Been a DL and AA flyer for a few years, hit Gold again for next year, but probably won't make enough segments to hit Platinum with them, so I thought I'd try and see what else is out there-Frontier seems to go to many markets I use (and I'm HOPING that of their new states they will be announcing soon, Idaho is one of them, that would nail it for me!) so I think I'm going to take a look.

Would someone, especially someone who has left a legacy carrier to fly Frontier, in a nutshell lay out what you like about them, and what you would like to see improved? One of the biggest improvements in my opinion, is my normal routes on DL are almost all CRJ/CRJ 700 and CRJ 900. On Frontier, it looks like it will be A-319's with entertainment, which would be a nice touch! Downside is lack of a First Class product, which, though I'm only a Gold Medallion, I am running a 90% upgrade percentage this year. But, F on a CRJ isn't much to brag about....So, what do you dig about Frontier? Thanks!

124 views and no one has an opinion? Ok.....I have a trip to Spokane in a few weeks, guess I'll just book it and see for myself!

I've never had status on another airline, so I'll have to leave it to someone else to give that perspective. My opinion of Frontier is that it is one of the better values in the industry, especially with the relatively easy earned status. Stretch + Summit is no first class experience, but it is a comfy seat with TV and free drinks, and I've always had good experiences with the flight crew. There are fewer and fewer E90s flying as Frontier, so you are pretty much always going to get an Airbus these days. The only thing I would be concerned about is making sure the frequency (or lack there of) meet your needs.

Please report back after your trip! I am trying to figure out the best way to visit my daughter after her next move, and F9 is one of the possibilities, so I am curious too.

I enjoy Frontier. If fly them because Denver is my home base, but I believe it is also a very good connecting hub with good amenities. A you indicated, when UA (or others) flies a ERJ/CR7 to some pretty large destinations and Frontier flies an Airbus w TVs or E190 w wifi, I choose Frontier. They usually always win on price as well.

Stretch seating is essentially EconomyPlus and something I elect to purchase. Their food offerings are decent and Colorado-centric. And I find their gate and flight attendants to be generally happy, well meaning people. They have kiosks and preferred checkin at most all airports to avoid lines.

Their website, while not fancy, does the job and I can search award availability and book online. 3 to 4 flights/day to/fr DCA also works for me as this is a frequent destination of mine.

Happy flying and hope you enjoy your trip.

As a reference I am UA GS and since this year also AA EXP. I am Summit on F9 and it is one of the easier status to get. But I am Denver based so this works to F9's advantage.
I prefer the 319 and 320 to the CR7's even in F. I don't like airline food so this is not a criteria for me.
Beer choices are better on F9 and I do like direct TV and now the movies are also included. The (pay for) food choices are ok.
Miles are not the greatest to use, we tend to use them to go to Mexico every 1 or 2 years but their value is way lower then AA or UA. Also a lower bonus (only 50%) but they finally did lower their needed redemption values back to what they were years ago.
I think the service went down some (FA's not so friendly anymore) over the years and I am not sure what the future will bring for them.
What I do like a lot is that as a Summit there are no change fees and same day free standby. For 25k miles only it is a pretty good status.
For flights up to 3 hours I take them any day of the week if the alternative is a regional jet.
Denver is a pretty decent airport. I also do have an Admiral's club membership so I go there when flying F9 out of Denver.

I'm a former UA 1K. I switched to F9 because they raised the threshold for maintaining 1K and service even as a 1K was poor.

Enough about UA. Here's what I like about F9:
1. In 2 years, I've had 3 issues with flights; 1 mine, 1 mechanical, and 1 weather. in each case, F9 bent over backwards to get me to my destination, and in two of those cases I wasn't even Summit yet. I like a company that puts a priority on meeting their customers' needs.
2. Boarding - once you make Ascent and Summit, you board ahead of the masses.
3. Stretch seating - analogous to UA's E+.
4. For the most part, friendly employees. YMMV from time to time, but far better than what I've experienced elsewhere.
5. TV in the seats. I like Ch 13 (flight map), but I'm strange. See #A below.
6. E190 beats CR7 any day. Stretch in the 1x2 configuration is very much like domestic 1st class elsewhere.
7. Almost always on time or early.


Here's what I miss or don't like so much:
A. No Ch 9 (ATC) and no music.
B. No first class (except see #6 above)
C. Some city pairs require a lengthy layover in DEN.
D. The bins over rows 1&2 have a lot of airline equipment in them, making it even more difficult for those in (bulkhead) row 1. The FAs however, seem to do a decent job of policing use of the first few bins to mitigate this problem. Kudos to the FAs for that.
E. No partner airlines for redeeming miles.
F. Miles don't work on Great Lakes (which flies as F9 to some cities).

For me, my flying consists primarily of a single city-pair for work, and I don't venture out much other than that. I make my meetings, I tolerate the narrow seats, and I get paid at the end of the day, so my standards are pretty low in some ways - it's all about schedule consistency for me.

Hope this helps,
-btr

To me, this whole discussion comes down to the question of what your goals are. For me, there are two. First, I need an airline with first/business class, airlines clubs, and has a worldwide network. Secondly, I need an airline that has good nonstop flight options from DEN, so that travel is easy with my two young boys. AA meets (and exceeds IMO) objective 1, and Frontier is great for option 2.

I like Frontier...I think they do a good job for who they are and what they are trying to be. However, for my purposes, the FF program is horrible compared to AAdvantage. There's a reason AAdvantage won frequent flier program of the year this past year.

The lack of first class on Frontier is a huge negative for me, but when traveling with more than just my wife, we wouldn't be able to upgrade everybody anyway (unless buying F tickets or redeeming miles). So, coach in Frontier is actually better for us than AA, because we get the benefit or Stretch seating. I should point out, however, that AA has started adding this recently...it's called Main Cabin Extra, and once they emerge from Ch 11, I expect this to be implemented fairly quickly.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of how I make my Denver-based travel decisions. To me, Frontier is an upgraded version of Southwest (better perks and FF program). Oh, and as a previous poster stated, the fact that both AA & Frontier are in terminal A works out great for my Admirals Club membership! The DEN club is staffed by extremely friendly and professional employees. It may not be a very big club, but the people are tremendous!

Another UA refugee here. I used to blindly take UA on E145s and C7's or connecting through ORD rather than take a more convenient non-stop or more comfortable mainline aircraft. Now I take F9 for those non-stops from DEN that would normally be on a RJ with UA (BNA, CAK, etc) and I have been loving it.

As others have said:
+ Real elite boarding with no boarding scrum. I'm usually one of 2 or 3 Summit on a given flight.
+ Stretch is as good as E+. No FC, but that's ok. I have about 200 TED segments under my belt, so sitting in row 12 of an A320 is a natural fit.
+ Free - and good - beer.
+ Decent Buy on Board food.

What I really miss is building up UA or AA miles...but F9 comes in handy for getting tickets for relatives coming to town, vacation to Mexico, etc., and I'll save up UA miles for the big international trips.

Moving soon to DEN and becoming an impatient UA 1K, this thread is a breath of fresh air. If only F9 joined a global alliance!

Thanks for all the responses, I appreciate it. (and I agree, would be even better if Frontier were part of an Alliance, but, so be it...) I think this is going to be a good fit for me. I won't give up DL entirely (frankly, I am pretty happy as a GM on Delta) because Frontier just doesn't go everywhere I need to go (BHM, SHV and BOI or TWF) and some of the places I do go regularly it doesn't look like they have daily service, BUT, between Frontier, and Delta, I should be covered with just two programs, rather than DL primary, and a mix of all the others for my trips to non-DL served areas.

I read through the threads here, and came acros the Status Match thread. Sent in a request, and a follow up PM to the F9 Rep, and got a response back today that they matched me on a 2 month challenge^-If I meet the requirements (3 RT) in that time frame, I can keep it. Very fair deal, and it won't be any problem to hit that at all, so I'm pretty excited.

This should save me some on my travel budget, give me more options for rewards redemptions, and generally be a good thing all around allowing me to stick to just 2 airlines for ALL my travel for a change. I like the aircraft in their fleet, I am so sick of DL CRJ's (especially the 50 seaters....those are horrible) and am looking forward to knowing I'll either be on an A319/320, or the ER, both of which have wider seats and more room than the standard DL seat on my usual routes. The in flight entertainment is also something I'm looking forward to. And, as someone said, they have better beer than DL, which is also a good thing. So, I'm actually looking forward to my next trip, sucking down a Fat Tire while watching TV....better than a Heineken and a magazine on DL!

Amen! ^