Shocking Travels

The main hub for Frontier is Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado and has been here since its founding in 1994. Over the years it has grown to be on of the 3 biggest airlines at Denver International. Frontier Airlines’ former slogan, “A Whole Different Animal” could not be more truthful about the airlines. The past few years Frontier has gone through major changes regarding Their fares, destinations and baggage policies.

I have flown Frontier four times in the past year, round-trips from Denver to Philadelphia and from Denver to Durango, Colorado. Don’t get too excited about flying to Philadelphia on Frontier. Not long after I flew there for Thanksgiving, Frontier discontinued service to Philadelphia directly. Instead, they began service into Wilmington, Delaware and Trenton, NJ. I have yet to fly to these destinations since they started and would probably choose to go with a different airline.

Service with Frontier is somewhat sporadic when it comes to being on-time. The flights over Thanksgiving were good, but the flights too and from Durango were a different story after having issues with the pressurization system before take off and the return trip not leaving until after it was suppose to arrive. Be sure to give yourself extra time when flying Frontier, the best way to describe the service is a no rush, we will get there when we get there mentality. No real rush of urgency to get you boarded and in the air when things are running late already.

Now purchasing tickets is different than any other airline. Frontier has 4 different fare options to choose from with many of them being for the same seat. One fare option is available if you book your ticket anywhere else, Basic, while Economy, Classic and Classic Plus can only be purchased at flyfrontier.com Basic Has the least amount of perks to it resulting in more fees, including for a carry-on, but you do have to pay if you want a soda. The Economy option is usually what I purchase because it includes a carry-on bag, I usually stuff everything into a backpack or small suitcase, is the cheapest option, and lets you pick your seat at the time of booking. A Classic fare will have you board before those with economy tickets and usually has seats available towards the front of the plane. Also with a Classic fare your first checked bag is free, but the ticket is still not refundable. A Classic Plus fare has all the bells and whistles. You get 2 checked bags, more leg room with Frontiers “Stretch” seating, refundable ticket, priority boarding, and free alcoholic and premium beverages on the flight.

Please be sure to double check with Frontier Airlines directly before booking your ticket as perks and options do change. Remember I mentioned they have been making a lot of changes?

I do have to mention Frontier’s frequent Flyer program EarlyReturns. I was able to redeem miles for my trip out to Philadelphia over Thanksgiving. You can start redeeming  miles for a one-way ticket for as low as 10,000 miles. This really did help around the holiday as a buddy and I were trying to visit family and the $400 roundtrip for each of us was certainly not in our budget. We were able to redeem 20,000 miles for the two of us to fly out to Philadelphia and then we purchased tickets for the first flight on Saturday, which helped us save about 60%. The system is really easy to use to redeem you miles and they have several different ways to earn miles, which I have gone into more detail on an earlier post.

Overall Grade: 3.0 out of 5

This is even with all of the changes they have done. In my travels I usually like to pay the least amount for a ticket, don’t check any bags, and want a seat on the plane. If you are the same and don’t need a lot of frills when you fly, then Frontier is a good option for you especially if you live in Denver. Otherwise there might be some better options for you with other airlines.

Note: Frontier’s website appears to prefer Internet Explorer and works sporadically on Firefox