Hi,
I'm new to FlyerTalk. Is Frontier a good option, if they go many places I want to go? Was considering American, but the fares with Frontier seem lower.
Also, I looked at the Frontier membership guide for their FF program, and can't quite tell if you can get bumped up to first class using miles. Looks like you can just trade miles in for tickets. Can you get bumped?
Thoughts?
GeoGirl
cohusker
Dec 22, 04, 12:23 pm
I'm an Assent Member on Frontier and I love the airline. Frontier doesn't have a First Class (the entire plane is coach).
GeoGirl
Dec 22, 04, 12:38 pm
How's the leg room on Frontier? Is it generous, since they don't have first class?
Is it a pain to fly through Denver to get anywhere, if you don't live in Denver? Do you end up getting more miles because you have to fly to Denver first to get anyplace?
GeoGirl
eulalie
Dec 22, 04, 2:55 pm
How's the leg room on Frontier? Is it generous, since they don't have first class?
Is it a pain to fly through Denver to get anywhere, if you don't live in Denver? Do you end up getting more miles because you have to fly to Denver first to get anyplace?
GeoGirl
I live in Denver, so Frontier is a pretty good option for me. Their Mileage program is pretty generous in that US domestic awards are at 15000 miles, which includes Alaska as well. Mexico awards are at 25000. They're a pretty friendly airline, and I haven't had any problems that I haven't had with the other airlines in the 14000 odd miles I've flown with them this year. I don;t recall the legroom being more than other Coach seats, though they do have DirectTV on all their Airbuses.
You'd probably have to connect in Denver pretty much to go anywhere on them, yes.
cohusker
Dec 22, 04, 4:27 pm
I live in Denver, so Frontier is a pretty good option for me. Their Mileage program is pretty generous in that US domestic awards are at 15000 miles, which includes Alaska as well. Mexico awards are at 25000. They're a pretty friendly airline, and I haven't had any problems that I haven't had with the other airlines in the 14000 odd miles I've flown with them this year. I don;t recall the legroom being more than other Coach seats, though they do have DirectTV on all their Airbuses.
You'd probably have to connect in Denver pretty much to go anywhere on them, yes.
I agree with the legroom comment. Connecting through Denver isn't bad at all on Frontier; all of the gates are in the "A" Terminal so it is easy to make your connection.
myleguy
Dec 22, 04, 7:19 pm
PROS: good service, fares usually reasonable, 15k domestic award with good availability, not a lot of stupid nuisance fees CONS: no online booking bonus, not a lot of partners, not a lot of interesting, creative promos, and, as noted, no first class upgrades.
LAX
Dec 23, 04, 2:38 pm
Unless you live in a hub city, you will likely connect on most of your flights regardless of carriers. If you live near Denver, Frontier can be a good option. The service is decent. DirecTV costs money unless you are an elite member. Most of the good features of the program have been mentioned in earlier posts. However, if you travel internationally, you may want to go with one of the majors as Frontier has very limited parters (for earning as well as redeeming purposes). On many routes Frontier flies, airfares on the majors tend to be very competitive.
LAX
N674UW
Dec 24, 04, 11:48 am
Depends on what your travel needs are...service-and-product wise, as pretty much everyone else in this thread has pointed out, F9 is top-notch, and I personally find flying on Frontier a much pleasurable experience than flying on any of the majors...even though Frontier has no premium class, it doesnt bother me at all, in fact I see it as a good thing - no stressing out about whether or not you will be upgraded or anything like that, seatwise-every seat is the same so you dont have to worry about that at all - the seats are extremely comfortable..I realize EarlyReturns is probably not the best FF program out there, but it is ok for an airline of F9's size...I do wish they had more airline partners though, at present their only airline partners are Midwest and Virgin Atlantic, but 15,000 miles for a US award is a great value...DEN is a very easy airport to connect through, so you shouldn't worry about that...overall, I strongly recommend Frontier...they really are "A whole different animal"
N674UW
alphascan
Dec 25, 04, 1:41 pm
Frontier Airbus' have 33-34" seat pitch and are an inch wider than most of their competition. The Boeings have the industry average 31". The Boeing fleet goes down to 3 aircraft in January and will be totally retired in April.
AA is returning to a 31" seat pitch after scrapping their More Legroom In Coach product (MLRC). NW, CO, DL, HP all have 31" seat pitch in coach. UA/ted has a coach product with 2/3 of seats allocated at 31" seat pitch and 1/3 of seats 34" seat pitch.
If the extra two inches does not make a difference to you, you must be lucky enough to be a vertically challenged FF because to me it is the difference between comfort ^ and misery :mad: .
PROS: Roomier seats, Direct TV, easy connections, low award and elite-qualifying threasholds and most important of all, employees who give great customer service because they seem to really like their jobs as well as their employer.
CONS: Well covered in other posts. Fare promotions ususally only apply to travel to/from DEN.
scirel
Dec 26, 04, 10:26 am
Hi,
I'm new to FlyerTalk. Is Frontier a good option, if they go many places I want to go? Was considering American, but the fares with Frontier seem lower.
Also, I looked at the Frontier membership guide for their FF program, and can't quite tell if you can get bumped up to first class using miles. Looks like you can just trade miles in for tickets. Can you get bumped?
Thoughts?
GeoGirl
Yes, you can get bumped. I got $300 in travel credits, plus a meal voucher, for volunteering my seat on a way overbooked DEN-PHL flight once. As is pretty standard, vouchers are good for one year.
I'd echo the points about low elite qualification levels (lowest tier at just 15K miles/year, unlike 25K at most other airlines) and low award levels (15K) as being big plusses.
But the main factor in choosing a program, to me, should be your choice of destinations. Check out the drop down boxes, or click on the map symbols, at the website (http://www.frontierairlines.com/index.asp) and see if they fly most of the places you'll want to go. If so, they're a great choice. Otherwise, pick another airline.
And if you do end up choosing Frontier, you can't go wrong.