Summit Members - 2014 No Snack
 

Well, we knew this was coming. Email just received:


Thank you for your loyalty to Frontier Airlines as a valued EarlyReturns® Summit member. We appreciate your business and want to keep you updated as we continue to evolve our business to offer even better value to you.

As we kick off 2014, we want to let you know that Summit members will no longer be eligible to receive a complimentary snack/snack box, effective February 1, 2014. All other Summit benefits will remain the same, including STRETCH seating at time of booking, waived change fees, a free carry-on and two free checked bags every time you fly with us.

We're looking forward to welcoming you aboard another Frontier flight soon.

Sincerely,

Crissy Davis
Director of Loyalty

They're not looking forward too hard I guess, or interested in being as welcoming as they once were.

Frontier Summit
 

Below is the email I sent to them...of course it was returned undeliverable. My goal in 2014 is to not even reach Accent status on Frontier! (Summit for the last 6 years)

Thank you for letting me know. I’m actually reducing my flights, as well as my company’s flights, on your airline due to the decrease in customer service and the lack of appreciation of the business.

Not that you care.

I'll see if I can still snag one on my 1/31 flight

Um, can someone explain to me how eliminating benefits provides "better" value to me?

Frontier's emails are becoming positively Orwellian.

I intend to provide even better value to myself in 2014 by burning EarlyReturns miles and becoming familiar with WN, UA and AA.

Meanwhile: Welcome to FlyerTalk, lsuwest!

As members of Flyertalk, I doubt any of you didn't see this coming. They are transforming into a Spirit clone slowly and I wouldn't be surprised to see the elimination of the elite program at some point in the next year or two. People complain about the service and sometimes rightfully so but Spirit makes a helluva good profit. Its unfortunate and alot of you should indeed go to WN or UA. But don't worry you won't be homesick, I hear that UA and WN are taking things away and screwing with the FF benefits too (just in a different way) :D

Yeah I've sent them a note after each reduction wishing them well on their new endeavor and letting them know I will continue working through my miles and taking my business elsewhere when possible. Not that it would change their plans, but at least they get some feedback. And no, not a surprise, but still sad. I'm just hoping they don't wreck the franchise.

Indeed, it's a race to the bottom for almost all airlines. JetBlue is about the only exception right now, and their irrops is abysmal.

Some of us are particularly miffed because Frontier is still perceived by us as a hometown airline. Heck, one of the very first planes I ever flew was an "original Frontier" Convair 580 from Topeka to Chicago back in the 80s.

We are also miffed because FT is, as part of its core, a collection of (mostly) frequent and (mostly) business flyers. When we see an airline that was actually doing the job pretty well be slammed by a credit card company to force it to bankruptcy, then kicked around like a can by various companies, to result in another Spirit (honestly, do we need ANOTHER Spirit?)...well, it just creates all negative and no positive emotions.

It's sad that many of us are down to figuring out which airlines we can "tolerate" the most.

No snack for you!
 

Never like seeing my benefits eroded, nor do I like it when the announcement tries to spin it as an enhancement. Having said that, Frontier is certainly not the only one racing to the bottom, and if losing free snack boxes is the only erosion to my Summit membership for the year, I'll count that as a victory.

I have started thinking about moving my business, but am somewhat stuck as F9 schedules on my main route fit me perfectly, so going to WN or UA would be much less time efficient. And when it comes down to it, losing a few hours is equivalent to losing lots of $$$ for me...

Ouch - that was my favorite perk. I always looked forward to my Mediterranean box :(

Ugh. Not cool Frontier. We still get free booze though right?

For now...

One guess what's the next perk to cut in 6 months?

Serious question? Evolving the business is providing better value, not snacks.

Serious question. A snack has value. Every perk has value. Again, how does eliminating benefits provide "better" value?

Their message doesn't say that eliminating snacks adds value, they are trying to evolve the business and that is what is going to add value.


BTW: I think all their changes are terrible. I'm just trying to explain to you what they said.

I, uh, know what they said. They said they're "evolving their business" to provide "better value." Except that every step in "evolving their business" has been a de-value. Which makes their statement positively Orwellian.

"Evolve" in this context is as ridiculous as "right-sizing" in HR world.