When I received a surprise upgrade to Caesars Diamond Status I wanted to make the most of it with a quick trip to Vegas to stay without resort fees. Because it was something of a last minute trip, and because I wanted to hold the price down as low as possible. I girded my loins and took the plunge, scoring a very cheap roundtrip on Skyscanner.
I prefer to fly United, and I don’t object to Southwest at all. Usually my philosophy with these carriers is: spend what it takes to have a good experience. I will usually pay up to board early on Southwest and might even book first class on United. But if I’m going to play the Frontier game, I intend to win. That means avoiding baggage fees at all costs, and actually keeping the price of the flight as low as possible.
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Booking With Frontier Airlines
Because this was a last minute trip, Frontier undercut other carriers by hundreds. The round trip from Nashville to Las Vegas was $155. During the booking process they advise you there will be a $10 charge to even talk to an agent at the airport. It gives the impression that they flat out do not like their customers. If you are booking on Frontier you’ll want to be very sure about where and when you are traveling. It is going to be virtually impossible to make changes after the fact. You are certainly not getting a refund.
A fare of $155 is a great deal, even without luggage. As it happened I received a $50 rebate in the form of a traveler credit after booking from my Capital One Venture X card. Price drop protection in automatic when the cost of travel you book with Capital One drops after you buy.
I was able to get a boarding pass on my phone and proceed directly through security. However this feature is very buggy and not easy to use. The gold standard is the ability to add a boarding pass to Apple Wallet and Frontier falls far short of that, requiring you to navigate their website and enter your confirmation number multiple times.
The Frontier website is very clear about the exact bag sizes allowed for both personal items and carry-on. I often travel with a Jack Spade messenger bag similar to this one which measured well inside the specifications and is just barely large enough to hold four days’ worth of T-shirts, socks and underwear. If my stay had been even one day longer I would have had to buy carry-on, which does come with the benefit of group one boarding when you buy it.
The Airport Experience
Not all airport gates are created equal. Unsurprisingly, Frontier and the other cheapest-of-the-cheap carriers are leasing the worst possible gates. The gate for my flight at BNA was at the very end of the terminal, meaning there were about four gates all crammed next to each other with no seating at any of them. It is going to be extremely crowded at the gate area even if there is only one flight going out of these four gates at a time.
You can walk back down the terminal and find another gate to sit at while you wait, but eventually you will need to join the crowd and this will just be another reminder that Frontier actively dislikes you and cares nothing for your comfort or convenience.
Frontier is very strict about bag size during the boarding process. If the gate agents think your bag looks too big they will make you put it into the bag sizer pictured above. They didn’t say anything about how hard some folks had to work to force their soft-sided bags into the frame, but they do make sure that your bag is not sticking out of the top of the sizer. If your bag is oversize they are going to absolutely gouge you for payment at the gate. I think the rate when you have to pay there is $99 per bag.
Happily, I was carrying a messenger bag. Not only does it fit easily, but it can stand up under the front edge of your own plane seat, leaving plenty of room for the feet of the person behind you and most importantly, your own feet under the seat in front of you.
Flying Frontier Airlines: In The Air
Once everyone was boarded there was a 35 minute delay before takeoff. The way of the world being what it is: if a cheap airline misses its taxi time by even a few seconds it will lose its place in line to take off. The Deltas and Southwests of the world lease dozens of gates at every airport worth millions every year. The line of takeoffs and landings moves right on along without giving a second thought to little ole Frontier. They simply haven’t got the clout at any airport to jump ahead of any other flight.
Basically, you should not count on them being on time at all, even on a routine flight in perfect weather. Another feature of the Venture X card is Rapid Rebooking. Usually I wouldn’t bother paying extra for a service like this. But when you are flying an ultra-cheap airline it is almost a no-brainer. Discount flights are the most likely to be delayed or cancelled. Because the cost of the service is based on the price of the airfare, it costs much less than it would for a Delta fare.
The most remarkable thing about the inflight experience on Frontier Airlines is how uncomfortable the hard plastic seats are. The ones in and around the exit row do not recline at all. I don’t have any idea what the price difference to outfit an A-319 with something superior, but whatever it is, it’s a one-time cost. Sitting on these seats is just another reminder that Frontier hates you. I would not recommend a flight on Frontier much longer than two hours. You won’t be getting device charging or wifi on any Frontier flights either.
Should You Fly Frontier Airlines?
Are you feeling lucky? Aside from a late takeoff in both directions my flights were mostly uneventful and unremarkable. But one does get the sense that if something were to go wrong it would go very wrong. It’s probably more likely to be a total fiasco on Frontier.
I’m happy I got to get to Vegas and back for $100. Competing flights were five or six times as much.
One more thing to note: Frontier will not seat anyone in the exit rows unless they have paid extra for that seat. So if you DO pay up for an exit row you may have a row entirely to yourself. I upgraded myself for the trip back to Nashville. I wasn’t fortunate enough to get my own row on that flight. But the extra legroom was noticeable and made a difference in comfort.
