Frontier For The First Time!

Here’s my personal take on the “budget airline”, Frontier. I think we’ve all heard about the bad and ugly of Spirit Airlines Frontier. (I flew with Spirit Airlines in 2015 and was just excited to be going to Las Vegas again.)

Hopefully this post can put you at ease and change some of your doubts. Back on July 5, 2017 I was randomly skimming my usual travel blogs and came across a post that said $20 flights to Philadelphia, a city that’s been on my travel list since I started traveling. I was skeptical immediately as I soon saw it was a Frontier Airlines flight. I went back and forth about should I just booked it and keep my expectations low, I sent it out to a couple friends to see if I would die if I flew with them, read blog posts about the company and checked what hidden fees I should be aware of.

I ultimately booked a round trip flight from CLT to PHL for $38.46. The travel days were a Wednesday-Saturday. I then continued to talk to friends I know travel way more than me and asked if I made a mistake. Again it was just $38, I wouldn’t miss the money if I decided not to go. Just maybe not eat out for lunch for a week to make it back.

When I booked the flight I didn’t buy bags. In my head I was this experienced nomad/backpacker and I didn’t need a suitcase. As weeks went by and I learned that carrying on a bag was more than checking a bag, I gave in. Now my $38 round trip flight has gone up to $114.46. One checked bag is $38 per trip if you booked online previous to your trip. Checking a bag at the desk the day of is $60.

Now that my bags have cost me more than the flight ticket, I’ve gotten more skeptical about things. Like, will the flight get delayed or cancelled, will they charge me for printing a boarding pass, how small are the seats and legroom...so many questions came after I booked.

It’s September 20, 2017, the day of my flight and I got to the airport early because I was extra hungry and wanted to catch some breakfast. My flight is scheduled to leave at 10:40am. It’s now 8:00am and I’m waiting at the counter looking lost because no one is there to take my bag. In slight panic mode, I looked up and see a TV screen with a marquee saying “Check in begins 2 hours prior to departure”. Nerves went away but I’m starving at this point. I went for a walk to “people watch” others checking in their big name airlines second guessing this whole thing. Eventually I went back to the check in counter for Frontier and a line has formed. Apparently everyone else knew what time they needed to be there.

It’s my turn at the counter and I couldn’t have asked for a smoother check in. The rep asked for an ID and my boarding pass that I saved on my Apple wallet. A simple check and he asked for my bag. He put labels on it and gave me my checked bag sticker. That was it. I’m was relieved. Going through TSA was normal. Never got anything to eat because my conscious wouldn’t let me not go straight to the gate.

Again, when I got to the gate, there wasn’t anyone there. Later a young lady from the front desk came running to the boarding gate. She was clearly tired and frustrated. She was alone for boarding. However, everything went smooth. She handled it well and boarding was seamless.

I’m finally on board of a Frontier plane for the first time. Might sound crazy, but the plane was the opposite of what I expected. The plane was well lit and looked alive, free of clutter and just looked like a great experience was about to happen. I finally got to my seat, 28E. It’s a middle seat I didn’t choose because that costs you. I sat down and immediately said out loud but to myself, “this is enough room, not bad”. Again, I was super shocked. The flight attendants started their safety procedures and I noticed that the 28F was still empty. Just assuming they were stuck at the boarding gate or at the desk checking in, something. At the end of the whole spiel the person over the intercom made an awful joke about being on your own and “good luck” if you don’t decided to wear your seatbelt. I just thought the joke was in bad taste when people like me are already skeptical about your company and its services.  

Finally over the intercom I hear that the door has been closed and we’re ready for departure. There was still that empty seat next to me and I did not hesitate to move over. Another win!

And we’re off. My flight was only 2 hours. I didn’t care for snacks or a drink especially after glancing and seeing it was about $8 for a drink and chips or a cookie. We landed in Philadelphia and I just knew my bad got lost on a straight flight. Got to carrousel A1 and my bad was there. Not lost. I grabbed it and texted a coworker before I thought about requesting my Uber and said “I survived”.

My returning flight was pretty much the same but I didn’t have an empty seat next to me. It was on time and was free of any issues.

On my returning flight I made a cool chart on the new iOS 11 update on the Notes app. Here’s what I came up with. The good: the legroom was enough (I’m about 6 feet even), whatever the angle was on the seats that don’t recline was just right. These will vary on the person. While the price for my checked bags were more than the flight ticket itself, I think $114 is a very good price. Especially since I had such a great time in Philly and New York. (Found a cheap round trip Greyhound bus ticket). I definitely recommend buying bags if needed, before you get to the airport. They’re so much cheaper. Frontier has a mobile app that you can easily scan your boarding pass. Less paper. My notes didn’t include much of things that I didn’t like. It wasn’t many at all. The safety joke make me uneasy, my mistake of paying more for a bag than the price of a ticket, and the delay at the check in counter were all I had.

Because I’m learning all these travels hacks, my biggest lesson I’m sure to pass to others is to do your own research. Have expectations in place before you get there. I would definitely fly Frontier Airlines again and I look forward to it being that they’ve just announced direct flights from Charleston to Denver in 2018.