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Frontier Airlines

Is This Your Business?
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3.9

Overall Score

Author: Kalicia Bateman

LAST UPDATED: January 25th, 2022

Frontier is probably one of the best airlines in the industry, especially in terms of low-fare providers. They were founded in 1994 and are based out of Denver Colorado. They offer 80 destinations in the United States and abroad, mostly in North America, with flights going to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other nearby realms close to the United States. Frontier has one of the most generous programs for rewards in the industry. 20,000 economy frequent flier miles gets a client a round-trip ticket anywhere in the United States. Frontier however, does not do sharing of its frequent flyer miles with other airlines, much like the American Airlines Group does. Frontier is currently upgrading its fleet, which is a nice feature. Most airlines have planes in their fleet that are close to fifteen years old. Frontier uses mostly Airbus jets for its main fleet, including the Airbus 319 and 320. The average age of a Frontier jet is about 8-1/2 years, meaning that Frontier wants the best jets possible for its customers. One downside of Frontier's mergers and acquisitions was the closing of the Milwaukee hub. We found that this adversely impacted Frontier employees, as well as reducing some of their flights that were a central component in their business model because of the central location of the Milwaukee hub.

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The Good

  • Ticket prices
  • Rewards program
  • Boarding
  • Flight statistics
Frontier is a low-fare airline. They stay true to this reputation by offering the lowest prices for flights. They are often one of the lowest or the lowest priced option for their flights. They also offer one of the most generous rewards programs. 20,000 economy frequent flier miles gets a round-trip ticket anywhere in the United States served by Frontier. There are also special deals that are always available and changing on the Frontier website that will help lower their prices even more. Frontier has few destinations though, so while they may the lowest option, they may not be available for the flights a customer needs. Frontier also does not allow their frequent flier miles to be shared with other airlines. This is unfortunate since other airlines such as American Airlines does allow this. Frontier Airlines has certain specified times for boarding their flights: • 45 minutes before departure: bags must be checked in • 30 minutes before departure: passengers must be at the gate, boarding will begin • 15 minutes before departure: final boarding • 10 minutes before departure: doors close They also have a few groups that will always board their plane first. They include: 1. Special Services: anyone needing wheelchair or other boarding assistance and unaccompanied minors 2. Passengers who have purchased a carry-on bag 3. Courtesy boarding: families traveling with children under three and any other passenger requiring additional time or assistance Seats are assigned on Frontier flights which help make the boarding process smoother as passengers know exactly where they are headed when they enter the aircraft. Frontier recommends that passengers choose their seats while they are booking their tickets. This way passengers can choose their preference, and try to keep their party together however it does cost a fee to choose a seat. If a seat is not chosen at booking, one will randomly be assigned during the check-in process for free. Check-in can be done at the airport or online and must be done at least 45 minutes before departure for domestic flights, and 60 minutes for international flights. Frontier has fairly average on-time percentages for their daily flights. The received the following statistics from Flightstats.com: • 80% on-time • 7% late • 3% very late • 7% excessive Many of the top airlines are slightly higher than this rating. The margin that they are better is not much however, Frontier is still rather consistent for being generally on time. Their most active routes, however, did receive much lower ratings than top airlines. Generally the top airlines active routes are receiving four to five-star ratings, while Frontier flights received mostly two to three-star ratings. Their top flights include: • Denver to Portland (4.1 stars, 88% on time) • San Diego to Denver (3.7 stars, 87% on time) • Denver to Minneapolis (3.4 stars, 85% on time) Their lowest flight is Denver to Dallas (1.4 stars, 74% on time). These ratings show that Frontier is not as consistent with providing on time, not delayed or canceled flights as some of the other airlines. Frontier offers more than 275 daily flights and is a much smaller airline than some of the top they are compared to. Their most active routes looked at are all domestic locations. Frontier Airlines began in 1994 and has been providing low-fare air travel for the past 21 years. 21 years of service does not make them a brand new airline. They have had time to grow with the industry, and expand. They are however, a young airline when compared with some of the major airlines. A number of other airlines, both major and small, have been around for over 80 years, about four times as long as Frontier. An advantage to Frontier's young age is their young fleet. Many of their airplanes are newer than other airlines offer. Frontier is also the proud winner of the Federal Aviation Administration's 2014 Diamond Award for maintenance excellence. They were also recently named the industry's most fuel-efficient airline by the International Council on Clean Transportation. Along with these awards, Frontier is one of the safest airlines. They have never had a fatal accident, an impressive feat for a low-fare carrier.
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The Bad

  • Baggage
  • Amenities
Because Frontier is a low-cost airline, they do not offer any free baggage. All checked and carry-on bags cost money. Baggage is cheaper when it is booked online at least 24 hours before departure. There is a price increase for bags checked at the ticket counter of the airport and another increase for bags checked at the gate. There are also certain size restrictions for checked luggage. Bags must not exceed 62 inches collectively (Length + Width + Depth) and 50 pounds. Bags that exceed this will have an additional charge of $75 for each bag that is overweight and $75 for each oversized bag, and bags over 100 pounds or in excess of 110 linear inches will not be accepted. Because Frontier is a low-fare airline, they do not offer many of the standard amenities found on much larger airlines. They do not offer any entertainment options or Wi-Fi. They state that they would rather pass those savings onto the customers. They also do not offer any complimentary food or beverages. They do have an array of options for snacks and beverages that are available for purchase on the flight however. Their non-alcoholic drinks cost $2. This is unusual even for low-fare airlines. Generally other low cost airlines provide complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and maybe some light snacks. Frontier however charges for all food onboard. Their snack choices include: • Chex mix • Almond M&M's • Beef Jerky • Pringles Chips • Gummy Bears • Rice Krispies • Frontier Trail Mix Frontier also offers a number of bundled options for different snacks and drinks. They serve coffee as well and their alcoholic beverages will run about $7 a drink.
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The Bottom Line

We would recommend Frontier without reservation and would even go so far as to say that they are one of the best low-fare airlines in the industry. We liked their relatively young fleet, the Airbus planes that make up their  fleet, and the customer experience that customers get. We really liked our phone-in experience. Our questions were easily answered and we also really liked the no-hassle refund policy for customers who have a canceled flight. If you're flight is canceled or delayed up to three hours, you will get a refund of your ticket or a new flight.
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Star Rating

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2.9

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282 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

18%

4 grade

21%

3 grade

17%

2 grade

13%

1 grade

30%

Sentiment Criteria

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Quality

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Colby South Jordan, UT

We had a few flights scheduled with Frontier Airlines on June 29th, 2019. The first flight out of Salt Lake was supposed to depart at 10:10 AM but there was a delay because the plane that we were supposed to board had not arrived on time. We understand that with flying there can be delays so this didn't bother us too much. We ended up departing Salt Lake City to Denver around 10:40 AM. Once we had arrived at Denver w started our scheduled 6-hour layover to our next flight with Frontier to Boston. The flight was scheduled to depart at 6:15. The flight was again delayed but with no notice this time. We waited around for 1 hour before even being able to board the flight. Then we had to wait an additional hour for our flight attendants that were landing on a different flight scheduled to arrive at 6:25. First of all, if all the flights had been on time, I would like to know how we were expected to leave at 6:15 when our flight attendants were not expected to land until 6:25. Not surprisingly there flight arrived 40 minutes later then the scheduled 6:25. At this point we are noticing a theme that all flights with Frontier have been delayed due to what seems to be poor scheduling and even the pilots were extremely frustrated. Every person between TSA, stand in flight attendants, pilots and passengers were extremely frustrated with the lack of communication and issues that seemed like they could've been avoided from the start. I have never had such a bad experience flying from Salt Lake to Boston before. These issues definitely seemed to be avoidable and even if they weren't, the communication and empathy for our frustrations could've been a lot better since there was a definite lack of both. Due to the great inconvenience and horrible service, I am requesting to have a refund credited to my card that I had purchased the tickets from. I am requesting a full refund in the amount of 448.20. Our experience was so awful we will never be flying with Frontier Airlines again. This was absolutely unacceptable.

7 years ago

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Rodney Croteau Thompson's Station, TN

Frontier cancelled this flight just as we arrived at the airport, due to some issue on their side. Since they have no partnerships with any other airlines, their offered option was the next Frontier flight,. which was 2 days later! Missed 2 days of work and had extra expenses with pet boarding, hotels etc. After spending over an hour on the phone with customer service and escalating to the supervisor, their "customer service" compensation for my "inconvenience" was a $25 travel voucher. By far, the worst customer service experience I've ever had in my life. will never fly this airline again nor recommend this airline to anyone either. Please do yourself a favor and use an airline that cares for their customers and has a real level of customer service. Would have rated a "0" if permissible. UPDATE 7/2/19: The rebooked flight 2 days later was terrible as well. Although there were weather delays at ORD that afternoon that impacted many flights, this one was the last to finally depart nearly 5 hours later. Poor communication from the agents who seemed to have no updates or inaccurate ones. We were able to find more accurate updates online from flight tracker sites. Just horrible experiences and. will never fly with them again.

7 years ago

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Disappointed Doylestown, PA

I'm going to make this real short, I've used Cheap Caribbean for many trips especially to the Dominican Republic. I recently booked a trip to Punta Cana and got a "GREAT DEAL' , however to keep the cost down they used FRONTIER AIRLINES. Not knowing their reputation did not think twice. We showed up at the PHILADELPHIA FRONTIER DESK over a hour before the flight was boarding. There were three couples trying to board including my wife and myself. The clerk states that We are late and that we can board the plane however not our luggage and that it would get there three days later. Obviously this was not a viable option, so we asked for the supervisor. The supervisor arrives about twenty minutes later, and said if my lead person says your late that's it. I asked how late were and she said SIX MINUTES but then she let the one couple board with luggage because the clerk then told the supervisor that we were not late, however we were all standing there together. I cannot believe I am even writing this write now , but I truly want people to know what a horrible experience we had . Needless to say we did not make our trip. One please be aware of the flights that you choose with Cheap Caribbean, it's well worth it to pay a little more for a piece of mind. Two NEVER USE FRONTIER AIRLINES

8 years ago

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Anonymous Great Falls, MT

Well just got done with one of the worst flight experiences of my life! My flight was delayed 10 hrs yes 10!!!! They gave us no explanation as to why and all of the people working the counter had no idea what they were doing and they didn’t really even care to help!!! Because of this delay I was going to miss my connecting flight in Denver. Frontier offered no help because they don’t work with any other airlines to help you get onto another flight home! I will never book with Frontier Airlines again because you truly get what you pay for. I would rather walk to my destination than fly on Frontier Airlines! PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

8 years ago

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Ashley Korak Las Vegas, NV

Unfortunately frontier is one of the very few nonstop airlines between Las Vegas and Memphis. I try to avoid frontier as much as possible and prefer to spend more than twice as much time traveling and will gladly spend twice as much money if it means not taking frontier. The website is so horrible you can’t add a TSA number. The check in workers will NOT add your TSA number unless you relentlessly flirt with them. I have waited on the phone for over 50 minutes to try to get help but no answer. I always buy the most expensive seat available but they don’t decline and there’s no internet available for purchase and the drinks are 2x more expensive than American. I would not recommend Frontier to anybody aside from my worst enemy.

8 years ago

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London Martin Hot Springs, AR

I planned to visit my boyfriend in Salt Lake City a month ahead of time and bought my ticket from Frontier Airlines, if I had known at the time all the trouble I would have to go through I would have went with another airline. The first problem I had was on the way out to Salt Lake City, it was a delay of 3 hours in the Denver airport. This was an inconvenience, however not the end of the world. The night before my flight back to Little Rock I received an email that said my flight was cancelled and it only gave me two options, to either get a refund on the unused part of my ticket plus travel miles with Frontier (obviously I don't want to fly with Frontier ever again) or to get a refund of up to $400 if I bought a ticket with another airline plus more travel miles with Frontier. The original round-trip ticket was only $375 and I would have only gotten half of that back. So in more simple terms I was being screwed out of money since their company policy is not to pay you back in full the cost of the new ticket. The night before my flight there is no way I could have found a ticket with another airline cheaper than $400. I ended up paying $600 for my one-way ticket back home since it was so last minute. I would think with any respectable airline there would have been another option (or a full refund for the new ticket in previous options would have sufficed), to offer another flight free of charge. Frontier Airlines clearly doesn't strive to serve customers to the customer's satisfaction. They left me stranded in a city hours from my home without even the option of giving me a full refund on the new ticket I had to buy because they cancelled my flight the night before. The money Frontier Airlines cost me was hard earned money supposed to go towards my college tuition or books. It is very disappointing that Frontier doesn't take care of its customers and works with them.

8 years ago

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Madilyn Watlington Trenton, NJ

If I could I would give them no stars! The plane was an hour late landing because the captain had to pull the plane back up right before landing because another airline was "taking their time" on the runway. We had to turn back around to turn back around to be able to land. All of us felt sick to our stomach! On top of that we go to get our luggage and my husband's was lost even though the plane was no where near full and we got there an hour and forty-five minutes before even boarding that plane. I've had to call the baggage department three times in five days! First they said they found the bag and it was going to get here by the next day...No one called so I called. Oh they really didn't find the bag, they just assumed it was left at the departing airport. They said they would call me in 24 hours and once again no one called. I call today and they said we are going to send you the forms to reimburse you for the things in your bag, but if we find it we will be sure to give it back to you. Oh but you'll have to wait 90 days before we can give you the full refund! This bag had all of my husbands clothes, a baby video monitor, sound machine, c-pap, all of our toiletries, etc.! You are gonna put us through all of this but if you find it you aren't gonna give us back the money we had to use to buy these things over again because the bag took over 90 days to find? RIDICULOUS! Never flying this airline every again!

8 years ago

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louann914@yahoo.com Pittsburgh, PA

Absolutely the worst airline I've ever flown with. From the purchasing of the tickets , all the extra fees for carry on baggage, seat fees, rude employees. Then 5 hr delay no notification until 2 hrs after we arrived at airport for departure to home. Then when arriving to pittsburgh our luggage was damaged and no frontier people around to file claim. I then arrive home to find in my email 2 $100 vouchers for future flight. Are you kidding me? I spent more than that at airport waiting for my delayed flight. I will never book a flight through frontier again I will take a 8 hr layover over with another airline to save the headaches this company has caused.

9 years ago

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Emily Klenotic Grand Rapids, MI

Frontier is the worst functioning business I have ever had an interaction with. I don't know how they spread so much disappointment and rage and still manage to stay in business. Our flight to Cleveland was one of hundreds canceled out of Denver the weekend before Christmas, but not before it was moderately delayed so we still had to get up at 3am and drive two hours through the mountains in the off chance that it left on time. They tried to claim it was weather related so they wouldn't have to comp any hotels or more expensive tickets for the thousands of people they screwed over, even though it had been beautiful for days and no other airlines were having these problems. Lines were horrendously long to talk to customer service and remedy our canceled flight. We were the lucky few in the first thirty people or so of the line and only waited a little over an hour. Other poor souls were hundreds of people back in line and, if they are finally done waiting two days later, should sue for emotional distress damages. When we finally got up to the service counter, the customer service agent seemed like she could care less and just wanted a nap. She was not helpful at all. She had no recommendations for us. We were told we couldn't fly into Cleveland until Friday! (Mind you, this occurred at 9am Monday) We finally got out of her that we could get tickets on a flight to Cincinnati, but that was only after we asked about flights to 4 other cities. She was completely unforthcoming with any helpful information. Upon asking about our luggage that had been checked to Cleveland, we were told that our checked bag would be taken off the canceled flight to Cleveland and we could pick it up at baggage claim, recheck it on the new flight to Cincinnati and go back through security. When we arrived at baggage claim there were hundreds or suitcases strewn around the carousels. After waiting half an hour (at this point our flight had been canceled for about 2 hours already), I was told that our bag was going to go to Cleveland anyway, despite the fact that the flight was canceled. I was ready to leave baggage claim on that knowledge, when my husband talked to someone else who said to wait there and the bags would come up on the carousel in about 45 minutes. Now we had conflicting information and we had to track down someone else to confirm which was correct. It turned out our bags would indeed be showing up. Get your story straight people! How does a company allow an employee to go around telling customers completely false information? If I had relied on that information my day would have been even worse! From the time the flight was canceled to the time the luggage made it back to baggage claim was almost three hours! After checking our bag to Cincinnati, the plane to Cincinnati ended up being 5 hours delayed! At one point, it was delayed a half hour every half hour for three hours. Get it together people! Don't string someone on like that. As hope that we would make it to Cincinnati that night and still be conscious enough to drive to Cleveland ebbed away, we started looking for other options. We ended up getting on a standby list for a flight to Columbus and getting on that plane. With all this bouncing around between flights, I was told we could fill out a form directing the airline to ship our bag to us in Cleveland when it landed in Cincinnati. When we landed in Columbus I asked a frontier agent where I could fill out the form. She didn't know what I was talking about! She told me to call customer service. More conflicting information, imagine that. I called customer service and proceeded to wait on hold for 2.5 hours! Yes, the entire drive from Columbus to Cleveland consisted of me waiting on hold with Frontier customer service. But wait, there's more! Upon talking to a person, she told me my bag had actually been pulled off the Cincinnati flight when it was discovered we were no longer on it and was in Denver. She took the address for delivery and said the bag would be overnighted. Imagine my surprise when I got a voice mail the next afternoon saying I had to call Frontier baggage at Cincinnati and provide delivery information because our bag was actually in Cincinnati! Six hours and 20 phone calls later, I was finally able to talk to someone who said my bag did, in fact, make it to Cincinnati and I had to give them delivery information to ship it. Does no one know anything? Who spreads all this false information to so many employees? How is it that one company can have so much conflicting information? This fiasco is the absolute epitome of incompetence. And my story is better than some others. I made it home that day. The same cannot be said for everyone Frontier screwed over this past weekend. I hope these atrocities indicate a company in its death throws that will soon be nothing but a distant memory of anguish and a warning to others how not to run an airline.

9 years ago

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Lisa Burkhart Littleton, CO

Used to be a good airline but terrible in the past few years. I finally gave up flying them. Flew to Nashville and on the return flight I arrive at the airport to find no one at the counter. They have a 45 min. minimum check in and no one to check you in. Finally got an email 30 mins before my flight that it was delayed SIX hours! No compensation. I bought a ticket to Seattle. A month before my flight they told me instead of leaving at 7 AM I was leaving at 7 PM- cancelling an entire day of my vacation. Then they tried to charge me to cancel my ticket. Several hour wait times on the phone to talk to a rude human who was no help. Finally Facebook and Twitter bombed them to get my money back. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE! Don't fly them under any circumstances.

11 years ago

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D Linda Brunozzi Selbyville, DE

I loved flying Frontier from Wilmington DE to Orlando FL. Made the trip several times during the brief period that it was offered. HOWEVER, almost every phone call I've made to Frontier, I was put on an automatic 55 minute hold. Which is not pretty if you're calling from your cell phone and your battery is draining away. Sending them an email with a question put you in a one-week wait for a response. Seriously?? Every time I flew on the weekends, the plane seemed to be packed. But flying during the week was less full. Then they changed their schedule so that, unless you were retired like me, you had to take SIX DAYS VACATION to fly to Orlando and get both your weekends. Apparently, Frontier wasn't happy with their bad schedule either, and pulled out of ILG altogether. If only they would fly one piece of equipment out of ILG every weekend, say early Saturday morning, and one flight back from Orlando late Sunday afternoon, they'd probably be full up. But they didn't seem to be concerned about customer feedback. So we're all back to flying out of Philly or Baltimore when Wilmington would be so much easier. Don't love them anymore.

11 years ago

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Clifford &Lavern TIMPSON North Augusta, SC

My first time flying with Frontier was ok until it was time for us to fly back home.we sat in the airport 12 hours because they changed our flight without telling us.or calling..we alre handicap couple,so you could emagine what we were going thru...i felt lie the airlines should have tried to compensate us, but they only said i'm soor..it was a mistake on our parts...we ask for another airline ticket to baltimore from Augusta GA. BUT now they say they c an't find our flight information...they didnt have trouble taking our money at the time..so now can you do something for us?????/thank you

11 years ago

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Lani Bruce Redgranite, WI

Had the worst experience on this airline. Our flight was delayed 6 times and then we were told to board which we did.We sat in the plane for an hour and then was told the flight was canceled. We were in a line at the desk for over an hour and then were told we had to book another flight. We were in the airport from 10am to 3:30 am the next morning and there was none around except for people sleeping on the floor. No food, No help with finding our luggage, no security around either. we did not get to a motel until 3:30 am and then had to stay 2 nights before we could get a flight. We did with another airline but fought for months to get reimbursed by Frontier and what do we get.... a ticket on the very same airline to be used within a time frame! Cannot get the money instead. We would Never fly frontier again.

11 years ago

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KVS Broomfield, CO

I used to love Frontier (even have a Frontier credit card). However, recently Frontier management has changed many of the flights out of Denver reducing many and getting rid of others altogether. The main reason I flew with Frontier was to travel back and forth to Costa Rica to visit family. All of a sudden, they completely got rid of that flight. HUGE disappointment! I have considered getting rid of the credit card because of this. I in no way blame the employees of the company (the majority of which have always been very helpful). The company itself has forgotten what customer service should be about. I sincerely hope that they consider bringing back the CR flight as well as others. Denver is a big hub for international travel and it is a shame that Frontier seems to be pulling out of DIA.

11 years ago

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Teri Engelke Madison, WI

Frontier use to be one of my top airline choices; not any more - they are horrible with customer service, flight options, they charge for everything, flights are rarely on time, many of the staff are not helpful or problem solvers. It's truly unfortunate for what use to be a great company and airline has been run into the ground and it's reflected in their staff morale and most people I talk to HATE flying this airline and avoid it if at all possible. Whether it be the website which frequently crashes, does not work for any variety of reasons on most browsers to attempting to reach anyone of help on the phone which will keep you waiting for hours to just transfer you around until you are annoyed enough to hang up to in person assistance which might attempt to moderate assist you or not. Frontier has truly outdone themselves to become one of the worst airlines on the market!

11 years ago

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Cecilia Fairplay, CO

They offer a regular service to certain cities, which is not true..and also, there's no service for months from Denver. Customer service is terrible, on the phone and at the airport. I am not a picky traveler, but it's not admissible that they ignore you at the counter for almost 1 hour, (while talking over the phone) when you're just trying to check your luggage, that you have already paid for, and then tell you that it's too late to do it. On another time, we almost missed a flight for a similar reason. It's even worse when you call customer service if you have any kind of problems. Without getting into details, last time I called, I spent 1:40 minutes on the phone with 5 different agents that after apologizing 20 times, were "transferring" me to a "higher" level. The last agent even yelled at me, when I asked her if she was a supervisor and would not understand which was my problem or show any kind of empathy for having been for 1:35 trying to unsuccessfully solve the issue. Credit cards an outrageous interest and it's not worth using it. Enough was enough. I closed my account and will never have an account with them again.

11 years ago

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overflyingfrontier Milwaukee, WI

The worst ever! Down to one flight out of Milwaukee! Used to be the hub for the airline. They even charge you now for coffee! Next it'll be for water too! Oh wait you'll probably get charged to breathe on the plane next! I was at the Denver airport about a year ago after seeing my cardiac surgeon and they told me my carry-on was too big. Really? I flew with it out there and now going back it grew? NOT! Same bag so why was it ok one way and not the other? A guy came over and started telling me I couldn't take it on board and I told him it's the same bag! It has my medicine and medical stuff in it and he said too bad! Then he threatened me saying I couldn't fly! I had surgery and I was in such a state I was shaking! The guy was a fricking idiot! One of the TSA officers walked by and I asked him to help me while that idiot left for a few minutes. Another Frontier person came over (really not a Frontier working as they are sourced out) but she told the TSA guy what happened and he said he would get me on the plane and he did. No problem. What a moron that Frontier manager was!!!

11 years ago

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Dan Sirls Littleton, CO

Hello everyone! I would like to share the story of how ‪#‎frontierairlines‬ screwed my wife and I over arecent trip to Iowa. First of all, we bought tickets back in February to fly to Des Moines, Iowa and back to Denver. We were leaving Denver on Tuesday, May26, and returning on Sunday, May 31. So on Monday, May 25, I logged in to the #frontierairlines website to check in for our flight, and found that I could not print our boarding passes. Closer inspection showed that the date on the website reservation was Monday, May 25, and that flight had, in fact, departed about 2 hours prior to the time at which I was attempting to check in! I called #frontierairlines, and while I was trying to sort out the confusion between the reservation's date (via the confirmation email we'd been sent the first week of February) vs. the website's date, I realized that our return flight had also been moved up a day, to Saturday, May 30. The person I was talking to observed in their system that there were, in fact, NO flights between Denver and Des Moines on either day for which Andrea and I had made reservations almost 4 months previous. She told me she would have to investigate and call me back when she figured it out. In about 10 minutes, I got the callback, and was told, and I quote: "That airport will no longer allow us to fly in or out on certain days. An email was sent out over the weekend (that is, the day or two before I'm talking to her) telling everyone affected about the changes to their itineraries. " The only days #frontierairlines was now flying into Des Moines from Denver were Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I was told that my only options were a) a full refund, and I would be free to pursue another airline's offerings(oh, and likely we would have been charged their cancellation fee, of course), or b) I could fly on Wednesday (since we'd missed the Monday flight(s) already) and Saturday or Monday to return. I found this unacceptable, and told her that I felt #frontierairlines had a responsibility to either make good on the contract we'd both agreed to four months prior, even if that meant flying us on a similar schedule with a different carrier. Well, #frontierairlines doesn't have agreements with any other carrier, so they couldn't transfer us was the answer. I made clear that I didn't care about their agreements, that they should be able to buy us seats on another carrier on a similar schedule. Which would have meant two United flights, for which the cost was approximately $2000 for two tickets on that schedule, given that it was the day before our desired travel date. She told me I'd have to speak to her "specialty supervisor" about that, and transferred me. The "specialty supervisor" gave me *exactly* the same options, with zero flexibility. After a few minutes, I then asked for THAT person's supervisor. After being transferred again, I got yet another person who offered 2 options and no flexibility. But the third person informed me that, if I was serious about #frontierairlines paying our way on another airline, I would have to speak to "Customer Relations". I hadn't been speaking to customer relations already? Nope. Turns out "Customer Relations" at #frontierairlines is a department that is open for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, from 8AM to 11AM weekdays only. So I agreed that I would try to speak with "Customer Relations" the following morning, the day I had been planning, FOR FOUR MONTHS, to travel. Later in the evening, I decided, on good advice from Facebook friends, to research other possible cities to switch the tickets to in order to make the same schedule. I checked Omaha and Kansas City--turns out, #frontierairlines only flies in and out of both those cities on the SAME EXACT SCHEDULE as they do Des Moines, M-W-F-Sat. Then I checked Cedar Rapids. That city, #frontierairlines flies in and out of on a T-Th-Sun schedule. So this means two things: if we're going to stay on #frontierairlines, then we're going to have to change to Cedar Rapids, and THE STORY ABOUT DESMOINES 'NOT ALLOWING' THEM TO COME AND GO CERTAIN DAYS IS ALMOST CERTAINLY A LIE. Nevertheless, we're going to try to work with #frontierairlines because it's still our best shot. So, Tuesday, May 26 arrives. I handed off to my wife to speak to #frontierairlines and their "Customer Relations" folk, while I got things ready to go. She called in at precisely 8AM. SHE WAS ON HOLD, NEVER SPEAKING TO A SINGLE PERSON, FOR ALMOST TWO HOURS. Let's put that into perspective: for almost 2/3 of the entire time that "Customer Relations" would be open that day, there was absolutely NO customer service happening for us. On the day we intended to travel. So, after an hour and 45 minutes, and keeping "Customer Relations" hold on one phone, Andrea used her cell phone to call Reservations back again. She did her best haggling with them to change over to the Cedar Rapids itinerary, which they did, finally, do. BUT. They charged us *exactly* $300, claiming that amount was the difference in fares. And, they intended to charge us the $150 change fee (times two, of course!). Andrea managed to talk them out of that, thankfully, but was so exasperated with the whole situation that she accepted the $300 in 'fare difference.' After she'd settled that, she also hung up on the call to "Customer Relations" which was never answered. So, in the end, #frontierairlines seems to have gone to an every other day schedule in some of the cities they fly to, and are claiming that the destination airports are revoking permission for them to fly in and out on certain days. I do not believe that this story is true. Even if it were, an email over the holiday weekend as the only notice your entire trip has been rescheduled for you is FAR from acceptable practice. Oh, and said email was nowhere to be found, by the way. And then, #frontierairlines managed to extort a further $300 from us, almost doubling the cost of the tickets. On top of all that, any company that has a "Customer Relations" department that is open to the public fewer hours every week than most companies' customer relations departments would be open any TWO DAYS of the week is clearly not interested in their customers' concerns. After the trip, I sent a very short (due to the limitations of Frontier's customer 'service' website) complaint, telling them about how I'd posted the story you just read on Facebook and encouraged everyone to share it. After more than a week (almost two, I believe), I finally got a response, wherein I was told that the change in schedule had been made back in February, and my wife had allegedly 'approved' it at that time. Utter falsehood. But, in the interest of 'good will', they refunded the $300 charge for changing our tickets at the last minute. So they've earned a tiny bit of relief from me screaming about it online--but will never fly with them again.

11 years ago

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Janet Belleville, IL

I too, used to love flying Frontier. Now, their customer service department and ability to reach and get a response, is the absolutely bottom of the barrel. They are the very worst in the industry! Their website is terrible also. Just try to use your free miles! The website wasn't working, so I tried to contact someone and was on the phone for nearly an hour waiting for someone to help me. Oh, and just try to file a complaint...you just get a rude customer representative on the phone to deal with. You can't speak to anyone higher up either. Their is no way to file a complaint, other than to the department that you have the complaint with. I first began flying with Frontier when my daughter relocated to Great Falls, Montana. In the beginning, I could fly anytime, then it was only in the summer. Now, they stopped flying there altogether. The only time that I will EVER fly with them again is when I use my mileage that I have accumulated. They also now charge for everything! I am surprised that they even allow a purse on board without charging you. Well, they will charge you if it is too big! I must say, however, that the airline attendants were very pleasant to deal with. They should go work for another airline, because I predict that Frontier will go belly up soon due to the way they treat their customers.

11 years ago

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LeahG Denver, CO

I used to love Frontier but my experience with them in Feb. made me never want to fly Frontier again. I paid for stretch seating but when I went to check in I was moved to the middle of the last row. my seats were gone. I called them and was on hold for over 2 hours. it took them another 45 minutes to fix it. I was charged for everything which made my tickets more than United for the same flight. The soon to be layed off staff was fine. the management was a joke. I wrote them and got 2 50.00 vouchers. Not worth using to fly them again. I do not trust them at all. they give poor service and do not honor their tickets. I never got my seats back and wasn't able to sit with my hubby even thought i purchased seats that they gave to others. bad service , bad handling of their employees. not going to fly them.

11 years ago

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Karen Haddonfield, NJ

The 1 rating is due to horrendous treatment by the check-in desk agent who refused to check us in for a flight eventhough we were at Trenton airport (TTN) 30 minutes before the flight take off time, and we could literally see the plane sitting there. We were forced to drive to PHL to catch another plane on another airline to get to a family wedding. Agent was rude, unreasonable, causing us to spend $400 for a last minute flight) and totally out of line, because we could have made the flight with time to spare. Our calls to the 800 number were to no avail, nor was customer service willing to give us any refunds. Other Frontier employees tried to be of assistance but were blocked by this agent.

11 years ago

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Kim Zietz

Frontier used to be our favorite airline as we live in Denver, Colorado. Over the last 3 or 4 years their service and prices have gone out of site. Yes, you can do their rock bottom fairs but you pay extra for everything even a carry on. My wife and I had to come down to our 2nd home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to purchase new furniture. Frontier is not flying to PV this summer at all. We booked on United but had to go through San Francisco. Frontier better watch out for Southwest (where two bags are still free). As of November 1st. we can go non-stop Denver to PV. WE already have our tickets purchased for our winter stay on Southwest.

11 years ago

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Cynthia S Madison, WI

I liked the rates, the planes, and service on the planes. However, from the customer service in the airport and at their offices is terrible. If you have a problem good luck finding their customer service, let alone getting a response. Their lost bag service was 100% non-responsive (they let me know they had found it, but after that they had no one at the airport to get it to me, and wouldn't send it to me; after two days and two expensive trips to the airport I finally got it back - their voice mailbox was full and no return phone calls). At one point I found a customer service agent on their 800#, but she said it wasn't her department and she forwarded me to Air Canada's customer service. When I found another agent he promised me someone would reimburse me for my multiple trips to get my bag, my rental car since my flight was screwed up and I had to go to another airport, and also a credit for my troubles. But, I have had zero response from the airline since. I have filed everything, called people, etc. No one has contacted me. Because of their errors I missed out on a lot of business meetings (purpose of my trip), and incurred a lot of headaches, expenses, etc. No discounted ticket price covers the value of good customer service.

11 years ago

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Tim S. Barberton, OH

In flight; one of the best. Their customer service personnel, especially supervisory, could care less about the customer. Stranded in Atlanta/clear weather; flight dropped and changed with no prior notification, nothing posted at the counter..ever..and no management help on the phone. Left on my own to find a place to sleep and told "It's company policy..." My response involved flight crew(s) going thru same thing; "oh, we'd take care of them." Have and will suggest to others to avoid Frontier. One of the worst arrival/departures records on record and a customer service department that's all about...the business, not the customer.

11 years ago

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Shirley ramos FL

First, the usual complaint about charging more for carry-on luggage but not warning of the charge when purchasing the ticket. We packed individually a total of four carry on for a total of $200 round trip and we had to checked them not bring as carry on. Second, they changed our returning flight from 11pm to 9am we lost a day of our vacation! Then we had to purchase assigned seats to ensure we sit together. Third, they only provide free water everything else had to pay even $3.00 for a can of soda. Only snacks for a 7 hour flight to Las Vegas. Fourth, staff did not communicate we had special service stop in Cincinnati and we're told to get out of the plane and then they called us in about 5 minutes to hurry up that we should have never gotten out of the plane. Like it was our fault! Six, our returning flight was awful, we sit inside the airplane for an hour they said it was a light bulb they need to change.The seats were the most uncomfortable I've sat in. I'm 5'3 and 140 pounds and never have a problem, yet I was sore after a 2 hour. Seven, we had to get out of airplane in Cleveland Ohio for special service again and only had 10 minutes to purchase cold food and drinks for $60. Insane! And then ran back to the same airplane. Eight, we finally arrived to Orlando Florida the staff could not tell us were the luggage will be. After we arrived to baggage claim we waited for over an hour! Nine, a lot of passengers went to the counter were staff had no idea why the luggage was not available they said that probably they were waiting for other flights! Finally a supervisor came in and her only consolation comment was that we needed to wait 5 more minutes. Everyone was outrage and started asking for their baggage money back. The frontier supervisor started yelling back to all passengers and threat to call police on us. No meal voucher or baggage voucher. We had just keep waiting after a 12 hour trip. Ten, this was the worst experience I've ever had. The cheap flights are always more expensive and service is awful.

11 years ago

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Linda Hill

I booked Frontier flights for my daughter and her baby to fly from New Orleans to SLC. Less than a month before the trip we were notified by Frontier they had changed their schedule. The change involved an OVERNIGHT layover in Denver. When we called they simply said it was a layover and were not willing to accommodate my daughter in a hotel or do anything. They did refund our money but it was very late to try and book something else. We did... but it was substantially higher than if we had booked it 6-8 weeks out.

8 years ago

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Alec Dover

I have a lot of beef with this airline. It is economy priced...but ghetto quality. The seats are EXTREMELY uncomfortable. They charge for carry on baggage, and claim this speeds up boarding time. My boarding time has NEVER BEEN LONGER.... I could go on and on. If you need to travel and have no other option frontier will get you there but you won't be happy.

9 years ago

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Daniel Poaletti

This airline specializes in being a cheap way to travel. Their planes are not too uncomfortable, however, snacks and drinks on the plane are only available for purchase. The seats are not terrible but do not recline further than they are installed. The airline is okay if you have a very short flight, but for anything more than an hour and a half, I recommend another airline.

9 years ago

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Cathy Aurora, CO

They took the TVs away, changed the seats (they are so uncomfortable and HARD, no reclining) shorter leg room, the pull down trays are a joke....so small you can just fit a beverage cup on it. Had to PAY to get a seat assignment! Pretty soon they will charge for the air that we breathe. Charging for carry-ons? Geez. Oh yeah....Brand new hard suitcase cracked.

11 years ago

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Rick Russo Chicago, IL

My daughter hurt her back. My wife booked a ticket to go to Denver to help her. My daughter has a 5 year old and a 13 month old. Just 1 day before departure my wife came down with the flu. I called Frontier to change the name on the ticket to mine. I only needed to change the first name (4 letters)THEY WOULD NOT DO THIS!!! I had to buy another ticket. I booked the same seat on the same flight! it was expensive. I think it stinks!

11 years ago

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rh Elkton, MD

Friendly flight staff. TINY seats, the most uncomfortable I have ever been in! Very little padding, tiny tray tables. Low costs are eliminated by the fact that EVERYTHING costs extra. OK for very short flights but I would never go a long way...hour max. Many convenient airports have been eliminated and check in service at larger airports is miserable. Gate opened late and folks were waiting in line for quite a while to check in. You get what you pay for!

11 years ago

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Gail Barber North Olmsted, OH

August 4th 2015 Cancun to Cleveland Flight 63 4;00pm AWFUL Service, my luggage was thrown so hard My newer American Tourister luggage broke and my belongings, what was left of them were in a large ripped plastic bag on the conveyor belt. No one would help or respond to my issue. We were a group of 8 and our transport car was waiting, the people at the Frontier gate said sorry but there is nothing we can do for you. Half of my belongings were missing and my luggage was destroyed. Frontier will not do a thing let alone return my calls.

11 years ago

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Joyce Lowman Brooklyn, NY

From 7/20 til now my baggage has not been recovered. All I am getting from this airline is "WE ARE SORRY". And I say yes they are SORRY in more ways than one. No compensation has been offered for my lost. CUSTOMER SERVICE is PITIFUL, UNPROFESSIONAL AND FOR A LACK OF A BETTER WORD USELESS. WHEN IT COMES TO PROBLEM SOLVING. I want them to live up to their LOST BAGGAGE POLICY. I WOULD ADVISE EVERYONE NOT TO DEAL WITH THIS AIRLINE. CHEAP IS NOT ALWAYS BEST; you wind up losing in the end.

11 years ago Edited September 14, 2021

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Darlene Powell Spokane, WA

we use to fly frontier all the time at least twice a year, fares work reasonable, free carry on, received a drink an fresh cookie, they flew to the city I needed to go to. Now, I have to pay for my seat at time of booking if I want to choose my seat, no drink, no cookie, I have to pay for a carry on, which is more than a checked bag, Frontier is no long the cheapest to fly, I am disappointed

11 years ago

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Mark Hershey, PA

Have you ever flown with Frontier ? This company is the worst. Booked travel for a holiday and was emailed a few days before my flight regarding changes to my route. When I call customer service I was told the route was discontinued. CS rep laughed and said there was nothing they could do. Then she hung up on me....I would not fly frontier if my tickets were free. I would advise anyone to check the Frontier FB page before purchasing a ticket.

11 years ago

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Theresa Darmiento Brown Upper Darby, PA

I have flow with Frontier several times, they have been adequate, however they are not reliable. They can cancel a flight at any time with no notice. I know of five separate times flights were canceled with no recourse and they don't help you get another flight to your destination. You are out of luck. That being said I still use them, because they are fine when they don't cancel your flight and I am willing to take the chance.

11 years ago

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Meredith Hardaway Olive Branch, MS

I havent flew on frontier in about three or four years but when I did it was Terrible Iwent to Las vegas and to make a long story short the whole experience was terrible to many stops& circling in the air gave me a headache I have never had this experience on any other airline.I do hope you all have changed since my last flight with you all because you do have some nice prices on some of your flights.Thank you

11 years ago

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Terry Fullerton, CA

What Frontier doesn't seem to realize is they breed such anger and ill-will because of their baggage fees. I can understand the beverage charges; I can just drink water. But everyone has a suit case! Every time I fly Frontier, I hear nothing but complaints from disgruntled passengers around me as we board the plane, or wait to get off the plane. I don't experience this with any other airline. It's ridiculous. Just add the basic charge to the price and charge extra for checked or last minute bags.

11 years ago

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Vicki Hoffmann Washington, DC

I have not flown with Frontier for about two years and I intend to never fly with them again. My son, then 17, had a rolling duffel carry on. He was allowed to take it on the plane from Indianapolis to Denver, hut in Denver, a gate agent gave him so much trouble about it. I do not remember the details, but I remember she was somewhat abusive. My overall impression was of horrible customer service and I posted a rant on Facebook.

11 years ago

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Marilyn Wells Littleton, CO

We used to absolutely love our hometown airline, Frontier. In the past two years, this airline is a sad shadow of what it used to be. While most of the crew are still friendly, you can tell the stress they are under now. The reservations crew was wonderful, when based in Denver, now - mediocre at best. The planes are absolutely dirty now - and used to be clean. The nickel and diming with the endless add-on charges is so tedious. Boo to the Frontier of 2015.

11 years ago

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carmen rivera.. Bethlehem, PA

horrible my experience,,i was early and when i be there a time not any vary there ,so no personnel for costume service ,some vary coming but no solve my problem. y have to pay 75$ more for chance fly for net day, that not nice,when one coming so far,plus pay for suitcase no way ,when i back i have been wait 1 hours no way was horrible.sorry but is that is true.when i calling for chance my fly the same thing not vary in the phone, for me was the first and last.

11 years ago

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Natalie Brown Boulder, CO

I was disappointed in Frontier and how they handled refunding on tickets due to the Coronavirus. The website said I could easily cancel, yet that did not work. I had to call and was on the phone for 4 hours! Finally, when I got a hold of someone, I was told I could not be refunded but instead get a credit for a future ticket. Alright fair. Turns out I would only have 90 days to book another flight. The policy is terrible! With all other airlines, they give a credit to use for 12 months out due to this situation! I had to stay on the phone for another hour to argue with a manager to where they finally gave a 12-month credit, something they should always be doing. Thing is, the manager refused to put this in writing and instead gave me his worker ID for when I want to book in the next 12 months. I'm sure that won't go over nicely. Frontier needs to fix their policy, it's not right. I will not be flying with them again.

6 years ago

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Erin Farnsworth Pleasant Grove, UT

The worst flying experience I have had. They got me to and from my destination but that was the end of my good experience. My flight landed at 10 pm. I didn’t leave the airport until 1:30 am. Not only did they not send ANYONE’S luggage with the flight, but they had send their attendant home so we had no help in finding our luggage. I was with about 8 other people who had no clue where their luggage was either. Another airline attendant said she wasn’t surprised, that this stuff happens to frontier all the time. We ended up finding a list of numbers on the desk and called to find out our luggage never got sent and we’d have to come back the next day. (Just what you love hearing at 1:30 in the morning after a day of travel.) The small price tags are seductive yes. But ONLY ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK of potentially anything going wrong.

6 years ago

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Anne Sainsbury Payson, UT

Frontier Airlines and I are not the best of friends. During my college experience, my parents have been Alabama and I have been attending College in Utah and I have gone to visit them a number of times using Frontier. Yes, it is a very low-priced airline, but you get what you pay for. Twice I have had major delays. The first delay took place last Christmas when I was delayed 4 hours due to maintenance. The second time was earlier this month when I was delayed 2 hours and did not get home until 1:00am. If you are tight on the budget, it may be worth it. Don't plan on getting where you need to go on-time. Be ready for delays and all will be well for you.

7 years ago

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Tea Tree L.L.C. St Louis, MO

Absolute worst experience I’ve had flying to the point I’d be willing to go back and pay double for Delta. Customer service is horrible especially JARRETT in ST LOUIS. I’ve had 2 flights delayed because of mechanical issues. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

5 years ago

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Kenneth Okerlund Orem, UT

My family and I have never had any good experiences with frontier. From flights being constantly delayed or cancelled to poor service, not worth the money that you "save" when you have to go buy a new flight that day because they cancelled your flight.

9 years ago

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James Jillson

This is absolute nonsense, the ridiculous cost of ANY baggage means that you aren't paying any less than another (read: better) airline. Also, if you check in and choose a seat, it will range from 13-35 extra dollars. There aren't any employees at the airport willing to help, plus their website is insanely unhelpful. Never flying Frontier again.

10 years ago

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Don thompson Houston, TX

These new seats were horrible. Wouldnt recline , and were very uncomfortable. Throw the tray table away. Was useless. They don't offer anything comimetary anymore either. Compare it to riding in a prison bus!! No shackles but might as well have had them on. I was so cramped i coyldnt move. No thanks. Not anymore. Here i come southwest

11 years ago

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Miguel Delgado Denver, CO

First flight was delayed. Second flight got delayed, and then delayed, and then delayed again. I believe we will be delayed a 4 time. No complimentary snacks. The table in front of me is so small it can't fitbmy laptop, my notepad, or even my book. Why even bother with one? First airline I have ever been so dissatisfied with.

11 years ago

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Susan Mabee Bender Freehold, NJ

Very disappointed in Frontier. Grandson flew from Phila. to Orlando for invitation to college baseball clinic. He arrived in Orlando and his checked bags went to Cancun. Really hard to play when all his gear is in Mexico. Customer service not helpful. So much for his chances at that college. Thank you Frontier Airlines.

11 years ago