Tell me about Frontier airlines

[Dakota731]

The rates seem great if you join their discount den with even free tickets for kids. Are there a lot of extra fees, bags etc? Are there many flights offered that apply to the free kids offer?

 

[StageTek]

Frontier is just fine for a low budget, no frills airline. There are a lot of extra fees. You avoid some of them as a Discount Den member.

Are there many flights offered that apply to the free kids offer?

This depends on where you fly from and to. Difficult to generalize.

 

[Ross Kratter]

Frontier charges for carry-on bags, checked bags ($40 per), and picking your seat ahead of time, among other things. There are also usually lengthy sales pitches for Frontier's credit cards made onboard by the flight attendants. Not my favorite airline.

 

[Dakota731]

Just reading the reviews on trip advisor and they are awful so will probably choose another airline. Hundreds of negative reviews just in the past month saying they cancel flights at the last minute then have no alternate for your trip. That just makes me too nervous

 

[zoo2tycoon]

If you have kids and sitting together important prepay for seats.

 

[Jelly563]

pick another airline

 

[boop0524]

We tried to use them before and they canceled our trip while we were at the airport. It was round trip, and they canceled on us last minute (at the gate) at both destinations. It was hands down the worst airline experience of my life. Sounds dramatic but it’s true. Getting our money back, trying to book flights on other airlines, hours at the airport, terrible customer service...all of it, awful.

On the other hand, my parents have flown them from a different airport with zero issues. I guess it depends on where you’re flying from.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

They are based in Denver so we use them for Denver flights all the time.. used them once on a return trip from MCO because they had an earlier flight (7am) and everything went fine.
I was told by the airline that children under 13 will always be put with an adult. That doesnt mean that your whole family will sit together.. but we have never been separated on frontier or spirit and we fly twice a month

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

When things go well, they can be a killer deal. When things go poorly (weather issues, mechanical issues, etc) they can be a disaster.

A big question is how importantly do you NEED to be somewhere? And how much can your budget handle making expensive, last minute plans if needed?

It's all about how much risk you are willing to accept for the potential savings. With their limited schedules, there may be very little they are willing or able to do in the event of a cancellation.

 

[KristaZ]

We've never had a bad experience actually flying with Frontier - but we can manage to travel with just a personal item and don't care where we sit so we can avoid all the extra fees they add on (the couple of occasions when we have been split apart, we just politely ask at the counter if we can get seats together - we've always been accommodated). I haven't had the experience of them cancelling the flight while we were in the airport - but have had flights cancelled a few weeks out (and in fact from my home airport they've pretty much cancelled all but a handful of weekly flights at the moment).

 

[scbruno]

Sometimes by the time you add the cost of seats, and baggage we find other airlines to be a better deal. Used them twice one was a disaster due to the weather, they cancelled the flight with no notice. It was my fist time using them and bought the $50 trip insurance that covered over night stay and food. Second time was fine no issues

 

[Dis703]

I normally fly them about 5-6 times a year and my boyfriend flies them more often than that. I never paid for seat selection and now that I have elite status I get that for free. Most of our trips from NJ to FL and vice versa cost us between $25-$50. We rarely take more than a personal item and fill a backpack or other bag that fits under the seat. Since COVID for our route they cancelled a lot of Tues-Thurs flights so I keep that in mind when booking out in advance. When traveling with multiple people if we need more luggage we just check one large back between all of us so it doesn't add that much.

They've been our go-to airline for the past 6 years or so and I'm very happy with them. I'd never get to travel so much as I do now if it wasn't for their cheap flights.

 

[Leigh L]

We tried to use them before and they canceled our trip while we were at the airport. It was round trip, and they canceled on us last minute (at the gate) at both destinations. It was hands down the worst airline experience of my life. Sounds dramatic but it’s true. Getting our money back, trying to book flights on other airlines, hours at the airport, terrible customer service...all of it, awful.

On the other hand, my parents have flown them from a different airport with zero issues. I guess it depends on where you’re flying from.

Yep. Horrible customer service. We had an April flight that we canceled due to COVID and I received a travel credit (or whatever they call it) which was set to expire in September.

Rebooked for August. They canceled it (but not while we were at the airport, OMG! sorry that happened to you!) with no option to rebook for the next 3 months, they canceled all flights. I requested a refund since they weren't offering me any other change options but since I'd booked on a credit they said no. Normally, I'd get that but they weren't offering me any options and my credits would have expired by the time they returned to my local market.

They hung up on me (and I wasn't rude at all). I ended up disputing it with my credit card company and was refunded.

Dakota731, pricewise they do offer great deals if you join the Den. We had an amazing price for 4 people in August, even with adding bags. I recently saw a $15 flight for this month from my area in my email. I checked it out to see if that was real, and indeed it was.

 

[sam_gordon]

Used them twice one was a disaster due to the weather, they cancelled the flight with no notice.

Do any airlines give you notice of a weather cancellation?

 

[Leigh L]

Do any airlines give you notice of a weather cancellation?

They should, I think YMMV. Even pre COVID could be last minute or late notification. Not all airlines are transparent all of the time, so hard to say. These are 2 recent-ish experiences (within the last 2-3 years)

DS was on a JB flight a few years back that kept getting delayed due to "weather". Then they canceled it altogether after he was at the airport for a bit (long enough for us to drive the 1-1.5 hour home to turn around to have to go pick him up). Turned out it was actually a mechanical problem though, so they definitely weren't transparent (and they are my fav and most reliable airline, big disappointment that time!)

I was on an AA flight about 2 years ago where they had it listed at the gate as being on time while the plane was still sitting in whatever city it originated from due to bad weather. CS reps weren't saying a word even when we asked, but the app was clearly showing the plane was still sitting. By the time they said we'd be significantly delayed, we should have already been in the air and halfway home. They ended up shifting us to a later flight and consolidated us and that flight on a bigger plane.

With weather it's just so unpredictable what will happen. In November I was on a flight from MCO to DC where we'd be passing through bad weather, but we left on time and were ultimately rerouted up through almost in Pennsylvania to avoid it, and landed maybe 15 minutes late instead of the original 30 minutes early.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Yep, same happened to us. Had flights last March, we canceled when Disney closed, received flight credits that would expire in August. I attempted to get a refund due to Covid, they denied. In April they opened booking thru March 2021 so I rebooked those credits for this March. In the meantime I had a 1 way flight booked with them, nonstop, for August and they changed it to a 10 hour flight with a long layover in Denver. I got a full refund for that.
But knowing how they are I am so nervous for March. They have already changed my flights about a month ago, and I was nervous to open the email, but it was just times changing, still have my nonstop flight.
My flight shows about 1/2 booked, and if you factor in those who book without paying for seats, it's full enough they don't cancel/change.
I have been keeping my eye on Allegiant flights for us as backup. They recently were reasonable, but I fear the closer to Spring Break the higher they'll go, but the plane is pretty empty right now. Otherwise we'll load up the car and make the 20 hr drive.

 

[LovesTimone]

Yes..

and never again...

Nightmare...

 

[Cheburashka]

The rates seem great if you join their discount den with even free tickets for kids. Are there a lot of extra fees, bags etc? Are there many flights offered that apply to the free kids offer?

We flew them round trip once and on the outbound portion we had a 5 hour delay (not weather related). It was Frontier's issue as everything else was flying normally. Then they gave everyone a cheesy coupon booklet as recompense. I haven't flown them since and have never regretted that decision.

 

[_19disnA]

Have flown on Frontier several times and never had any issues. With any airline, you need to compare TOTAL prices for tickets that includes seating/luggage/etc. to make valid price comparisons. The price of the ticket alone is misleading until you add on any of the extras you will be using.

 

[Leigh L]

Just to update my last post above. I was supposed to fly Spirit with credits yesterday. Bad weather was coming into my area and I had a very strong feeling my flight would be canceled (it eventually was). Since I had a nonrefundable house rental stay, I impulsively booked with Frontier on Tuesdsay at 1 p.m. At 4 pm I was on a flight $39 each way + bags ($35 per bag) and I opted to purchase seats since it was just DD14 and I. Every other airline was $250-$400 pp for both Tues and Wed (not including extras) so this was a pretty good deal for a last-minute flight.

Pretty decent flight. Nothing special but it was OK. I have to say the crew at the gate was fantastic! Kind of made me feel bad about my broad "CS sucks" comment above. My previous bad experiences were mostly with their phone reps. I last flew with them in 2017 but don't remember much about it.

Frontier wouldn't be my first choice but after this week's experience, I'd fly them again if was my best option.