I've flown Frontier twice this year, with 2 or 3 more flights booked. I appreciate both the savings and the opportunity to thumb my nose at Elliott's attempts to charge me double or more what I paid a year ago. Here are my Frontier tips:
1. If you have Gold status, buy the lowest fare.
2. My 2025 Gold status was extended through 2026 when I bought a ticket on the free Discount Den promotion. If there's another free Discount Den promotion, take it. I believe that you could have bought your ticket, canceled it quickly and refunded it, and still retained Discount Den membership. I bought 2 tickets and canceled one but flew the other.
3. If you don't have Discount Den you can achieve similar (actually slightly better) savings by buying your ticket at an airport counter. This eliminates the Carrier Interface Charge, which is absurdly a fee for NOT buying at the airport counter. It's typically $23, reduced to $3 for Discount Den and $0 for airport purchase. I have bought tickets for less than $20. At that price I consider them disposable if my plans change. I have seen transcons at less than $40.
4. You need to check in online >1 hour before departure.
5. Always book a backup flight on another airline, using points.
6. If the flight is oversold they offer $700 travel credit. I almost got one (I had a United award flight as backup). I can't imagine how long it would take to use up $700 buying cheap fares, although I presume that airport counter purchase would not be an option.
7. At LAX you have to take a bus to the remote international terminal, so allow 15 to 20 minutes for that. At SFO, you are at Terminal A, near Priority Pass lounges which usually deny access, but not far from The Club SFO, which usually has space.
I will book Frontier every time their schedule matches my needs and the price is 1/3 of Southwest's. With Spirit shrinking, Frontier's survival prospects look good to me. The Frontier travel experience is somewhat reminiscent of Southwest in the days of plastic boarding cards. Basic transportation.