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Frontier Airlines

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by PearlWhiteGT, May 28, 2019.

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  1. PearlWhiteGT

    PearlWhiteGT Tourist

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    How do they compare to South West Airlines? I always fly SW but if I fly Frontier and only take one checked luggage it will save me about $150 between the wife and I. I've read about being bumped and also delayed flights. Any of you guys have and bad experiences with them?
     
  2. IxAccDnf

    IxAccDnf VIP Whale

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    They are my go to airline for Vegas. Ive never been bumped nor have I had a delayed flight. Your mileage may vary
     
  3. Astribling

    Astribling Alice In Casinoland

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    I flew Frontier for the first time last month. We got a great deal, so we took it. Everything was on time and smooth. The seats are a bit smaller and more uncomfortable than some other airlines. No free snacks, sodas, etc. But if all you want is a cheaper flight, it got us there on time!
     
  4. PearlWhiteGT

    PearlWhiteGT Tourist

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    Do they offer pre boarding for disabled? My father in law might be join us with my mother in law but he has issues walking and usually uses a cane which really doesn't help him at all so will be using a wheel chair at the air port and a motorized scooter in Vegas.
     
  5. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Like sitting in a church pew for 4 hours...
     
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  6. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Frontier is in the class of Ultra Low Cost Carriers such as Spirit and Allegiant. I have flown Frontier and Spirit several times with no regrets and saved enough to make it worthwhile. But when things don’t go well and flights are cancelled, it might be difficult to rebook and that’s the rub.

    The true measure of any supplier or vendor is not how they perform under normal circumstances, it’s how they treat you when they shit the bed.
     
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  7. ChilliPalmer

    ChilliPalmer Low-Roller

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    I’ve flown them once or twice with no trouble.

    Other instances have been nightmares. Including my wife's flight getting bumped 2 hours at a time until it was 12 hours late. Each bump was so small she couldn’t leave the airport.

    The comfort level is very low. The fees are very high. Maintenance and other issues usually result in long days because they often don’t have many other flights or options.

    They would be very close to my, if not the, last and resort.
     
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  8. steveks225

    steveks225 High-Roller

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    When they changed their policy about 3 years ago to where if you don't fly them every six months, you lose your FF miles, that's when they lost me as a customer. However on a return flight back to STL, there was a line of strong thunderstorms in the KC area, and the pilots did a masterful job of literally threading the needle to find an area in that line where there was no turbulence.
     
  9. The Rumor

    The Rumor VIP Whale

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    SW miles are like 7% back. If the Frontier flight is 30% cheaper...that is your dealbreaker???
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2019
  10. The Rumor

    The Rumor VIP Whale

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    OP, I'd add a couple of considerations:

    1. As people have said, the seats are not as comfortable, there won't be TV or inflight WiFi, and you won't be able to work on a laptop. If you are talking about a 4 hour flight, you may find that different than a 90 min flight. Personally, if you have the right attitude and you view it as a seat that gets you somewhere cheaper than you might think is humanly possible, the experience is fine. I would fly Frontier again in the right situation. The planes are in good shape and the crews are fine.

    2. With respect to the "what happens with delays/cancellations/etc. - I would want to look up how many flights a day there are, and also how far away they are from your home. E.g. if there is one flight every 3 days to get home to somewhere 2,000 miles away, that's different than Denver, where they probably run a number of flights every day. Their actual on time rate is pretty similar to Southwest, but SW has a much broader flight network.
     
  11. The Rumor

    The Rumor VIP Whale

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    https://www.flyfrontier.com/travel/travel-info/special-services/?mobile=true Have you tried asking them?
     
  12. steveks225

    steveks225 High-Roller

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    Frontier and Southwest are the only two airlines that fly nonstop from STL to LAS. Since the policy change, I've never seen that flying Frontier approaches anywhere close to a 30% savings. Southwest usually has better times for flights , and in addition, flying Frontier requires getting off in Terminal 1, then going to Terminal 3 to pick up baggage. I call that the Frontier two step, and you have to reverse the process on the return flight. Lastly, any savings on Frontier are going to be gobbled up by seating and bag fees, neither of which Southwest charges for.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2019
  13. IxAccDnf

    IxAccDnf VIP Whale

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    Groupon purchases earn Frontier miles. I made my first ever groupon purchase for a couple of bucks to get a couple of Frontier miles to keep my account active when there was a period of time when I didnt fly them.
     
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  14. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Yes, they are one of the first to board, but that doesn't give you a better seat like it would for Southwest. You have to pay for premium seats on Frontier.


    You must not be able to fly on off-peak days then. Most of our flights from STL in 2027/2018 have been $40 or even $20 one- way on Frontier. The outbound time from STL is okay, but the return redeye blows.

    Have had no problems with Frontier so far, but a cancellation would likely change my rosy view.
     
  15. bnlphan

    bnlphan Degenerate In Training

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    Yes they do. I have to use a wheelchair at the airports and they generally park me by the ticket desk and they load wheelchairs first. First on last off
     
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  16. KKB

    KKB VIP Whale

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    Booked them to Orlando 2 years ago. They changed my 5 hours to travel to nearly 24 hours of travel, moving my flight up more than 12 hours, connecting thru Denver w/ an 8 hour layover rather than NS (out of KC).
    I called & said I could find an outbound out of Omaha (we live in Lincoln) for the SAME price as the KC outbound (with seats) that had us leaving home much later. They would only rebook that if I paid $200pp change fee--WHAT? They changed us from a tolerable flight getting in around midnight to a ridiculous 24 hours of travel, connecting the wrong way, 2nd flight overnight and WE have to pay the change fee??!!
    I said CANCEL & REFUND, will never fly them again.
    Naw, it's not how they treat you when there are issues (Allegiant supplied sodas in the airport when there was a couple hour delay); but how they treat you EVERYDAY. (especially when there was a simple solution to keep our business; yes, I asked to speak to a supervisor who also refused to change it)
     
  17. The Rumor

    The Rumor VIP Whale

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    Allegiant flies it as a direct flight as well, albeit from the corn fields in Illinois.

    You can fly roundtrip on Frontier from STL to LAS for $152 Sat. June 22 to Tues June 25. They have lots of one way mid week tickets for $64. Good luck getting within 30% of that on SW. And that's without one of their random fare sale things. Yes, it won't always be 30% cheaper, but if you have patience and a little flexibility, you can find these tickets for much cheaper than SW, which basically never goes under about $270 round trip from STL.

    The real problem with Frontier to STL is they moved the return flight to be a horrible red eye, which makes it unbookable to me. But if I didn't have airline status/miles/points to use...I'd be willing to book them one way out to LAS. I've booked that flight on a Friday with a bag fee for under $100. SW will never come close to that. I'd still fly something else back, though. Not worth saving $50 to be on a 3 hour Frontier redeye that leaves Vegas at midnight
     
  18. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    They usually get there more or less on time and in one piece.

    Some newer Frontier planes have VERY uncomfortable seats.

    Southwest has far more frequent flights and can much better take care of things when something goes wrong.
     
  19. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    The seats are the worst part of Frontier to me. They're awful.
     
  20. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Allegiant has some of those same seats in the same planes! If it's a quick up-down like here to Denver, I can tolerate them, but for a longer flight I find them to be uncomfortable!
     
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