Ridiculous Schedule Change
 

We have family in SAT, so we fly frequently between our home in ATL and there.
F9 stopped flying nonstop between ATL and SAT last year, so we have used SW or DL which still have nonstops.
In early April, we were planning another trip to SAT in June, and miraculously nonstop flights on F9 showed up! And we got free checked bags!
Then today, not even two weeks later, we got an email saying our flights were cancelled and offering to be rescheduled on an overnight flight through LAS, totaling almost 20 hours. We, of course, elected to cancel and get a refund.
These schedule changes have no rhyme or reason. It's almost like these nonstops were a bait out there for a couple of weeks, only to be switched to connecting abominations later.
Do not count on F9 if you need to be somewhere.

Ummm yeah this is what they do because people say they can't run profitably. Sucks but yes if you fly Frontier never make non-refundable hotel or car plans to go with it until about a month before the trip.

The route is still being served non-stop in June on Mondays and Fridays (with some flights on Wednesdays early in the month). Some other days of the week there are semi-reasonable connecting initeraries available, too. There are also flights to Austin from Atlanta on other days of the week. So you could probably make something work if you wanted to.

F9 has frequent schedule changes, particularly if you book more than a month or so in advance. The airline industry is desperately trying to balance supply with demand right now so it may be more pronounced than normal.

I've flown 'em nonstop to SAT before out of ATL, but it seems to be one of those spaghetti-against-the-wall destinations that's now-you-see-it-now-you-don't. When they do have it, it's probably not daily. Would second the advice about not booking anything non-refundable 'til a month or so out (and try to favor free-cancellable things even then).

Good input -- I just don't understand F9's keeping Monday and Friday nonstops between ATL and SAT and eliminating those on Wednesdays. I'm sure there is a supply-demand reason for it, but these schedule changes that happen haphazardly do nothing to give passengers like me confidence that my flights won't be changed to a 20+ hour connecting flight. Sure, I can get the flights refunded, but after awhile, I just get tired of it and will book SWA or DL. [Somewhat irrationally] hoping someone at F9 sees these posts and stops the madness.

Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the lowest demand days of the week so they are the first to get flights trimmed when demand weakens. Keeping the Monday/Friday flights allow for long weekend trips. Southwest is also trimming their schedule at ATL, just FYI. Hopefully you find something that works so you can keep visiting SAT. It's a great city!

This seems like the only schedule-change thread. :)

I got an 11 hour schedule change for a flight at the end of next month, from landing at noon to eleven at night. No refund or change option was offered in the email, they merely rebooked for the same day. For whatever reason, the flight is on this schedule for just three weeks in May and June, after which it reverts to the 'original' timing. It's flown less than daily and like many spokes, is only serviced from one city (ATL).

What would Frontier's invol policy allow? I'm assuming I can't change the flight by three weeks when the time of the itinerary is suitable again. Would one week be possible? Is my only choice to cancel if the already auto-rebooked option doesn't suit?

You can change the ticket only a day foward or a day back. If the schedule change is over 3 hours, you can request a refund. You can use the chat feature and message an agent. The risk you take flying Frontier is their schedule changes. Cheap fares dont come without some risk unfortunately.

Looks like Frontier in May eliminated some Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday flights through mid-November to reduce "unprofitable flying":

https://simpleflying.com/frontier-ai...c-uncertainty/

I can see why infrequent flyers are surprised by Frontier's numerous schedule changes. All airlines do schedule changes -- like I have several flights booked on AA for August and September and almost every one has had a material schedule change in the past month. But Frontier definitely has more of them, often with less advance notice, and with more dire consequences because of Frontier's already-limited service in most markets.If you don't like what they've reassigned to you (assuming the change is material), a chat or call should at least get you a refund. I have had situations where the only nonstop flight for the day was cancelled (or moved from morning to evening), and I have successfully switched to a previous day. I've never tried to switch by more than one day but, as has been previously noted, this probably won't be allowed. But before you call or chat, have a good look at the schedule yourself to see what the possibilities are. Before you switch, you might even do better getting a refund and rebooking as Frontier's fares go down as often as they go up.

The saving grace of all this is that while Frontier is a PITA to deal with, their actual operation -- once it's finalized -- is surprisingly decent. While their airport and on-board experience is often subpar, the odds of your flight getting to its destination somewhat on-time are almost as good as flying on a "better" airline.

This is 100% the current Frontier experience. As a long time customer out of DEN the on time record is kinda shocking. They used to never be on time and now it's always on time. Maybe the outdoor gates actually help in that regard. Southwest now is always late, completely changed.

The schedule changes are pretty typical now as well. Thankfully if it's a bad one they do it 4-6 weeks before the flight. It's usually plenty of time to just cancel and then rebook elsewhere.

I'm almost afraid to talk about Frontier's current reliability. I'll jinx it. History tells us that the reliability of airlines is rarely constant. There's so much that's "wrong" at Frontier that I'm skeptical they can keep the flights running on time. I hope I'm wrong!