Tell me the good, bad & ugly about Frontier

[MimiOfTwo]

Frontier begins nonstop service from our local airport to MCO in April. Tickets are $68 round trip. They will fly Monday’s & Friday’s. Perfect for weekend trips and we recently bought AP’s! So like the title says, tell me about Frontier. TIA!

 

[1911]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/need-help-asap.3663193/

 

[MimiOfTwo]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/need-help-asap.3663193/

Thanks for the reply! I might try them for a weekend trip since I have an AP but for my 2 long trips I’ll be staying with Southwest for sure!

 

[rwdavis2]

These airlines (Frontier, Alliegent, Spirit) have limited schedules. So if they cancel a flight it could be days to reschedule.

 

[1911]

I will also add this...that 68 dollar ticket is for getting on the plane,if you need to take anything beyond 1 "personal item" it will cost you 35 dollars each way per person for carry on or checked bag.also if you travel with others there is no guarantee you will be sitting next to each other unless you pay to pick your seat which starts at 12 dollars per seat each direction.Most of the seats do not recline, if you want one of those they sell for 50 dollars each way.There are snacks and beverages for sale only(no cash you have to use a credit card). so if you need to take a bag and want to sit next to each other, that single 68 dollar ticket turns into a 162 dollar ticket.
Frontier is bare bones transportation if you don't mind being uncomfortable for a few hours and the constant nickel and diming for every thing their prices cant be beat in some cases. book them with your eyes open and be prepared.

I will add that the seats are horrible.they have minimal padding and the non recline seats are not at a good angle for me at least.

 

[Pembo]

We used them out of Cleveland. The flight was on time and service was great. I was thrilled to get a cheap ticket only 2 weeks before a spur of the moment trip to WDW. I paid for one checked bag as it was a quick trip. I have to say boarding was quick because there were not many overhead bags and getting off the plane was even faster. I have friends who use them all the time. Nonstops out of our area are few and other airline prices are crazy.

FWIW, I didn't find the seats any more cramped than those on our United flight.

 

[Monykalyn]

We've done frontier a few times now, they've gotten some new planes so I'd imagine reliability is going to go up.

I've gotten tickets for $29 and $39 each way. Even adding a bag it's cheaper than anywhere else. I bring a drink on with me and have snacks as well, or if it's just a weeekend trip a backpack is considered personal item.

But-the tray table is tiny, seats are non reclining, leg room is nearly nonexistent. For a 2 hour flight I'll put up with all that to get to Disney!
For our New Years trip (one way) I paid $162 for 2-including a bag for each and seat assignments. SW was more than that for each person.

We've never been delayed or cancelled on frontier but have with southwest. Pros and cons to every airline.

 

[Tinker_Belle]

These airlines (Frontier, Alliegent, Spirit) have limited schedules. So if they cancel a flight it could be days to reschedule.

This is exactly why we decided not to use them. There is only one flight per day out of our airport, so if it's cancelled you'd have to wait at least a day for the next one. When you're paying what we are to stay at WDW, it's just not worth the risk.

 

[writerguyfl]

These airlines (Frontier, Alliegent, Spirit) have limited schedules. So if they cancel a flight it could be days to reschedule.

This is exactly why we decided not to use them. There is only one flight per day out of our airport, so if it's cancelled you'd have to wait at least a day for the next one. When you're paying what we are to stay at WDW, it's just not worth the risk.

It sounds like Frontier is only flying on Fridays and Mondays in this case. If the flight gets canceled, it's not just losing a day...the entire trip is ruined.

 

[Jax1023]

I flew them out of philly- 29 dollars each way. It was a solo trip so I didn’t pay to book a seat, and I was able to shove everything I’d need for 3 days in a backpack. I can survive 2 hours without beverages and snacks.

With my small kids, it would be more as we need more crap. I’d probably pay to check one large suitcase for all of us and still stuff s lot of crap in a suitcase. Also in the back few rows they have “family seats”where the middle seats are free to pick and there’s reduced price for the other seats, I think I’ve usually seen 12 bucks each,

Frontier has like 4 flights a day from Philly to mco so the cancelled flight argument is less from here. They also frequently fly to Trenton which is close.

It can be worth it but if I can get a southwest flight for a few bucks more, I’ll take it instead.

I will also say the seats are super small. I’m 5’9” and I’ve ever felt cramped on a plan before. My knees were touching the seat in front of me. But once again- 2 hours, I can deal.

 

[Capang]

I’ve used them out of Cleveland and had no problem. All airline seats are uncomfortable so at least I’m only paying half of what I would on another non-budget carrier. For us if we buy The Works it still comes out to less than half the United cost out of Cleveland.

 

[barbliny]

They just started flying out of Long Island this past fall. My experiences to date ...

October to Orlando - our daughter had emergency surgery 48 hours before we were supposed to leave - Frontier has a great policy in place for illness, including family members. Based on the instructions on their website, I provided a note from her doctor saying that I needed to stay home and take care of her. I contacted Frontier through an email form and included a copy of the letter. 2 hours later I had credit for my flights that would be good for 6 months. I used the credit to get tickets for a November trip, and the flights were cheaper and there was still some money left on the credit that I used to pay for a checked bag on a flight in December. (Disney was also fantastic and credited me back my room deposit even though I cancelled after the 5-day limit).

November to Orlando - on time outgoing, 30 minute delay return trip.
December to Orlando - on time both ways.
January to Fort Myers - on time both ways.
February to Orlando - on time both ways.

We have paid for one checked bag between the two of us ($30 each way, pricing differs based on time of year and route). But, we have also done personal item only and have easily gotten 4-5 days of outfits in. On multiple flights we have been able to put our personal items in the overhead - we had one flight where the attendant stopped everyone from doing it.

The seats are not the most comfortable. But, personally I find them more comfortable than the seats on Southwest's new planes. The little tray table is annoying. I find the leg room to be about the same as SW.

We usually pay for a seat ahead of time because we both like aisle seats.

I don't care about having to pay for food since I always bring a bottle of soda or water on the plane since I prefer not to have a cup of liquid that can spill on my tray table when I'm flying.

I can put up with all the little inconveniences for the price and the short flights (it's about 2 1/2 hours). I would have to think hard about a flight longer than 3 hours since we have so many other options available to us in the NY airfare market.

I will say that when we were flying to Orlando in February, there was an absolute nightmare going on about a flight to Tampa - it was scheduled to leave around 3:00 pm and they kept delaying it 30 to 60 minutes at a time, they were still waiting when we took off on time at 7:00 pm and it was supposed to leave at 9:00 pm at that point. I checked the flight status later and it did not take off until 11:30 pm. The Frontier staff communication was horrible.

Would I fly them to get to a cruise or a special event? Probably not

One more thing - people buy way more alcohol on Frontier flights than I ever saw on our Southwest flights!!

 

[katie111]

We flew them from Boston to MCO. As others have said they were so much cheaper than any other airline. I have a ton of SW points but chose not to use them as their flights were so expensive. We just checked one bag for the two of us and bought the cheapest seats. It was still under $100 RT per person. The staff was really friendly and I wasn't expecting much but they were great. Tray table was small but it actually worked really well as a stand for my IPad. It was only a 3 hour flight so we didn't need to eat or drink anything.

 

[Disney Ron]

We flew them from Boston to MCO. As others have said they were so much cheaper than any other airline. I have a ton of SW points but chose not to use them as their flights were so expensive. We just checked one bag for the two of us and bought the cheapest seats. It was still under $100 RT per person. The staff was really friendly and I wasn't expecting much but they were great. Tray table was small but it actually worked really well as a stand for my IPad. It was only a 3 hour flight so we didn't need to eat or drink anything.

katie, Frontier doesn't fly out of Boston. Did you mean Providence?

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I have only flown Frontier once, well twice since it was RT. They were offering an amazing deal ($20 each way) so I tried them. I did lots of research and knew the risks going in. We were Friday - Tuesday, so we packed everything in a personal item. We did not pay for seats, randomly selected by the airline. We brought snacks, and filled our water bottles after security. Everything worked fine, I had no complaints. The seats were uncomfortable, and small, the tray table was comical, but it was a 3 hour flight, so we survived. It did not steer me away from booking a second flight for March. They were a budget airline, that was all I expected.

 

[katie111]

katie, Frontier doesn't fly out of Boston. Did you mean Providence?

Sorry...yes I did. We are equidistant between both airports so sometimes I forget which one we left out of!

 

[loveswdw]

We flew Frontier one way from Cincinnati to Tampa in December. No problems whatsoever. Seats are not comfy but I can suck it up for a 2 hour flight. There is at least one flight a day from Cincinnati to both Tampa and Orlando so I wasn't really too concerned about cancellations. I'm actually looking at flying Frontier again in June. It's SO MUCH cheaper than Southwest (and I LUV Southwest). But for a family of 4, I can fly nonstop to Florida for less than $200 one way. Southwest is at least $150 PER PERSON one way.

 

[pigletto]

We used them out of Cleveland. The flight was on time and service was great. I was thrilled to get a cheap ticket only 2 weeks before a spur of the moment trip to WDW. I paid for one checked bag as it was a quick trip. I have to say boarding was quick because there were not many overhead bags and getting off the plane was even faster. I have friends who use them all the time. Nonstops out of our area are few and other airline prices are crazy.

FWIW, I didn't find the seats any more cramped than those on our United flight.

This was our experience from Tampa to Buffalo last weekend. We were pleased. I’ve flown Southwest and Jetlblue many many times. I would rank the boarding and seat process higher than Southwest . The staff I encountered were professional and courteous and the plane was clean and in good shape. I was pleasantly surprised.

Again, the big risk is always if you get cancelled for weather, they may not have another flight for you. However, when we were waiting at our gate to go home, there was a Fronteir flight to Albany that was cancelled for weather next to us, and they were rebooking everyone and handling it really well and giving regular updates. So it wasn’t absolute chaos or anything.

If they came in cheaper I would be happy to fly with them again. If the price is the same, I will stick with a bigger carrier simply because they have more planes in case of a cancellation.

ETA) Another small thing.. our group of 6 chose not to pay for seat assignment and just let them do it for us when we checked in. Both times we were seated together. That saved us at least $30 per person or $180 overall which was great. I wouldn’t count on that every time though and we were willing to be seated all over the plane if that was what was offered to us.. it was just a nice bonus.

 

[nkereina]

I had never considered Frontier before and was just checking it out because of this thread. What is the "discount den" and has anyone joined it? I'm not seeing the super cheap fares from Buffalo to MCO that some others have seen, but this "discount den" is slightly cheaper, at least.

 

[1911]

discount den costs 40 0r 50 dollars for a year cant remember exactly. basically it allows you to purchase tickets at the discount den price and supposedly gives you access to flash sales on flights.
I joined it the last time I flew to Orlando because even with the 50 dollars extra to join I still saved 45 dollars over buying at the "normal price".my membership was still active and I used it to buy the tickets for this year also and saved. other than saving some money I see no other benefit to it.( frontier has since canceled our upcoming flight.)