I Booked My First Flight On Frontier. United Told Me To
An interesting thing happened on the path the airlines took when they changed their loyalty programs. It made me less loyal.
I need to go from Cincinnati to Denver for an upcoming business trip. I’m trying to catch a late-evening flight to do so. I was using Matrix by ITA to look at all my flight options, but I was pretty sure I’d be flying United. I’ve already accrued 100,000 qualifying miles (EQMs) on American Airlines but I’m not quite there on United. But, since I’m not familiar with flights and times out of CVG, I decided to double-check that there weren’t any opportunities I was missing.
I should have snapped a screenshot, but the prices for a one-way flight ranged from $400-ish to over $600 for my short-term booking. Except for that $40 fare on Frontier. Now, they say business travelers aren’t price-sensitive, but I can’t in good conscience spend that kind of extra money just for airline loyalty. This is especially true when you consider how bad the new changes United made actually look now that we can analyze them.
So, I booked the $40 ticket. And, in the process, saw that the fees on Frontier aren’t as horrendous as you might think. I wrote last year about their ski package which made bringing your skis much more affordable. The first thing they’ll try to sell you is “The Works” package:
With an effective sample size of less than half a dozen flights (I’ve booked a few employees on Frontier in the past), I don’t believe that The Works package will be most passenger’s first choice. In my case, they wanted $86 for $174 in total value. Problem is, I don’t see value in most of that package. I’ll be carrying on an item and I wouldn’t mind some extra legroom. But, by clicking on “Not interested in savings”, I was given the a la carte choices later in the booking process:
I selected 1 carry-on bag for $30 and ended up picking a $20 exit row middle seat. It was one of only two seats left (both middle seats) at $20, so if you are considering “The Works”, know that you may not get $20 in value out of your seat selection. Probably want to check the seat map first.
Ultimately, the ticket price is cheap enough that I don’t want to pay to be able to change it, and I last checked a bag willingly sometime in the 90s. So, I tacked on another $55 in fees to my ticket, but I’m still saving my company roughly $400.
United Told Me To Book With Frontier
I had two concerns when booking with Frontier. The first was that the flight was a bit earlier than I wanted to leave, so I’ll be hoofing it to the airport. The second was if there’s a problem with the flight. The problem with low-cost carriers is that their tickets aren’t generally honored by other airlines due to the absence of interline agreements. If something goes wrong with the last flight of the day on Frontier, I might be spending another evening in Cincinnati, which definitely isn’t part of the plan.
United has already raised their price to the highest level I expect them to. This is something I see commonly where they set their pricing high for restricted economy tickets on certain routes more than a few days prior to departure. I took some time to look at other close-in rates for last-minute bookings on my route, and I have a fair degree of confidence the price of the United flight won’t get more expensive.
United has a habit now of pricing routes that they dominate much higher than competing connecting options. In some cases, I’m questioning whether I can take a business trip given how much some of the tickets are. American does the same thing, though with less frequency and veracity from the flights I observe.
I set an Expert Flyer alert to let me know if the flight is getting close to selling out in case I need to make a decision, but I doubt that happens. For the most part, that means I can book the cheap Frontier ticket and if something goes wrong, I’m likely to be able to hop on the United flight anyway, and without paying more money than if I booked today. Not a foolproof plan, but I’m willing to fade a bit of risk for that sort of savings.
As the argument for elite status and loyalty to an airline weakens, these choices become easier. I’d like to think I would have considered Frontier in the same situation a couple of years ago, but the reality is I’m not so sure. I try to choose the lowest priced ticket to my destination, but in the past I’ve been choosing between United and American. Due to a combination of price disparity and reduced elite benefits, the list of airlines my list has gotten longer.
Now that airlines like Frontier have added TSA PreCheck functionality, they’ve removed one of the few remaining pain points for business travelers to flying a true low-cost carrier (Southwest hasn’t truly been an LLC in a long time).
I guess I finally get to fly a plane with an animal on the tail. I’ll be sure to weigh in with my thoughts on the traveling experience after I fly.
The post I Booked My First Flight On Frontier. United Told Me To was published first on Pizza in Motion
I’ve flown over 20k miles on Frontier in the past year without a single delay or cancellation, so I hope you have the same experience!
I did a little post on surviving Frontier if you’re interested:
https://ez-journeys.com/2016/05/13/frontier-adds-non-stop-sf-orlando-flights/
Thanks, easy. IRROPS is my biggest concern with LCCs.
I’ve flown over 20k miles on Frontier in the past year without a single delay or cancellation, so I hope you have the same experience!
I did a little post on surviving Frontier if you’re interested:
https://ez-journeys.com/2016/05/13/frontier-adds-non-stop-sf-orlando-flights/
Thanks, easy. IRROPS is my biggest concern with LCCs.
Last month flew from STL to MCO and like usual, the Frontier Airlines was filled. People are still going to Disney and other places in Orlando. Getting home, I used Megabus for a couple segments and Frontier to fly from PIT to ORD, a fairly new route offered at cheap prices. I was very impressed with the Pittsburgh airport, although the bus came into late to catch the downtown bus to the airport. The flight to Chicago had so few flyers, I was assigned to the aisle seat in the second row.
Like Spirit, Frontier percentage discount seems not to apply to taxes. A recent 40% discount, only knocked off $1 and change on a $19 price.
Thanks for the feedback, Kevin. No surprise that an MCO-bound Frontier flight would be packed! 🙂
Last month flew from STL to MCO and like usual, the Frontier Airlines was filled. People are still going to Disney and other places in Orlando. Getting home, I used Megabus for a couple segments and Frontier to fly from PIT to ORD, a fairly new route offered at cheap prices. I was very impressed with the Pittsburgh airport, although the bus came into late to catch the downtown bus to the airport. The flight to Chicago had so few flyers, I was assigned to the aisle seat in the second row.
Like Spirit, Frontier percentage discount seems not to apply to taxes. A recent 40% discount, only knocked off $1 and change on a $19 price.
Thanks for the feedback, Kevin. No surprise that an MCO-bound Frontier flight would be packed! 🙂
I flew recently on Frontier. That Was the worst airline I had ever traveled with. hidden fees.I feared for my life. Attendants i felt had little to no experience. We landed in Denver and had to wait 40 min because they didn’t have enough staff to dock us snd unload us.will never fly with again.
Patty, sorry to hear about your experience. I’m surprised you had to wait in Denver, since that’s their biggest presence. Thanks for the feedback. Hoping my experience is better.
Frontier recently changed companies that service the aircraft once on ground in Denver and they had a short learning curve where delays were caused by understaffing. They have corrected this and to my knowledge they are back to normal operations.
Charles, any idea who they contracted with? One of the other contract providers already working at DEN?
they are now contracted with Simplicty.
Thanks, LAC. Guess we’ll see how my first flight goes. Crossing my fingers.
I flew recently on Frontier. That Was the worst airline I had ever traveled with. hidden fees.I feared for my life. Attendants i felt had little to no experience. We landed in Denver and had to wait 40 min because they didn’t have enough staff to dock us snd unload us.will never fly with again.
Patty, sorry to hear about your experience. I’m surprised you had to wait in Denver, since that’s their biggest presence. Thanks for the feedback. Hoping my experience is better.
Frontier recently changed companies that service the aircraft once on ground in Denver and they had a short learning curve where delays were caused by understaffing. They have corrected this and to my knowledge they are back to normal operations.
Charles, any idea who they contracted with? One of the other contract providers already working at DEN?
they are now contracted with Simplicty.
Thanks, LAC. Guess we’ll see how my first flight goes. Crossing my fingers.
We are based in Denver and fly them all the time. We have been delayed, upto 8 hours once due to a mechanical issue at the planes originating destination. We had the same experience on Delta and Delta’s solution was just to cancel the flight and stuff us on the next flight the following day or have us drive to another airport.
Frontier is understaffed in Denver since they contracted out baggage and gate attendants. So if you miss your window during landing they have the team elsewhere working on another flights arrival/departure. I was on a United flight to Dayton where the same thing happened, to the point they had to bring in more staff 50 minutes after landing just to get us to the gate. (Use to live in Cincinnati, but moved to Denver a few years back).
I hope you like it. Also as a corporate procurement manager that works with our travel program team we are glad you are doing the rational thing. It’s a 2.5 hour flight, you will be fine without wifi, free snacks, and a none reclining seat. Happy and safe travels!
James, I didn’t know they had contract baggage and gate attendants. Makes more sense now. And, to be honest, I hadn’t even considered the lack of WiFi. Why? Because it only works on United about half the time anyway!
We are based in Denver and fly them all the time. We have been delayed, upto 8 hours once due to a mechanical issue at the planes originating destination. We had the same experience on Delta and Delta’s solution was just to cancel the flight and stuff us on the next flight the following day or have us drive to another airport.
Frontier is understaffed in Denver since they contracted out baggage and gate attendants. So if you miss your window during landing they have the team elsewhere working on another flights arrival/departure. I was on a United flight to Dayton where the same thing happened, to the point they had to bring in more staff 50 minutes after landing just to get us to the gate. (Use to live in Cincinnati, but moved to Denver a few years back).
I hope you like it. Also as a corporate procurement manager that works with our travel program team we are glad you are doing the rational thing. It’s a 2.5 hour flight, you will be fine without wifi, free snacks, and a none reclining seat. Happy and safe travels!
James, I didn’t know they had contract baggage and gate attendants. Makes more sense now. And, to be honest, I hadn’t even considered the lack of WiFi. Why? Because it only works on United about half the time anyway!
I had a very recent problem with Frontier airlines. The customer service horrible. When I explained my situation the airlines just wanna charge you more then what you already spent. They wont give you more options they suck. Super upset.
Melissa, what route were you flying? Care to share the details of your problem?
I had a very recent problem with Frontier airlines. The customer service horrible. When I explained my situation the airlines just wanna charge you more then what you already spent. They wont give you more options they suck. Super upset.
Melissa, what route were you flying? Care to share the details of your problem?