Frontier may be the worst airline in America that operates under its own brand. An ultra low cost carrier in the model of Spirit, they’re all about low prices and charging ancillary fees.
In fact they kicked an unaccompanied minor off a flight when they screwed up and failed to collect a fee. Two passengers were recently kicked off a Frontier flight after complaining to each other about an 8 hour delay. The airline even apparently kicked a blind man off a flight because he was blind.
So I wouldn’t normally choose to fly Frontier, all things equal. But what about when they’re ‘selling’ flights for almost free?
Copyright: zhukovsky / 123RF Stock Photo
Frontier is running a 90% off sale with promo code SAVE90 valid for bookings made today only.
Travel on one-way or roundtrip domestic flights August 28 through October 4 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only (no Fridays or Sundays) and September 4 and 5 are blacked out.
I pulled up a sample roundtrip from Austin to Las Vegas. With this sale they will sell me a roundtrip for $50, remember that only the fare and not taxes are discounted.
I’m not sure their calculations here make any sense, they claim an airfare of $168, taxes of $48.52. Every calculation I’ve tried doesn’t give me their total but it’s still a good price.
On the other hand here’s what the flights would cost booked outside of Frontier without the discount.
90% off of this fare, plus taxes, would yield $33.20. Go figure.
Several markets are excluded from the discount:
Atlanta, GA to/from Los Angeles, CA
Atlanta, GA to/from New York City, NY (LaGuardia)
Atlanta, GA to/from San Francisco, CA
Atlanta, GA to/from Salt Lake City, UT
Bismarck, ND to/from Denver, CO
Nashville, TN to/from Denver, CO
Bozeman, MT to/from Denver, CO
Cedar Rapids, IA to/from Denver, CO
Cleveland, OH to/from Las Vegas, NV
Cleveland, OH to/from Phoenix, AZ
Cleveland, OH to/from Fort Meyers, FL
Cleveland, OH to/from Seattle, WA
Cleveland, OH to/from San Francisco, CA
Columbus, OH to/from Denver, CO
Colorado Springs, CO to/from Las Vegas, NV
Colorado Springs, CO to/from Orlando, FL
Cincinnati, OH to/from Denver, CO
Cincinnati, OH to/from Las Vegas, NV
Cincinnati, OH to/from Orlando, FL
Cincinnati, OH to/from Fort Meyers, FL
Cincinnati, OH to/from Tampa, FL
Washington, D.C. (Reagan) to/from Denver, CO
Denver, CO to/from Des Moines, IA
Denver, CO to/from Detroit, MI
Denver, CO to/from Los Angeles, CA
Denver, CO to/from Kansas City, MO
Denver, CO to/from Miami, FL
Denver, CO to/from Milwaukee, WI
Denver, CO to/from Madison, WI
Denver, CO to/from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Denver, CO to/from Chicago, IL
Denver, CO to/from Portland, OR
Denver, CO to/from Philadelphia, PA
Denver, CO to/from Pittsburgh, PA
Denver, CO to/from Fort Meyers, FL
Denver, CO to/from San Diego, CA
Denver, CO to/from Seattle, WA
Denver, CO to/from San Francisco, CA
Denver, CO to/from Knoxville, TN
Dallas, TX to/from Milwaukee, WI
Detroit, MI to/from Phoenix, AZ
Indianapolis, IN to/from Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas, NV to/from Orlando, FL
Las Vegas, NV to/from Memphis, TN
Las Vegas, NV to/from Miami, FL
Las Vegas, NV to/from Milwaukee, WI
Las Vegas, NV to/from Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL to/from Philadelphia, PA
Orlando, FL to/from Providence, RI
Orlando, FL to/from Trenton, NJ
Chicago, IL to/from Trenton, NJ
Philadelphia, PA to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tampa, FL to/from Trenton, NJ
(HT: Fly4Free)
I just tried Bismarck-Denver, and the code worked, even though it’s not supposed to.
LAS-MEM doesn’t work, even though on the list. Even though not Fri/Sat.
Frontier sells its fares deceptively, which is why the math doesn’t work. I think they have a “base fare”, which they give you the discount off, but also charge a “fee” where the discount isn’t applicable. I guess they have a lawyer who thinks this is legal; beats me.
There are obviously some very cheap airfares here and, if you you can make it work (not necessarily easy), it’s probably worth booking. I’ve flown Frontier a few times and it’s been OK — for the price. You obviously have to deal with their luggage restrictions (no full size carry on) to make it worthwhile. They’ve now signed up with TSA Precheck, which makes the experience better.
Very few flights from my home so everything is through DIA…and NOT cheap.
“Several markets are excluded…” may be the understatement of the week.
only available seat assigment appeared to be in the lavatory