Quick Ascent Status Matching Question...
 

Q: When you status match with the QuickAscent program on Frontier in the 2H of the year, is the comp'd status valid for a) only the remaining part of this year or b) the remaining part of next year and through next year as wel.

When I moved to Houston and status matched my American status to Continental in October 2002, I was given elite status for the rest of 2002 as well as for all of 2003. In order to keep elite status for 2004 though I had to earn my status in 2003. My understanding is that they follow this practice to allow comp'd elites a full year to re-earn elite status.

Also,
Q: I know you earn elite status bia mileage per calendar year but when does the status expire? Jan 01? Feb (like CO)? March (like AA)?

---
Now that my GF has moved temporarily back to DEN for the next 6 months, I plan on doing quite a bit of travel on Frontier from SJC until May or June of 2005 (esp during ski season). I've read about how status matching works on Frontier but it doesn't get into this level of detail online.

I can pretty much state that even with the flights I've taken to DEN YTD, I'm not likely to achieve Ascent status for the remaining months (she just moved out there and ski season opens in Nov).

If I'm not going to be guaranteed elite status in 2005 if I status match in 2004, I might as well wait until Jan01. Otherwise, I'll go ahead and get those extra miles and free Direct TV (when available).


Thanks in advance,
-g

I just did Quick Ascent. Status lasts until December 2005 according to the email confirmation:
____________________________________________
Dear 2Tall,

Congratulations! You have been upgraded to the EarlyReturns Ascent level.
You will be guaranteed this status until December 31, 2005.

Ascent level benefits include the following:

Priority check in and boarding
Priority security lines at most airports Complimentary DIRECTV on Airbus flights Exclusive offers to Ascent members

Please use this exclusive Ascent toll free number for any assistance you may
need:

Sincerely,
Linda Wagner
EarlyReturns Team

For anyone else who cares:
I applied for QA on 9/30/04 and received confirmation via email on 10/6/04.
The Ascent status is valid through 12/31/05.
-g

Just another quick update. I just did the QuickAscent status match and it is good only until the end of January 2006. :td: Only 7 months...not so good. I might e-mail them back and ask why....

-Mike

Status is good until Jan, so if you qualified for status in this year (2005) by flying you will be granted status until Jan 2007.

I would think that they would only grant it for a few months, so that you will actually fly.

Just yesterday, I emailed my NWA Gold Elite credentials and within 20 minutes was comped Ascent status until January 31, 2006.

Yeah, but based on other people's experience last fall (getting comped through the end of 2005) I figured to be comped through at least the middle of the year. Big difference between 15/16 months and my 8 months....

I did send them an e-mail - nothing harsh, just asking why it was such a short comp. When I comped to UA from CO many years ago, the comp was good for almost 2 full years (comped in April for rest of that year as well as following year and since their "years" go until Feb....)

-Mike

Is Quick Ascent available more than once?

I was completely denied in my attempt for an Ascent comp. I offered up comparable elite status faxes, but they said "We don't do that." I know it's a lie, but whatever. I even offered to buy 3 MCI-SEA roundtrips on the spot. No dice.

I had already bought 1 one-way MCI-SEA. Looks like I'm one & done on F9. All I want is to be able to book an assigned seat when I pay for my ticket - don't really care about the other perks.

Did you try emailing a copy of your statement to [email protected]? This was the address I used when requesting their Quick Ascent match.

Yes. Nobody responded at all, so I called.

I specifically waited until January of last year to do QA. I would up with about 30K miles on F9, so I'm good for awhile. This year, I will probably work for just 15K.

Per a company memo, QuickAscent ended officially on 12/31/05.

I'm guessing that with the introduction of the More Store, they no longer wanted to dilute the benefits of Ascent/Summit with matching.

Dropping the QuickAscent program in the face of Southwest Airlines coming to Denver has got to win the bonehead of the year award for Frontier Airlines.

United, not known as the smartest airline in the air (nor are they really the friendliest either!), knew what to do when Southwest came to town. Offer more bonus points to keep their customers. Consider the United offer of flying 32 segments and getting 90,000 bonus miles, plus other lessor awards. Add to that that they give double segment credit for flying on Southwest's routes.

But.... I ask Frontier for QuickAscent and they say we just discontinued that program with Southwest coming to town? How stupid is that?

QuickAscent costs them virtually nothing. I had QuickAscent last year and flew with them 3 times. I got 6 free Direct TV's and 25% bonus miles on about 4200 miles flown. I checked in on the preferred Ascent line. For that, they got a total of 5 purchase trips (because I took my wife and daughter with me at XMAS). A total of $1500 in revenue that otherwise would have gone to United. They don't want my $1500 next year? You can bet that Southwest and United do!

Meanwhile, I paid United $200 for the Double EQM/EQS bonus. Think I'm not going to get my money's worth out of that? No way. I'll be over at United with a lot less incentive to take a quick hop on Frontier.

Now, in 2006 they won't repeat the same deal? Get real, Frontier. Those animals are cute, but dollars and points are the primary decision drivers. Either I'm going to fly with Southwest and save money and earn double credits, or I'm going to fly with United, at reduced prices and get mega bonus miles. Frontier isn't offering much of anything, and now without QuickAscent they are offering less.

Again, give QuickAscent to anybody that asks for it -- even if they don't fly a lot with Frontier. As a matter of fact, those are the ones that Frontier should want the most. The get incremental revenue with virtually no cost.

The market in Denver just got a lot tougher. Wake up Frontier!
PS -- I've never bought anything in their MoreStore.

I have been wondering myself about F9's non-response to WN's arrival to Denver and UA's great new promotion. The dolphin thing is cute, but I am going with UA this year. Frontier really needs to come up with something good or I predict that they will lose business. I already know of one earned ascent who is going back to UA for the Denver promo.

I work for a large company in Denver. I can go to the corporate travel intranet web site and (just for being an employee) I get a free upgrade a Ascent Status. This has been going on every January for the past couple of years so check with your travel department to see if you can get a free upgrade in status.

Still no response yet from Frontier on extending the Quick Ascent program. I guess they'd rather I continue to fly with United. That's OK. The "Denver, you mean the world to us" promotion is a chance to rack up some serious MP miles.

Seems to me that the cost per trip to give Quick Ascent is minimal compared to the value of the ticket. What does Quick Ascent cost them?

-- Potential slight increase in staffing at the Ascent/Summit Counter.

-- 25% bonus miles

-- $10 of Direct TV ($5 each segment)

-- Pushes a few extra people into the short security line.

I may still fly them at Christmas, if like last year, they are significantly cheaper than United. However, if WN enters the DEN-STL market, then its a 3-way race for my business.

Flip may or may not go to Mexico. FCfree doesn't really care. He wants low prices, preferred service and bonus miles!

OT: Was this the end of year promotion they've been running for a few years or is this a new promotion in 2006? If new, I don't see it listed in the UA forum thread with current promotions listed; could you elaborate?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354776

(Just noticed that the above thread apparently is 6-12 months out of date . . . )

adios frontier
 

I asked them to match my premier exec and here's the reply. I just got back from Denver on UA. Even though their ticket was higher than frontier I needed the miles. Guess I'll stay with UA his year.


From: EarlyReturns [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thu 2/23/2006 1:36 PM
To:
Subject: RE: United Prem Exec; entry into ascent/summit program?


Dear Mr. xxxx,

Thank you for contacting the EarlyReturns® service center.

Unfortunately, Frontier Airlines no longer offers the QuickAscent program as a means to gain elite status with us. This program ended December 31, 2005.

In order to achieve Elite Status for the 2007 calendar year you must achieve the following flight miles.

Ascent status: you must fly 15,000 miles in 2006 to achieve Ascent status for next year.
Summit status: you must fly 25,000 miles in 2006 to achieve Summit status for next year.
Please keep in mind these do have to be flown miles; bonus miles, partner miles, and credit card miles do not qualify toward your tier status with Frontier Airlines.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. We look forward to seeing you on future Frontier flights, and thank you for your understanding.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us at the EarlyReturns service center. Our hours are M-F 6am-9pm MST and Sat Sun 9am-5:30pm MST.



Sincerely,





Lxxxxx

EarlyReturns Loyalty Agent

1-866-xxx-xxxx

If you needed the UA miles, then what is the purpose of this post? You were going to fly UA anyways. It was posted that the Quick Ascent status match was going to end Dec 31, 2005; a search would have brought this up. However, I realize this was your first post, so therefore, welcome to FlyerTalk! :)

Quick Ascent may be over, however I emailed Customer service two weeks ago and sent a copy of my Premier Exec card and they comped me Ascent for one more year.

miles vs cost
 

[QUOTE=cab747]If you needed the UA miles, then what is the purpose of this post? You were going to fly UA anyways.

Actually I was going to fly frontier (price difference) but since I hadn't heard on matching I went with UA as I might need the miles this year to make to make premier exec again. I can't predict my travel schedule this early in the year to know if I'll be able to make it on UA.

Makes sense, but if you do fly Frontier, it only takes 15K to make Ascent. There's not a very high requirement, so it's easy to obtain, especially if you live in Denver.

It was the end of year promotion that they've been running for a few years. I paid them $200 and they counted each EQS double for a period that I think was about Oct 15 to Dec 15. Flew one extra segment in that period and that was enough to get me to 30.