April and ended up being so delayed that it took 13 hours to get to Orlando. I'd rather take my chances with Frontier cancelling/ rescheduling my nonstop flight than sitting on a tarmac/ missing connections/ sitting in the airport. Also, being near Harrisburg, I have lots of transportation alternatives if something goes wrong.
 
Just for a little info, Frontier and Spirit have been tied at the bottom of the customer satisfaction lists for years. Just so you know.

Probably true, but I think both are making a pretty good effort to improve things. I've done a few Frontier flights lately and other than finding the seats uncomfortable after an hour or so, they seem okay. I've also read some positive articles on Spirit improving with management changes and that's encouraging. The only "discount" US carrier I'd really hesitate to fly at this point would be Allegiant.
 
We usually fly Southwest or American out of PHL, but the choice of flights and cost were horrible for our May 2020 trip. We ended up booking Spirit out of PHL (not AC) and the cost with their crazy bundle system was about 1/2 of America's. So, we'll give it a shot. We did fly them out of AC in October to Tampa and had no issues. Service was comparable to both SW and American. The only worry I have that I have warned others about in the past, is if your flight is canceled, Spirit usually doesn't give you many good options if any at all.
 
Curious how Frontier is doing today? United seems to be having a rough time.

Good luck and get home safe everybody who hasn't returned home after Thanksgiving yet.
 
We only fly southwest. So. Frontier wouldn’t be an option. Too much history of delays. Etc
Yeah, the history misery is scary. Frontier may work in flexible situations, like visiting your sister in another state. Probably not a big deal if a cancellation/delay caused you to reschedule, show up 10 hours late, or even miss a day.

WDW is an expensive prepaid trip for most of us. The high risk of losing days or even hours is too great when you could be out $$$ between room/tickets. Trying to find last minute alternatives is very stressful and expensive. Missing work/school due to delays home also stinks.

I keep hearing reliability is getting better for Frontier & Spirit and they have good offers like kids fly free (w/ $60 membership) and crazy $66rt deals, I'm just not ready to stake my WDW trip on it yet. And when comparing prices with luggage/seats, they don't save me money anyway.
 
I actually fly Frontier routinely. I really like their red-eye out of Denver for my WDW trips. They do frequently adjust the departure time of flights, but in my experience, these changes have been less than 45-minute changes. I've never had them cancel my flight. I still find that their flights are cheaper than many airlines despite the charges for bags and seats. Checked bags aren't too bad - $30 a pop when you pay for your bag before getting to the airport. Just like any airline, do your research and you'll be fine with the fees.

As for the seats, I hate all airline seats, so I don't notice if one is better than another. I wish they'd release their dates for beyond April!
 
Frontier elite member here. Actually doing a mileage run tomorrow to Orlando for the day to keep my status for next year. Landing in the morning, driving to Disney to spend the time before my return flight in the evening. The flight was $28 RT.

I have been flying Frontier about once per month for the past 2 years. Personally, my husband and I enjoy the airline. It is what you make of it. And once you make elite status, it becomes even more pleasant with a free carry-on and free seat selection (other than extra room, but if one of those seats is open at check-in time you can change to that seat for free - as I did this morning).
We have a lot more flexibility than many people.

I find the seats to be not really be any less comfortable than Southwest or Jet Blue. I have not tested this theory on a long-haul flight though - most of my flights are in the 3-hour range.
I have been able to pack for a week-long trip to Disney in my personal item multiple times.
I always bring my own snack and soda on the flight - always do regardless of what airline I fly. I prefer to have a beverage with a cap, instead of worrying about a plastic cup on my tray.
My flight times have only changed a couple of times and by less than 30 minutes - this occurs when they announce new routes and eliminate others and start juggling all the planes along with it. They re-arrange routes a few times per year.
Most of my flights have been relatively on-time.

These are the 'incidents' we have encountered in 30 legs in a little more than 2 years ...
I have had one flight returning from PBI cancelled while at the airport because of weather. I was rescheduled 2 days later out of Orlando - this can definitely be a hassle for a lot of people. But, I had someplace to stay in in the intervening days.
I have had one flight diverted to Philadelphia on our approach to our home airport - the fog was too low. By the time we landed in Philadelphia, most of the NY area airports had been shut for incoming flights because of it. We had to stay overnight in the airport (5 hours), were given a meal voucher for breakfast. They made a new flight for 6:00 am to bring us all back to NY.
I had one flight delayed by 2 hours leaving out of MCO - given a meal voucher and had a $75 credit in my email when we landed.
In October we had our first major incident with a mechanical problem - we sat on the tarmac for a couple of hours. They went back to the gate and everyone got off the plane and were told to wait in the area while they tried to fix the problem or you could change your flight. Chaos ensued at the gate, but people were generally calm. Many changed their flight, electing to leave out of other Florida airports in the coming days. We were pretty sure, based on our experience, that they were going to get that flight out. If it wasn't that night, it would be a newly added flight early in the morning because they needed that plane back in NY for the next day's schedule. We were correct - we left 90 minutes later. We were each issued $200 vouchers. The original flight was $24.

I have had to change flights a couple of times because of travel advisories both because of hurricanes and snow - easy process and it was announced a reasonable time before the flights.
I have elected not to change flights in the event of a travel advisory and we flew as originally scheduled.
I have had planes leave in the lead-up to snow events, while Southwest out of the same airport was cancelling their flights days before the snow event even started. It turned out the weather was a non-issue on flight day.
I have had long delays on Southwest and Jet Blue flights in the past couple of years. Along with flights on SW that were on-time.

If anyone has any specific questions - I'd be happy to try and answer them (i.e. way seats are assigned on check-in if you did not pay for a seat, better places to sit when trying to spend the least amount on a seat, boarding process, etc)
 
Also an Elite Frontier member. I fly out of Denver at least twice a week and use Frontier majority of time for past 3 years. Like any airline there are delays and typical annoyances... but in general for the price that Frontier offers I have yet to find any airline that matches it. The seats aren't super comfortable and it costs to buy a soda but I bring my own drink/snacks on board with me so that doesn't bother me. Now that I am Elite status, I don't have to pay for my seat or to carry on a bag, which is nice. But even when I wasn't Elite, hard to pass up $45 round trip to Orlando from Denver. Or $30 roundtrip to Canada etc. It really depends on what's important to you.
 
Frontier elite member here. Actually doing a mileage run tomorrow to Orlando for the day to keep my status for next year. Landing in the morning, driving to Disney to spend the time before my return flight in the evening. The flight was $28 RT.

I have been flying Frontier about once per month for the past 2 years. Personally, my husband and I enjoy the airline. It is what you make of it. And once you make elite status, it becomes even more pleasant with a free carry-on and free seat selection (other than extra room, but if one of those seats is open at check-in time you can change to that seat for free - as I did this morning).
We have a lot more flexibility than many people.

I find the seats to be not really be any less comfortable than Southwest or Jet Blue. I have not tested this theory on a long-haul flight though - most of my flights are in the 3-hour range.
I have been able to pack for a week-long trip to Disney in my personal item multiple times.
I always bring my own snack and soda on the flight - always do regardless of what airline I fly. I prefer to have a beverage with a cap, instead of worrying about a plastic cup on my tray.
My flight times have only changed a couple of times and by less than 30 minutes - this occurs when they announce new routes and eliminate others and start juggling all the planes along with it. They re-arrange routes a few times per year.
Most of my flights have been relatively on-time.

These are the 'incidents' we have encountered in 30 legs in a little more than 2 years ...
I have had one flight returning from PBI cancelled while at the airport because of weather. I was rescheduled 2 days later out of Orlando - this can definitely be a hassle for a lot of people. But, I had someplace to stay in in the intervening days.
I have had one flight diverted to Philadelphia on our approach to our home airport - the fog was too low. By the time we landed in Philadelphia, most of the NY area airports had been shut for incoming flights because of it. We had to stay overnight in the airport (5 hours), were given a meal voucher for breakfast. They made a new flight for 6:00 am to bring us all back to NY.
I had one flight delayed by 2 hours leaving out of MCO - given a meal voucher and had a $75 credit in my email when we landed.
In October we had our first major incident with a mechanical problem - we sat on the tarmac for a couple of hours. They went back to the gate and everyone got off the plane and were told to wait in the area while they tried to fix the problem or you could change your flight. Chaos ensued at the gate, but people were generally calm. Many changed their flight, electing to leave out of other Florida airports in the coming days. We were pretty sure, based on our experience, that they were going to get that flight out. If it wasn't that night, it would be a newly added flight early in the morning because they needed that plane back in NY for the next day's schedule. We were correct - we left 90 minutes later. We were each issued $200 vouchers. The original flight was $24.

I have had to change flights a couple of times because of travel advisories both because of hurricanes and snow - easy process and it was announced a reasonable time before the flights.
I have elected not to change flights in the event of a travel advisory and we flew as originally scheduled.
I have had planes leave in the lead-up to snow events, while Southwest out of the same airport was cancelling their flights days before the snow event even started. It turned out the weather was a non-issue on flight day.
I have had long delays on Southwest and Jet Blue flights in the past couple of years. Along with flights on SW that were on-time.

If anyone has any specific questions - I'd be happy to try and answer them (i.e. way seats are assigned on check-in if you did not pay for a seat, better places to sit when trying to spend the least amount on a seat, boarding process, etc)

I am flying Frontier for the first time next week. I did purchase seats for my daughter and I to sit together, but just the $5 seats. There were a lot of seats available yesterday when I bought them...although I realize many people may not have chosen their seats. My question is will they "upgrade" us and allow us to sit closer to the front if, indeed, there are many available seats? or does Frontier not do that?
 
I am flying Frontier for the first time next week. I did purchase seats for my daughter and I to sit together, but just the $5 seats. There were a lot of seats available yesterday when I bought them...although I realize many people may not have chosen their seats. My question is will they "upgrade" us and allow us to sit closer to the front if, indeed, there are many available seats? or does Frontier not do that?

It has been my experience that if a plane is very empty, if asked nicely the flight attendants may let you move (I did this one time when I first started flying them). However, they will not let you move to 'another section'. Sections are usually bordered by the exit rows. I once had the flight attendants make an announcement that people could do this because there were literally about 40 people on the plane.

I have also had them flatly refuse the request by passengers. Even with a lot of empty seats.

When you check-in for your flight, you can move your seat online or on the app. It may be the same price or you may pay a little bit extra to move it to 'a better' seat. Or you could do it anytime before the flight. They play with the price of the seats a lot.

The back of Frontier planes are usually pretty full - they assign seats to, those who have not paid, from back to front at check-in. There will not be a lot of empty seats in the back most times.

I would not count of being able to move 'for free' once on the flight, but the possibility may exist.

Sign up for their frequent flyer program now. They are running a triple mileage promotion for flights between 12/3 and 12/18 right now. You will need to add your info on the page in the link to participate in the promo. In my case that would be 6000 miles for one RT to MCO. They have a family pool where you can group your miles together between anyone you add to the group. One one-way ticket is 10,000 miles (I think the fare needs to be under $70ish or it jumps to 20,000). Between you and your daughter you would most likely have enough miles for a free leg. Ignore the dates on the left - Frontier IT department is incredibly sloppy - the dates are correct in the fine print.

https://www.flyfrontier.com/3x-miles
 
I posted on SW thread that my non stop flights say sold out for the 2 flights I'm interested in. I either have to pay through the nose or find another flight or change my Disney reservation>:(. American is to expensive and there are no direct flights from PHL. Looking for other options. We are going May 26 and flights haven't opened yet for Frontier.

I've never flown with Frontier but have heard negative things about them. Like flights cancelled or delayed. Do they charge for a personal item and a carry on?
We just came back and flew Frontier for the first time. With all the fees it was just as expensive. The thing you are not told by Disney is the Magical Express does not deal with them so upon your return home you have to lug your own bags onto the Magical Express then check the bags yourself. Was not so magical. We’ll never fly them again.
 

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