Airline Profile: Frontier Airlines

Featured Image: A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321 at Southwest Florida International Airport

The Facts:

Analysis:

8 Things You Need To Know About Frontier Airlines:

• Frontier Airlines actually isn’t actually the first Frontier Airlines. I know that sounded a bit confusing, so let me explain. Frontier Airlines was founded in 1950 and flew out of Denver Stapelton Airport to other airports around the West and Midwest. In 1986, the airline went bankrupt and ceased to exist. In 1994, Frontier Airlines started back up again out of Denver (then Stapelton) Airport led by former Frontier (iteration 1) executives and took many of Continental’s old slots which it abandoned in Denver. Frontier’s current logo is actually the same logo that the old Frontier used in its final years, which is a stylized F designed by Saul Bass, who also designed United’s old Tulip logo.
• Frontier is an ultra-low-cost carrier. That means that its base fares are lower than most fares on mainline/legacy carriers such as Delta or American. However, the fare only includes the cost of the seat and a small personal item. For any extras, it will cost even more money. Firstly, Frontier charges for both carry-ons and checked bags. On its flights, carry-ons cost $35 while the first checked bag costs $30 and the second costs $45 for tickets booked on their website. Additionally, seating (see below) costs money to reserve. Also, all drinks and small snacks are available for purchase. Being an ultra-low-cost carrier, Frontier doesn’t have any in-flight entertainment or WiFi, although they did used to offer DirecTV. Tip: before booking Frontier, find the cost of all the extras you will buy in addition to the base fare ticket. Don’t be fooled, because sometimes with all the extras that you need, the price will end up being significantly more than on legacy carriers.
• Seating on Frontier Airlines is rather dismal. Frontier Airlines’ regular economy class seats feature what I qualify to be the worst seats currently on the market, besides standing seats. These seats are the same as offered on Spirit Airlines and are extremely thin, have barely any legroom, don’t recline (which I guess could be considered a positive for tall people) and have a tray table which is extremely tiny and is barely bigger than some of the largest smartphones on the market. Seat selection in regular economy class is available from $6 up to sometimes $40. Fortunately, Frontier also offers a Stretch Seating option, which has 5-7 more inches of legroom, full sized tray tables, is at the front of the aircraft, and actually does recline. These seats cost anywhere from $20 to up to about $70. I would probably recommend booking Stretch Seating if the prices aren’t too high, as the regular economy class seats on Frontier really are the worst in the market.

• Frontier Airlines offers multiple bundles available at booking. Frontier consistently offers two bundles named “The Perks” and “The Works.” These bundles contain extras that you otherwise would have to pay for individually. For example, “The Perks” bundle contains a carry-on, a checked bag, seat selection, and priority boarding while “The Works” bundle offers the same items as in “The Perks” plus flight flexibility and refundability. These bundles often cost 2-3x the cost of the base fare and sometimes can be up to over $100, so when booking, be sure that the bundle that you want would be cheaper than just individually selecting the extras that you want for your trip.
• Frontier does have an awards program that they call Frontier Miles. Frontier is also one of the few airlines that still have you earn one frequent flyer mile per miles flown and not based on money spent. For one-way flights, mileage prices range between 10,000 miles and 20,000 miles for most Frontier flights, although also sometimes go up to 25,000 for flights to the Caribbean and Mexico. Frontier actually does elite status as part of their awards program, which isn’t typical for ultra-low-cost carriers. They have three tiers for elite status: Elite 20k (if you fly 20,000 miles or 25 segments), Elite 50k (50,000 miles or 50 segments), and Elite 100k (100,000 miles or 100 segments). I don’t consider elite status on Frontier as being that valuable as there aren’t really any premium perks that come with it besides priority boarding and Stretch Seating complimentary for the two upper levels of elite status.
• Frontier has a subscription program called Discount Den. The subscription program costs $59.99 per year and has multiple benefits. First, passengers have access to lower fares on all Frontier flights for up to six passengers. The discounted prices are typically about $10 to $20 for each flight. Additionally, when being a member of Discount Den, passengers can take advantage of a program where on select dates, one child under 14 flies free. Overall, if you fly 2-3 times per year on Frontier, especially if you fly with a child, I would recommend that you sign up for Discount Den.
• Frontier Airlines operates an all-Airbus A320 series fleet. They currently have Airbus A319s, which they are in the process of retiring, Airbus A320s, Airbus A321s, and Airbus A320neos. Frontier currently has a whopping total of 144 Airbus A320neos and 34 Airbus A321neos which once they take delivery of all of the aircraft, will more than double their fleet count.
• Frontier Airlines’ livery is different than most other airlines. Ever since Frontier was reborn, on the tail, they have a different animal for each plane. Frontier names the planes according to the animal that is on the tail – you can see the name by the cockpit of the aircraft. Fun fact: before their rebranding, Frontier’s slogan was “A Whole Different Animal” and reflected the aircraft’s tails.

Exciting Future Routes:

Listed below are some of Frontier’s most exciting routes which are launching this year.

• Denver to Billings (Montana) – Begins May 30, 2019
• Denver to Mobile-Downtown (Alabama) – Begins May 1, 2019
• Chicago O’Hare to Mobile-Downtown (Alabama) – Begins May 1, 2019
• Denver to Boston – Beings April 30, 2019 – Seasonal Service
• Denver to Burlington (Vermont) – Beings May 1, 2019 – Seasonal Service
• Denver to Green Bay – Beings May 23, 2019 – Seasonal Service
• Atlanta to Philidelphia – Beings April 30, 2019
• Las Vegas to Charlotte – Begins July 10, 2019
• Las Vegas to Dallas-Fort Worth – Begins May 1, 2019
• Las Vegas to Detroit – Begins April 30, 2019
• Las Vegas to Philidelphia – Begins April 30, 2019
• Las Vegas to San Diego – Begins April 30, 2019
• Orlando to Punta Cana – Beings May 1, 2019
• Orlando to Hartford – Beings May 1, 2019

Have you ever flown on Frontier Airlines? Share about your experience below in the comments section!