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They are cheaper for where I want to go. How are they? What is the service like? What are the baggage fees? And lastly I'm a little on the plus side. How are the seats?
How are they? - I've taken them a handful of times and have not had any issue. For the record, most "issues" would have been fine with me given the amount of money I've saved the few times I've taken them.
What is the service like? - Like every other US carrier. Nothing above and beyond, but they do their job sufficiently. With respect to inflight drink/snack service it's buy on board, so you won't get a free cup of soda or peanuts but you can purchase a snack. I generally don't because I can make it for a short hop without a snack.
And lastly I'm a little on the plus side. How are the seats? - Again, like every other US carrier. They use the slimline seats that all the major carriers are moving towards. For what it's worth I have broad shoulders, so I pay for the seat assignment. On the day of the flight, or even on the way to the airport, I will select a seat with an empty one next to it. I do it at that time because I believe that everyone else who did not pay for seating would have already have theirs assigned. Now, there's no guarantee that someone won't get a seat next to you, but I haven't had an issue with it.
I flew Frontier once, years ago... it was okay, except that legroom was really tight (and I'm 5'10" --
I don't know how tall people would manage on Frontier... pay extra for a better seat, I presume).
I also flew Spirit once, and had adequate legroom.
There are better options to get from here to Denver, so I haven't seen a reason to fly Frontier again.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Frontier is a budget airline so read the fine print (You will not be getting a refund, you will be paying fees for ANYTHING / everything).
I only fly budget when:
1) I have no checked or overhead bags
2) I am willing to forfeit the ticket if plans change
3) If it is substantially less than a SWA fare (likely if short notice)
If SWA travels your route... consider them for advanced purchase (Free bags, changes, cancellations (Flight credits))
As I age and have many schedule changes (Eldercare / tenants / health issues / emergencies...) I will pay a bit more for reservation flexibility.
I flew Frontier once before (BNA to DEN) and thought they were decent. As with most airlines in the US, nothing exceptionally good or bad stood out. I'm 6'5" and don't remember any seat discomfort that isn't present elsewhere, but I'm fairly skinny. I think most of the people who complain about the budget airlines just need to look at the extra fees BEFORE booking to help make their decision. They don't try to hide it from you.
I'd fly them again, but their flight choices/schedules have been annoyingly inconvenient from where I live now.
A few days ago just for "fun" I compared their "total" price from my nearest airport to a popular tourist location to SW's price for the same trip. Frontier started out lower of course. I added in baggage fees for a carry-on and a checked bag. I added in the cost to pick my seat via some special "perk" program they have. It turned out, as I suspected, Frontier was actually a more expensive choice.
The baggage fees vary based on something, maybe destination, but you can find them on the website. For my hypothetical trip it was $60 for the luggage and carry-on. I don't know if that fee applied one time or twice (both legs of the trip). Compare all the costs.
Also agree with the above about very inconvenient schedules. For my hypothetical trip the single flight available was at 8:00 pm, arriving about 11:00 pm. If I'm paying for a hotel room for a night, I want to arrive early enough in the day to enjoy the trip a bit. At 11:00 I'd really be missing at least 1/2 day of vacation. Opposite coming home--single flight at 6:00 am.
I flew on Frontier Airlines in the summer of 2013. It was just before they started to charge for carry-ons. I remember that there an older gentleman who didn't have a debit or credit card and therefore wasn't able to purchase a drink but at least they gave him a free cup of water for the short flight between DEN-LAX. Otherwise the service was compatible with other low cost airlines.
Flown them a couple times a few years ago, have also flown Spirit a couple times as well.
Best advice I can give you is to NEVER book their last flight of the day for a travel segment, ideally don't book their second to last flight either. Frontier and Spirit do not have the fleet size to accommodate a canceled flight, or one delayed by mechanical problems, etc. If you're on the last flight of the day, that flight is getting canceled, guaranteed. If a previous flight was delayed or canceled, all the passengers from the previous flights will try to move to a later flight, but obviously they can't seat everyone.
If I'm flying on a budget airline, I always try to book one of their first flights of the day for a much better chance of getting to my destination.
We fly them fairly regularly. It's absolutely no-frills. We travel only with backpacks and we will pay the extra for an overhead bag if we're going for more than a few days. We will generally only go with them if we can get to our destination and home nonstop because I'm leery of flight cancellations and being stuck at the in-between airport; with that being said, we have never had a Frontier flight cancelled or even delayed more than an hour. You aren't going to be getting any type of drinks/snacks onboard unless you want to pay for them, so carry on your own stuff. My husband and son are taking a rt flight for $77 next month from Florida to the midwest, so it's more than worth it for the inconvenience of not picking your seat and not getting a complimentary can of soda and pretzels, IMO.
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