Any recent experience with Frontier Airlines?

[NCGrandma]

My last trip — to visit my NE family — was in Dec 2019. As usual, I flew Southwest and changed planes in BWI. (It’s been a long time since Southwest offered nonstop from RDU to PVD.) I’ve had generally good experiences with SW and I understand how their system works re: boarding, itinerary changes, etc.

Just heard a news story that Frontier will soon offer nonstop service from RDU to PVD, and came here to find out what BBBers' experiences have been with this airline. The Frontier website is very confusing, with separate charges for everything. Their RDU-PVD flights don’t seem to be posted yet, but I’m afraid they will be scheduled only on certain days of the week. ETA: looks like 4 flights per week, but no details yet.

Any recent experiences? The only reason I’m considering Frontier is the possibility of nonstop flights.


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[Philly Mom]

I fly it a lot. I really like it. It is budget but the employees are really friendly.

[AnnieW625]

I looked at flying them from Ontario to Sacramento for in between Christmas and New Years and it ended up not saving me any money since I was taking luggage so we took Southwest instead. For a quick day trip by myself I would consider it because it is only an hour flight and I am okay with bare bones for that type of trip (I don’t need extended leg room, I don’t need to check a bag, and I don’t need to pick my own seat). Definitely break the cost down and see if it works for you.


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[smilequeen]

Frontier sucks in ways that matter to me. The seats are small and have very little padding. It’s barely better than flying in a folding chair. The tray tables are about the size of a large iphone. Their luggage fees are stupid.

However, they are cheap, which is why our old company used to fly us on them to Cancun. And if you can tolerate that stuff, there isn’t anything really wrong with Frontier. I suppose they are known for cancelations, but that never happened to us. I would just never buy a Frontier ticket with my own money because I can’t stand to be that uncomfortable. I’d rather have a layover and switch planes.

[NCGrandma]

Frontier sucks in ways that matter to me. The seats are small and have very little padding. It’s barely better than flying in a folding chair. The tray tables are about the size of a large iphone. Their luggage fees are stupid.

However, they are cheap, which is why our old company used to fly us on them to Cancun. And if you can tolerate that stuff, there isn’t anything really wrong with Frontier. I suppose they are known for cancelations, but that never happened to us. I would just never buy a Frontier ticket with my own money because I can’t stand to be that uncomfortable. I’d rather have a layover and switch planes.

Thanks — all this matters to me, too! The only potential attraction was the possibility of a quicker overall flight because of no layover. But as long as I change in BWI, it’s not really a problem. Southwest has added a lot of gates at BWI, so it can be farther than before, but if it’s too far and a close connection, I have no qualms about requesting a wheelchair or electric cart. (Having white hair and needing a cane can be helpful sometimes…)



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[mmsmom]

I don’t mind them for short flights. You can also pay more to get more comfy seats. I have experienced delays with them but they do a great job of sending updates, automatically emailing food vouchers and automatically emailing credit for future flight. With other airlines I find you have to ask for all of these things. I will say too though that often once you add in seat fees and baggage fees (they charge for carry on) then it sometimes isn’t less than other options. They also often only have flights on certain days of the week or at horrible times.

[AnnieW625]

Here is a good review of the three ultra low cost carriers:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vusazM...vfpq3J&index=4


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[essnce629]

Here is a good review of the three ultra low cost carriers:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vusazM...vfpq3J&index=4


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There's another super cheap airlines that I love-- Avelo! It was basically made for us as it's main hub is out of Burbank Airport and it goes to an airport just 45 minutes from DS1's school (and there's a shuttle to and from his school for just $11). All his round trip flights have been under $200, even at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. They'd be even cheaper if I didn't have to pay extra for a carry-on bag for him to bring his shamisen back and forth. We also used it this past summer on our trip to Moab/Durango/Grand Junction.
https://www.aveloair.com/


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[AnnieW625]

There's another super cheap airlines that I love-- Avelo! It was basically made for us as it's main hub is out of Burbank Airport and it goes to an airport just 45 minutes from DS1's school (and there's a shuttle to and from his school for just $11). All his round trip flights have been under $200, even at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. They'd be even cheaper if I didn't have to pay extra for a carry-on bag for him to bring his shamisen back and forth. We also used it this past summer on our trip to Moab/Durango/Grand Junction.
https://www.aveloair.com/


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Yes! I have heard about that one as well. They fly to Eugene so while it is about 2 hours from Portland and Burbank is an hour from us if the price is right, (the rental cars in Eugene end up being cheaper than Portland) and it is cheaper than flying directly to Portland it is a great deal.


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[Jeanne]

I fly them regularly. I don't mind it at all. Have never had a delay or cancellation either. The route I have to fly is very predictable so that might be why. My husband hates the seats but I don't. What I find that people rarely notice with big carriers is that while those seats are padded, they are very often broken in too much and slope downward. At least 85% of the time I fly big carriers, I notice this and my back is killing me 30 minutes in. Frontier's seats while not padded well do not have this issue so I much prefer an ergo harder seat that stays ergo than a padded seat that puts undue pressure on my spine for hours. The padding doesn't fix that.