Frontier Airlines

Anybody flown with these guys before? Southwest pulled their direct service out of GSP and now everything goes through ATL making a trip to Chicago a 5 hour affair. Frontier flies direct to Chicago out of Charlotte for like $90 but I am sure they tack on additional fees for everything. Are they ok or just another crappy upstart due to fail?

DeacWatcher said:

Anybody flown with these guys before? Southwest pulled their direct service out of GSP and now everything goes through ATL making a trip to Chicago a 5 hour affair. Frontier flies direct to Chicago out of Charlotte for like $90 but I am sure they tack on additional fees for everything. Are they ok or just another crappy upstart due to fail?

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I love frontier. One thing is that it costs more to have a carry on then to check your bag. You can still have one item, like a backpack, but if you have a suitcase just go ahead and check it for the 25 or so bucks instead of paying more at the gate. The planes are pretty nice and for 5 bucks you can watch unlimited live tv/movies/etc.

TAG1615 said:

I love frontier. One thing is that it costs more to have a carry on then to check your bag. You can still have one item, like a backpack, but if you have a suitcase just go ahead and check it for the 25 or so bucks instead of paying more at the gate. The planes are pretty nice and for 5 bucks you can watch unlimited live tv/movies/etc.

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Agree with all of this. Always look for deals (get on their mailer). The Works may be worth it if you need to check stuff. I always fly them for my quick jaunts.

Frontier is similar to JetBlue. I always try to fly then cross country.

DeacWatcher said:

Anybody flown with these guys before? Southwest pulled their direct service out of GSP and now everything goes through ATL making a trip to Chicago a 5 hour affair. Frontier flies direct to Chicago out of Charlotte for like $90 but I am sure they tack on additional fees for everything. Are they ok or just another crappy upstart due to fail?

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They are not an upstart. They have been around since 1994. But most of their flights were based out of Denver. They charge for carry on suitcases. If you don't book through their website you can't pick a seat and pretty much guaranteed to sit in the middle. They destroyed Midwest Airlines (a great airline) after they merged with them. Not a fan.

Just checked in for their GSO-DEN flight. Hate flying, but love Frontier.

Contrary to nomadic's post... I'm not paying for my carry-on (their 'personal item' policy is not too limiting; my giant bookbag does not count as a carry-on), and, also contrary to nomadic's post, I did not choose a seat and 24 hours before the flight, I was assigned an aisle seat with the option to change. AND I booked through Expedia

Oh shit, nomadic! Vt just laid down the business on you. You just gonna sit back and take it? Where is your pride?

Apparently, nomadic isn't nomadic enough.

vtwhat etc said:

Just checked in for their GSO-DEN flight. Hate flying, but love Frontier.

Contrary to nomadic's post... I'm not paying for my carry-on (their 'personal item' policy is not too limiting; my giant bookbag does not count as a carry-on), and, also contrary to nomadic's post, I did not choose a seat and 24 hours before the flight, I was assigned an aisle seat with the option to change. AND I booked through Expedia

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I think that entirely depends on the agents you're dealing with. I saw a dude with a bigger book bag get forced to pay for it at the gate when I flew frontier last month (which is a nice 65-70 dollar charge iirc if they get you that late in the process), so I'd be prepared to ask/double-check if you're trying to cut it close w/ that. It's gotta fit under the seat in front of you easily. But nomadic is still right that for most carry-on suitcases people are accustomed to bringing w/ them these days you'll have to pay for (and it's cheaper to check the bag than pay for carry-on).

We booked through kayak or priceline last time or something and didn't get too screwed on seat assignments or anything iirc. They even kept me and my SO together on both flights, so I don't think that's as big a deal as he's making it out to be. Though there was an issue w/ the way our names were passed to Frontier from the third-party site that prevented us from checking in online the night before.

The planes were clean and on-time though, service was generally nice, and we still saved about 100 bucks even paying for a couple checked bags. Only thing you can get for free on the flight itself is tap water, so if you're used to that free soft-drink and pretzels life, then look somewhere else.

They have a sizer. Most backpacks will be cool to carry onto the plane, but I have seen them many times force someone to check and pay. Tread lightly. They have a sizer at the check-in. It is more expensive to pay to check at that point then when you book online, but it is way cheaper than at the gate. Also, it is more expensive to book on the phone.

Just travel with something flexible like a gym bag, backpack, etc that you can make fit in their sizer. I'm a fan of frontier, its definitely cheap and I wouldn't want to take it on a longer flight - but an hour or two is fine and costs half as much as other airlines.

Don't expect to put much on the "tray" in front of you...its roughly the size of an iPad (maybe smaller)

Frontier is what it is, a better/cheaper version of southwest - same with Spirit. If you aren't paying for it, never take it, but if you are, its fine for a family trip to Florida or something - and they fly out of rando airports, which usually helps with travel times/parking/etc - but is miserable if you have to sit in the AC airport or Trenton for an hour where they have no semblance of food or booze to take your mind off travelling on Frontier. They are all 737s, I think, so at least decent sized planes with 3 seats on either side, its not roomy by any means and getting seats together is a crapshoot if you don't pay.

If it is close, I would take most any major airline over them (Southwest is not a major airline), but it can be super cheap.

Heading up to Chicago in a month for a guy's weekend. Out of Charlotte they were only slightly cheaper than American. I assumed they were a death trap like Allegiant. So I went with American.

I'd pick Frontier over American every time. It's a shame people don't know about them.

PhDeac said:

I'd pick Frontier over American every time. It's a shame people don't know about them.

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That's good to know. I was skeptical of flying them because of the unknown factor.

PhDeac said:

Frontier is similar to JetBlue. I always try to fly then cross country.

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Huh? Frontier couldn't be more different than JetBlue. JetBlue gives you tons of stuff for free (internet, better snacks, more leg room, etc.). Frontier nickel-and-dimes you for everything.

You must be thinking of what Frontier was like five years ago before they transformed into a low-cost carrier

Perhaps. I haven't flown them since going to Denver 4 years ago.

MysteryMen said:

Huh? Frontier couldn't be more different than JetBlue. JetBlue gives you tons of stuff for free (internet, better snacks, more leg room, etc.). Frontier nickel-and-dimes you for everything.

You must be thinking of what Frontier was like five years ago before they transformed into a low-cost carrier

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At the end of the day, I can fly den to la for $50 roundtrip with one day being weekend travel. Frontier serves it purpose for jaunts. I would never use it for a family vacation.

MysteryMen said:

Huh? Frontier couldn't be more different than JetBlue. JetBlue gives you tons of stuff for free (internet, better snacks, more leg room, etc.). Frontier nickel-and-dimes you for everything.

You must be thinking of what Frontier was like five years ago before they transformed into a low-cost carrier

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This. It used to be a good airline. Congrats to vt for getting his backpack on board for the same price most airlines charge.