Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns - Frontier canceled direct I paid for - only offers a connect that doubles flight time

I do not want a refund. I am traveling with a child and a direct flight half way across country is what I paid for well in advance. They now cancelled the route and only offer a connect trip which more than doubles the flight time.

I asked to be put on a different airline and there are flights with them but Frontier says they have no "Class E" tickets - the only tickets they can use to put me on another airline.


Do I have any other options as far as how things work, I asked if they could at least offer a future flight voucher like they do for when they bump people but they said no - refund only - or new itinerary which doubles the flight time. Seems like we should have more options when we already paid for the ticket and now there aren't as many options elsewhere.

I've asked the moderators to move this to the Frontier Airlines forum, as I think you stand a better chance of receiving a response there.

will a refund work for you?.... maybe to late to get a decent fare.....

it"s the same on the return?

the break might be better for the kid...

I've asked the moderators to move this to the Frontier Airlines forum, as I think you stand a better chance of receiving a response there.

And off we go! Thread now moved to the Frontier EarlyReturns forum for the experts there to address. Thanks! :) /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Unfortunately, stuff happens. Stores run out of inventory that they advertise, airlines have schedule changes that impact travelers.

It can be a p.i.t.a., but what are you asking - Frontier to charter you a plane for the direct flight? As with any other purchase that you are not happy with/doesn't meet the advertised product, you are being offered a refund. I am a bit surprised they won't offer you a voucher/credit for the amount paid - perhaps try that again, though I would think that cash/refund is better.

Yes, it bites, but I don't think there are options.

Refund would definitely not work as the price I paid by planning ahead is considerably lower than today's rate. I would have to pay more than twice the price today for another airline.

This really is not a Frontier Airlines question - this could have happened on any airline and I am curious as far as what our options are.

If you want to know your contractual options read the Contract of Carriage.

http://www.frontierairlines.com/~/media/Files/docs/Contract_of_Carriage.ashx

It's common - with U.S. carriers and schedule changes - to allow a change of date, a flight from/to a nearby alternate airport, or a full refund. See Rule 240, C.

If a future date would work for you.

Jerry Balsano
Vice President of Customer Service
Usually corporate offices have a corporate customer service team that I've found very responsive.

Refund would definitely not work as the price I paid by planning ahead is considerably lower than today's rate. I would have to pay more than twice the price today for another airline.

This really is not a Frontier Airlines question - this could have happened on any airline and I am curious as far as what our options are.

What do you want Frontier to do? Book you on a different airline that does offer a direct flight?

Would you prefer that they rebook you on a direct flight on different dates?

To receive reconsideration, try calling Customer Relations at (800) 432-1359.

Upon voice prompts, first say "other options," and then "complaints and compliments."

Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm MT

Thank you mke9499. On hold now. Options are refund or double the flight time.

Other airlines are not really an option since that can only happen if they have Class E tickets which usually none do.


Trying to see if they would wave a fee to change this to a completely different Frontier flight since this change was made through no fault of my own after I paid in full.

They do not let you change flights even with a fee!


So they offer a choice of two and only a choice of two:
1. Instead of a 3 hour flight, take the 7 or 8 hour flight.
2. Get a refund, but today's prices are more than twice the refund.

Called every department I could - absolutely no vouchers.


This really sucks because both refund and other airline options are not really options.


You pay for a ticket in full. They cancel the flight and offer to give you a refund which can't buy you a ticket with anyone, including them at prices at time of cancellation. That's not a refund that can buy you a ticket.

There are no seats on other airlines, other airlines option is like a sale at the store which says up to 90% off, meanwhile only 1 item was 90% off so the up to 90% off sign is not really accurate, it's more like bait & switch.


My question is not airline specific - do we as consumers have any options after we pay in full and they cancel and give you a 7 or 8 hour trip instead of the 3 hour trip you paid for? [If they refuse to give you a voucher for a future flight or book you a flight to get you to your destination on or before original destination time.]

Called every department I could - absolutely no vouchers.


This really sucks because both refund and other airline options are not really options.


You pay for a ticket in full. They cancel the flight and offer to give you a refund which can't buy you a ticket with anyone, including them at prices at time of cancellation. That's not a refund that can buy you a ticket.

There are no seats on other airlines, other airlines option is like a sale at the store which says up to 90% off, meanwhile only 1 item was 90% off so the up to 90% off sign is not really accurate, it's more like bait & switch.


My question is - do we have as consumers have any options after we pay in full and they cancel and give you a 7 or 8 hour trip instead of the 3 hour trip you paid for?

I'm guessing that the actual contract you have entered into with the airline when you buy your ticket is to be delivered to your destination, with the same class of service, inside some "normal" window. You're not paying for a 3 hour trip.

Your situation only seems bad because they've given you lots of warning and a couple of options. If they hadn't changed their flight schedule but you were getting ready to board the plane and it went mechanical, they'd have put you on the next flight or set of flights to get you to your destination. That it's slightly less convenient to you would not have entered into it.

At least now they are warning you and letting you choose whether you'll fly or not.

Take the refund and run. It may not be the most desirable option, but it looks like your only option.

From the consumer point of view, if the ticket price at time of *their* cancellation is more than twice the amount of refund - than you cannot use that refund to buy ticket. A flight voucher is not an unreasonable request.


We are not talking about delays here. If you are scheduled to fly for 3 hours, and they switch to scheduling you to fly 7 or 8 hours then where is the limit? What if the schedule is 16 hours?

I understand some of your arguments but they are from the point of view of airlines, not consumers. Consumer point of view is to ask to be placed on *any* flight scheduled to arrive on or before the original scheduled time if this is happening weeks or a month + in advance. Failing that, why not issue a voucher with which you can get what you paid for, an actual flight that is scheduled to arrive on or before the time you paid for. Delays is a valid topic - but a separate topic. This is not about delays.

If you want to know your contractual options read the Contract of Carriage.

http://www.frontierairlines.com/~/media/Files/docs/Contract_of_Carriage.ashx

It's common - with U.S. carriers and schedule changes - to allow a change of date, a flight from/to a nearby alternate airport, or a full refund. See Rule 240, C.

Its all in the contract of carriage, read it and see if it answers your questions. Thats the agreement you entered in to.

Yeah.

"By operating the scheduled flight on the date shown on a nonrefundable ticket, Frontier shall be deemed to have provided the service purchased. Frontier shall have no obligation of any kind to reschedule such passengers or to provide them with any refund or other credit."

Operating on scheduled date means they can theoretically sell you a ticket for a flight that is scheduled for 5 minutes after midnight and as long as it takes off 5 minutes before midnight 23hrs later, they consider that providing service purchased?


Reading this, it's easy to assume these provisions are regarding delays for flights that are otherwise originally scheduled earlier in the day.

There should be a distinction b/w delays and cancelling flights well in advance. If they were supposed to get you to your destination at 11am and they schedule to get you there after business day is over, that should not be considered as "having provided the service purchased."

One option we gave people at Midwest was to over night them a hotel, usually in MKE and fly them out in the morning. They would take the last flight into Milwaukee, we would reserve and pay for the hotel for them and then they would take the first flight out in the morning. I'm not sure if your schedule allows it but if it makes your travels a little better you may ask them if they would be willing to do the same thing for you. I don't know if this is an option Frontier would even give but it may be worth a shot.

They cancelled their Kansas City - New York route. The want to fly me first West to Denver, then back East to New York.

The only thing they could do along the lines you're suggesting is to fly me out to NY a day early and pay for a hotel, do you really think they would even consider doing that? It seems unlikely.


This is a one way ticket to NY. As I still hadn't bought a one way ticket back from NY, I said I had no time constraints on the way back. I will take your 8 hour flight on the way back, just reverse the itinerary. Exchange the one way ticket to NY for one way ticket *from* NY. They wouldn't do it. Hotel would be even more expensive for them so there's no way they'll do it.

I will write to BBB and State Attorney General and will include their reply with my complaint. Perhaps eventually with enough complaints new rules will be made about the topic of this thread, which is not about delays, which I think is the confusing part for some, confusing this with actual delays, this is not about that.

You might also file a complaint with the US Department of Transportation. Here's a link:

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/problems.htm

You are probably tilting at windmills. But, change has to start somewhere. Frontier is in serious financial trouble. They are chopping routes left and right. When such happens you find very few options since the airline is in no position to take care of everyone who bought a ticket the way they want to be cared for. Cruel, but true.

Good luck.

Thank you for that link.


I will wait to see if they will work with me first. Asking them to start issuing vouchers to exchange one flight for another, availability permitting, should take away the financial argument from this topic.

They should not be allowed to use the "refund" argument because that is not how air ticket pricing works. You buy a ticket well ahead of time and you (usually) get a lower price. You can only use that refund to buy a ticket with another airline at the time of purchase, generally speaking.

The day they canceled on me, tickets were double the amount of my "refund." So that is not a refund if I have to pay double to get what I already paid for.

One option we gave people at Midwest was to over night them a hotel, usually in MKE and fly them out in the morning. They would take the last flight into Milwaukee, we would reserve and pay for the hotel for them and then they would take the first flight out in the morning. I'm not sure if your schedule allows it but if it makes your travels a little better you may ask them if they would be willing to do the same thing for you. I don't know if this is an option Frontier would even give but it may be worth a shot.

+1

Unlikely they'd be excited to pay for a hotel though they may have a passenger pay distressed traveller rate available for an airport area hotel.

Question is are they F9 or the customer willing or able to break the connection into two days?

If any flight to DEN and first morning flight to LGA would be less stressful that might work?? I haven't yet seen a kid that doesn't like a hotel pool :D

You are probably tilting at windmills. Good luck.

i agree with this comment. AFAIK, i have never heard of any airline doing what the complainant is suggesting.
The airline has been fair in offering a refund or a reroute at no additional costs.

But if the complainant wishes to pursue/escalate the issue further and get what he/she is hoping for, i hope they will kindly share the details as gratitute for comments offered.

Let's cut to the chase and solve the problem:
1. The non-stop is gone, what is your current booking with Frontier; date, origin, destination?
2. You mentioned "New York". Does that mean New York City, or somewhere else in New York state?
3. When do you want to come back?

Today, AirTran has one-stop July flights MCI-LGA starting at $121 each way. Connection is in ATL, with estimated travel time under five hours. DL has July nonstops starting at $149 each way.

If you have not already, sign up for airfare alerts with sites such as http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/ or check http://www.kayak.com/flights.

It looks like you have expended your options with F9. With all of the flights cancelled at MCI and MKE, they most likely do not want to establish any precedents in bending policies, for fear of word getting out to their other disappointed customers.

Good luck. You may not find an exact fare match to your original, but you might get close, with a bit of patience and fare-watching.

Those flight costs are not bad. I, personally, would jump all over the Delta NS.

I took the refund.


I noticed that Tuesdays and Wednesdays around lunch time ticket prices are different than weekends.


Delta put out new flights and I bought a direct from Kansas City to LGA New York for $146 one way. 3 hour flight. People will probably pay twice that and be on an 8 hour trip with connects elsewhere.


Frontier itself lowered the ticket prices, I guess you really have to wait for Tue or Wed lunch time prices to really see what the lowest going rates are.

I took the refund.

I noticed that Tuesdays and Wednesdays around lunch time ticket prices are different than weekends.

Delta put out new flights and I bought a direct from Kansas City to LGA New York for $146 one way. 3 hour flight.

The funny part is the flight will probably be operated by Shuttle America, also owned by Republic Airways.

I took the refund.


I noticed that Tuesdays and Wednesdays around lunch time ticket prices are different than weekends.........Tue or Wed lunch time prices to really see what the lowest going rates are.

Yes. I buy most all of my tickets on Tuesday about noon. Best prices, on average. YMMV.

This could have been handled in a way for Frontier to end up making a profit out of me.

Zero flexibility is not the way to handle things with someone who calls multiple times trying to work things out.


In the end, this would have benefited the airline moreso than me - but I was ready to work with them. If there are unusual circumstances, their rules should not be the same as if there are not - this wasn't somebody calling to change itinerary because they just changed their mind.

I talked with supervisors from multiple different departments.

Yes, Frontier is iffy at the moment. We wanted to fly one way from Columbus to Milwaukee then on to Rhinelander. Frontier had two non-stop flights from CMH to MKE, but fares were different because one layover was over four hours. It was a week or ten days before I decided, and the fare had gone up from $179 to $458. Ouch! So we booked Delta to MKE and Frontier to RHI. Three days later Frontier changed the RHI flight times, and the flight to RHI leaves five minutes before we arrive. So we have to stay overnight in Milwaukee (not entirely a bad thing, easier on my ears and we don't have to worry about delays as we are changing planes in Memphis). Tried to talk Frontier into a hotel voucher, of course they wouldn't. Incidentally, the Frontier service reps' first response was "Okay, I'll give you a refund." He didn't care if we got to Rhinelander or not!
Now very glad I didn't book Frontier to MKE at the first fare because they are ending that route in June! Only hoping if they change the RHI time again it doesn't mess us up further.

Yes, Frontier is iffy at the moment. We wanted to fly one way from Columbus to Milwaukee then on to Rhinelander. Frontier had two non-stop flights from CMH to MKE, but fares were different because one layover was over four hours. It was a week or ten days before I decided, and the fare had gone up from $179 to $458. Ouch! So we booked Delta to MKE and Frontier to RHI. Three days later Frontier changed the RHI flight times, and the flight to RHI leaves five minutes before we arrive. So we have to stay overnight in Milwaukee (not entirely a bad thing, easier on my ears and we don't have to worry about delays as we are changing planes in Memphis). Tried to talk Frontier into a hotel voucher, of course they wouldn't. Incidentally, the Frontier service reps' first response was "Okay, I'll give you a refund." He didn't care if we got to Rhinelander or not!
Now very glad I didn't book Frontier to MKE at the first fare because they are ending that route in June! Only hoping if they change the RHI time again it doesn't mess us up further.

You might be better renting a car in MKE and driving to RHI... RHI will be cut as soon as Great Lakes can take it over from MSP.

Thought about renting a car, but our final destination is Land O'Lakes and we didn't want to drive five hours each way (returning to Milwaukee to fly home to Phoenix. Thank goodness it was very easy, no charge, to switch flight from Columbus, plus we have a $100 SW credit now), we won't need a car at our destination and ten days rental, hotel the first night, gas was same as airfare or more.
According to our daughter in Land O'Lakes, the FAA says Frontier has to service Rhinelander thru October. Flying her to Phoenix for Thanksgiving is a big question right now. She may have to drive to CWA.

Most likely Frontier will stay until Great Lakes can start RHI-MSP as that is the obligation of both airlines. But in cases like this there's always a measure of uncertainty.

With Land o' Lakes as your destination, you might consider using Ironwood. It's already made the transition to Great Lakes nonstop flights to MSP, and it's not much farther than Rhinelander. Wausau / CWA might be cheap enough to be worth the extra drive, though. But IWD quite bit closer.