MikeFromMKE

Not going to fit many seats on if we all get 28 feet of legroom .

The pitch will probably follow what the USA3000 birds have. I doubt they'll get more the 168 seats on the 320.

jeffhacker

Actually, the seats behind the "middle" section are going to 29" which BTW, just happens to be the same as Spirit. That is B-A-D.

mke9499

The following message is displayed at http://www.frontierairlines.com/flig...tretch-seating, which is the STRETCH seating page, as well as the STRETCH FAQ page www.frontierairlines.com/faqs/stretch-faqs.

Change is in the works.

DenverF9Flier

I just tried a test booking online for a flight in May, I'm Ascent and flying with my non-status girlfriend.

1. It's showing a $5 up-charge for seats in the front of the aircraft for BOTH of us.

2. Even if that's a bug, it looks likely that I will have to now pay the extra $5 for my girlfriend's seat as I'm just a lowly ASCENT member.

I've been a loyal Frontier traveler for more than 10 years, was Summit for many of those due to business travel, now that I'm working locally I've maintained Ascent out of my own pocket. First, I lose access to Exit rows as Frontier re-classifies them as Stretch (can't pre-book, and they're almost always sold now). Now, they reclassify the front of the plane as well, meaning if I'm traveling with a companion, it's the back of the 'bus for me. Really looking forward to that if they reduce the seat pitch to 28".

I know they need to generate more revenue but they should really consider not doing so at the expense of their frequent travelers... for the first time in years I'm considering booking this flight on United instead, and giving up on maintaining status for next year.

Stumblefoot

I hear you loud and clear DenverF9Flier. Experienced the same thing recently when trying to bring the family up to Stretch.

The aggravating thing is when we checked in at the airport (had luggage) roughly 60 minutes before the flight, there were 20 seats available in Stretch. Of course, I could have gone up for free, but they wanted to charge for the wife and kid. Decided against it and kept our seats in row 6. When we got on the plane, every single seat in Stretch was taken. I figure they were just given to those folks who didn't have a seat assignment when they checked in. Maddening to say the least.

I really hope they don't start nickel and diming us Ascents and start relegating us to 29" seat pitch seats.

knope2001

Unfortunately I'm mistaken -- it's only Summit members for whom elite benefits are also given to travel companions.

:-(

But Is that a change? The rows behind Stretch have long been unavailable to pre-reservation on economy fares for non-elite passengers. The new change this week is that now non-elite economy passengers can pre-reserve them for $5, and they branded it.

The other thing discussed here is the pitch, all (as far as I can tell) based on the comment that Select has a pitch up to 31". The pitch on the newly-branded Select seats isn't going to be any different than it's been all along. Why? Well, fhe Stretch section isn't going anywhere, and of course the location of exit row is fixed, too. So there's only X feet for the Select rows, no more and no less. So why would Frontier say "up to 31 inches"? Perhaps it's because the Q400 and ERJ aircraft, which do have Select seats for sale, have only 30" pitch.

Now there's been word an extra row is coming to the A320. And there's been talk (although nothing firm or official that I've seen) that perhaps an extra row is coming to the A319 too. If they add a row, the space obviously has to come from the section behind exit. We don't know how tight the perceived room will be if that comes to pass. When they squeezed Stretch into the E170...a plane which was all-31" prior to adding several inches to rows 1-4...they did so by putting slim line seats in. The leg room wasn't bad because of those seats, but unfortunately the seats themselves were notably underpaded. Hopefully they don't take that route to add a row but keep legroom reasonable.

NOTE...must have accidentally added that symbol to the post...don't look for any hidden meaning!

MikeFromMKE

Its probably a bug with your status, I would report it to them. As for changing the exit rows to STRETCH, it hurts you as Ascent slightly but it also enhances Summit at the same time. They undoubtedly value your travel, but they value Summit even more.

All that has been made official (in the conference call) is all of the A320s will have 168 seats by May. I seriously doubt they'll be getting rid of STRETCH and even if they were to get slimmer seats, they wouldn't help in front of the exit row for the same reasons the pitch isn't changing now. I could see them getting slimmer seats for the back to save on weight but I still don't know if they'd be able to squeeze another row out, so it probably wouldn't be worth it, especially since most of the A320s have pretty much brand new seats as it is.

I think they were looking at getting another row in the A319s by removing one of the lavs. I didn't hear if it went any further than that, but again I don't think they could get another row in otherwise unless pitch went way down, got completely new seats, and removed STRETCH. I don't see them doing any of those right now as it is a big cost upfront to reconfigure everything yet again. That money would probably be better spent finding a way to get the new wingtips on their current fleet: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/1...5AE0VD20091115. Could easily find another $10-15million per year savings there without affecting passenger comfort.

mke9499

New seat maps show Airbus aircraft with 30" to 32" of pitch for Select.
http://www.frontierairlines.com/who-...et/airbus-a320

knope2001

Thanks for finding and posting this. I had not looked for this info on the Frontier site and am happy to see it here. Unfortunately it often contradicts itself on pitch by an inch or so. For example, the A320 page "specification" section says that Stretch is 36" and 31" elsewhere, but the numbers next to the map say Stretch is 36" (except exit is 38"), Select is 30-31", and it's 30" elsewhere. Which is more accurate?

Anyway, here's a quick summary of the mainline fleet:

Stretch
A320 36" (38" Exit)
A319 36" (38" Exit)
A318 36" (38" Exit)
E190 36" (39.5" Exit)

Select
A320 30-31"
A319 31"
A318 31-32"
E190 31"

Standard
A320 30"
A319 30-31"
A318 30-31"
E190 30-31" (aircraft with all 2x2)
E190 31" (ex-US aircraft with 1x2 Stretch and 2x2 elsewhere)

A few things to note:

--The A320 map shows the 168-seat configuration, which includes the extra row. So the bulk of the A320 is at 30"

--No rows are being moved as a part of the Select designation -- the legroom in any particular row this week is the same as it was last week. (The added row on the 320 is not soming new with the "Select" rollout.)

--In cases where they give a range (such as 30-31") there's nothing to suggest how much is one versus the other, or where. A 30-31" pitch might be just a few at 30 and most at 31, or vice versa.

--The importance of seat design is really driven home to me by seeing both the 1x2 E190 and the 2x2 E190 are 36" in Stretch. Stretch in a 1x2 cabin is good but not excessive in legroom, while Stretch on the 2x2 planes is much more roomy. That's apparently because the ex-US first class seats used on the 1x2 Stretch sections are more bulky and/or not well contoured for legroom compared to the standard 2x2 seats used in the Stretch section of other E190's.

Those of you who remember the original all-2x2 717's on Midwest may remember that legroom wasn't bad but wasn't exactly luxurious in spite of the 34" pitch...and that's because of the bulky seats they used. (IIRC when they went to the mixed cabin the Signature section went to 35".) I used to be a big user of SeatGuru but not so much anymore...especially when it comes to trying to make judgements on pitch. The numbers don't really tell you what perceived legroom is because so much can depend on seat design. If the A320 is going from 31" to 30" to add that extra row, and if the seats are the same, people are getting an inch less of legroom. But is that 30" pitch the same experience as 30" on the Q400, or a Hawaiian 767-300 or an AirTran 717? Maybe, mabye not.

It's not very satisfying or precise, but its hard to know without experiencing it.

iansltx

My 2 cents: if 30" is as low as F9 goes seat pitch wise, with 31" available in SELECT as long as you know which row to pick, I have nothing to complain about, particularly if F9 can price itself a few bucks below UA/WN's standard fares.

Honestly, 30" isn't the end of the world considering the thickness of seats on Airbii; the UA 320 I flew on Saturday felt a little more comfortable than an A319 padding-wise, but less comfortable seat-pitch-wise, to the point that the legroom I had was equivalent to 30" in a Frontier A319.

Worst seat pitch to comfort ratio ever actually goes to a nonreclining ahead-of-exit-row seat in a DL 757. Ooooold-style seats meant 31" was quite cramped, a feeling that I haven't even matched on a CR7.

iansltx

One more thing: E90s, as long as they stay in the fleet, won't have significantly decreased seat pitch, ever...no use in adding a row or two if it violates a scope clause and requires another FA, so 99 seats it is...

runnigel

Wow I was all over the place with that post. From a taller person's perspective, $5 is a bargain to gain an extra inch, especially on longer flights.

MikeFromMKE

Maybe I was wrong... There are 16 rows aft of the exit rows on the A320, if they took 2" from each row they could fit another in. I could see this happening, if they only had to replace the back half of the plane. Glad I have status...

Now if they'd just order some A321s...

knope2001

Anything's possible, but the A320 seating expansion increased capacity from 162 to 168. The map shown (with 30" pitch in the Standard section) has 28 rows and seats 168. So this is the result of adding the extra row. I don't think there are any plans to add yet another row and increase capacity to 174.

F9 Direct

As others have stated, we will be adding a row of seats to bring our A320 aircraft to a 168 seat capacity. With this reconfiguration, the pitch in some rows will be reduced to 30 inches. There will not be any rows on these aircraft with less than 30 inches of pitch after this reconfiguration. This reconfiguration makes the A320 fleet consistent with our existing A318 and A319 aircraft that already have STANDARD seating rows at 30 to 31 inch pitch.

Also, to clarify previous posts, Ascent level EarlyReturns members and their companions booked in the same reservation will continue to have complimentary access to SELECT seats at the time of purchase. We introduced SELECT seats as a new benefit for Economy ticket holders to purchase access to these rows that were previously only available to Classic tickets and Ascent/Summit level EarlyReturns members. Pricing the SELECT seats also provides a clearer benefit for calculating the value of our Classic fare option.

Thanks,

Dan Krause
Vice President, Marketing and Customer Experience
Frontier Airlines