Frontier Airways is a low-cost provider that serves the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. You could be stunned on the excessive worth we’ve placed on Frontier elite standing, however that’s as a result of it’s been kind of falsely inflated. Right here’s why.
Frontier is a kind of airways that fees for nearly every little thing — and it fees rather a lot. For instance, you could possibly pay $60 every method for a carry-on bag. In some circumstances, you’ll even need to pay a charge of as much as $75 only for the privilege of redeeming your miles for an award flight.
Even Frontier’s entry-level elite standing waives a lot of these charges and may subsequently prevent tons of cash in the event you fly recurrently. Many different airways don’t cost for issues like carry-on baggage within the first place, so their entry-level elite statuses gained’t prevent as a lot cash.
Associated: Every part you must know earlier than flying Frontier Airways
Nonetheless, in the event you’re a Frontier fan, or in the event you could be if it weren’t so wild about charges, Frontier elite standing is for you.
Methodology
Do not forget that our valuations in these elite standing guides symbolize only one option to determine what elite standing is value. It might be utterly totally different from the way you worth the advantages every airline affords.
All this to say: The greenback quantities at which we’ve arrived should not divinely chiseled right into a stone pill. Alter our assumptions in line with your distinctive journey habits. For instance, in the event you by no means convey a carry-on bag, your private valuation of Frontier elite standing could also be a number of hundred {dollars} beneath our quantity.
Frontier awards elite qualifying miles primarily based on the space you fly. For instance, in the event you had been to e-book a round-trip flight from Cincinnati to Las Vegas, you’d fly 3,365 miles — and subsequently earn:
- 3,365 redeemable miles.
- 3,365 elite qualifying miles.
With this incomes construction in thoughts, listed here are our assumptions for this publish:
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- The common distance of your flights is 750 miles.
- You’ll earn 20% extra qualifying miles than the minimal requirement for every tier.
Right here’s one other assumption: We’ll estimate the worth of Frontier miles to be 1.2 cents every when calculating the worth of some advantages beneath. That is barely larger than TPG’s valuation of Frontier miles, however that’s as a result of elite standing affords waived award redemption charges — which, as you’ll see, can immediately enhance the worth of your miles.
Lastly, we are going to around the values of all advantages to the closest $5.
Associated: Frontier Airways’ Youngsters Fly Free: The definitive information
Frontier elite standing tiers
Frontier has three elite standing tiers with various (and surprisingly beneficial) advantages. Right here’s what you’ll be able to count on.
| Advantages | Elite 20k | Elite 50k | Elite 100k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | 20,000 qualifying miles or 25 flight segments yearly. | 50,000 qualifying miles or 50 flight segments yearly. | 100,000 qualifying miles or 100 flight segments yearly. |
| Redeemable mileage incomes on Frontier flights | 1 mile per mile flown. | 1.25 miles per mile flown. | 1.5 miles per mile flown. |
| Carry-on | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Seat task | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Household pooling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Precedence boarding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Waived redemption charges | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Waived journey charges | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Final Seat availability | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stretch seating | At check-in. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Household seating | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Low cost Den membership | 50% off. | ✓ | |
| Checked bag | ✓ | ||
| Household standing (the Works bundle) | ✓ |
So, what are these advantages value to the frequent Frontier flyer?
Elite 20k: $2,095
Elite 20k is Frontier’s easiest-to-earn elite standing. You’ll need to fly 20,000 miles (or 25 segments) with Frontier to earn it.
That may sound like rather a lot, however Frontier offers you elite qualifying miles primarily based on the space you fly. You can theoretically earn this standing with as little as 4 transcontinental round-trip flights. In case you journey even a marginal quantity on Frontier annually, this standing is inside attain.
We’re assuming you fly 24,000 miles for this valuation, with a mean flight distance of 750 miles. That’s a mean of 32 one-way flights.
| Profit particulars | Worth | |
|---|---|---|
| Carry-on | Carry-on baggage tends to value at the very least $60 every method, even when bought upfront. We’ll assume you convey a carry-on for 75% of your flights, and your common carry-on value is $60. | $1,440. |
| Seat task | Seat task costs begin at $11 per passenger (and may value $30-plus). In case you’re touring with buddies or household, you gained’t be capable of select their seats without spending a dime — solely your personal. Due to this, not all vacationers will choose to pay the charge. We’ll assume this profit supplies a mean worth of $5 per flight. | $160. |
| Household pooling | You possibly can mix miles with as much as eight different Frontier members without spending a dime, with no minimal or most limits. That is particularly useful if a member has “stranded” miles that they’ll’t use themselves. | $15. |
| Precedence boarding | Frontier fees between $6 and $12 one-way for this privilege. It’s truly a fairly essential profit if you wish to make sure you’ve received overhead bin house in your carry-on bag. We’ll worth this at $5 per flight, as you could not in any other case pay for this profit. | $160. |
| Waived award redemption charges | Relying on once you e-book your award flight, you could possibly be hit with a steep charge:
We’ll assume you employ this profit 3 times per 12 months: as soon as 21-179 days out from departure, as soon as 7-20 days out and as soon as inside six days of departure. |
$140. |
| Waived journey charges | Numerous journey charges not apply to elite standing members, similar to the decision middle reservation charge, same-day confirmed charge and same-day standby charge. | $100. |
| Final Seat availability | Final Seat is a redemption tier that’s 2,500 miles dearer (one-way) than a Normal award seat, and 12,500 miles dearer than a Worth award seat. We don’t advocate utilizing your miles this fashion, however it may be useful in a pinch. | $15. |
| Stretch seating | Stretch seating is most popular seats with extra legroom. You’ll obtain a free improve to Stretch seating at check-in if there’s one obtainable. We’ll assume a low success price, and provides a worth of $2 per flight. | $65. |
| Complete: | $2,095. |
Elite 50k: $5,825
Elite 50k is Frontier’s mid-tier standing. You will need to fly 50,000 miles (or 50 segments) with Frontier to attain it.
We’re assuming you’ll fly 60,000 miles, with a mean flight distance of 750 miles. That’s a mean of 80 one-way flights.
| Profit particulars | Worth | |
|---|---|---|
| Redeemable mileage incomes on Frontier flights | You’ll obtain a 25% bonus on the redeemable miles you earn (1.25 miles per mile flown). This profit doesn’t enhance the variety of elite qualifying miles you’ll earn. | $180. |
| Carry-on | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $3,600. |
| Seat task | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. You possibly can even e-book Stretch seating at checkout — you don’t have to attend till check-in. This drastically improves your success price; we’ll increase the worth to $12 per flight. | $960. |
| Household pooling | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $20. |
| Precedence boarding | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $400. |
| Waived award redemption charges | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $175. |
| Waived journey charges | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $140. |
| Final Seat availability | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $20. |
| Household seating | You and as much as eight companions in your reservation can all obtain advance seat assignments without spending a dime — together with Stretch seating. This profit is large, however we’ll mood its worth as a result of we’ve already listed advance seat assignments for you. | $300. |
| Low cost Den membership | You’ll obtain 50% off a Low cost Den membership, which prices $59.99 per 12 months (and an preliminary $40 enrollment charge in the event you’re not at the moment a member). Low cost Den unlocks decrease fares. | $30. |
| Complete worth | $5,825. |
Elite 100k: $12,270
Elite 100k is Frontier’s highest elite standing. You will need to fly a whopping 100,000 miles (or 100 segments) to realize Elite 100k.
We’re assuming you’ll fly 120,000 miles, with a mean flight distance of 750 miles. That’s a mean of 160 one-way flights.
| Profit particulars | Worth | |
|---|---|---|
| Redeemable mileage incomes on Frontier flights | You’ll obtain a 50% bonus on the redeemable miles you earn (1.5 miles per mile flown). Once more, this profit doesn’t enhance the variety of elite qualifying miles you’ll earn. | $600. |
| Checked bag | You’ll obtain a free checked bag weighing as much as 40 kilos. Most baggage value at the very least $55. We’ll assume you verify a bag for 30% of your flights at a price of $55 per bag. | $2,640. |
| Carry-on | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. Nevertheless, since you now obtain a free checked bag, we’ll assume you carry a bag much less usually — for 45% of your flights. | $4,320. |
| Seat task | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $1,920. |
| Household pooling | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $25. |
| Precedence boarding | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $800. |
| Waived award redemption charges | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $350. |
| Waived journey charges | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $280. |
| Final Seat availability | Identical profit, extra frequent utilization. | $25. |
| Low cost Den membership | Low cost Den membership is totally free with Elite 100k. | $60. |
| Household standing (the Works bundle) | The Works bundle affords the next advantages for as much as eight vacationers:
We’ll mood this profit’s worth as we’ve already accounted for related advantages for you. |
$1,250. |
| Complete worth | $12,270. |
What if I’m ranging from scratch?
The worth at which we’ve arrived assumes you’ll use Frontier elite standing for a complete 12 months. In case you’re ranging from scratch, you gained’t get this worth throughout your first 12 months, as you gained’t get these advantages till after you’ve achieved elite standing. That can virtually actually be months and months into the 12 months.
To assist, we’ve taken the above valuations and transformed them to a worth per elite qualifying mile, as follows:
- Elite 20k: $2,095 / 24,000 = 8.7 cents per qualifying mile.
- Elite 50k: $5,825 / 60,000 = 9.7 cents per qualifying mile.
- Elite 100k: $12,270 / 120,000 = 10 cents per qualifying mile.
For instance, in the event you can obtain 105,000 qualifying miles, you’d get no advantages from the primary 19,999 miles you fly. You’d then take pleasure in Elite 20k advantages for the subsequent 30,000 miles flown (at a price of 8.7 cents per mile). At this level you’ll have earned Elite 50k standing, and reap these advantages for the subsequent 50,000 miles (at a price of 9.7 cents per mile). Lastly, you’ll have achieved Elite 100k standing and revel in these advantages for the remaining 5,000 miles (at a price of 10 cents per mile).
In different phrases, in the event you’re ranging from scratch and you work that you just’ll earn 105,00 elite qualifying miles in 2023, you’d get $7,960 value of advantages from Frontier elite standing.
You’ll want to modify the numbers above for every tier primarily based by yourself private valuation. For instance, In case you by no means journey with buddies or household, your valuation might be a whole lot of {dollars} much less. Likewise, in the event you solely journey with a backpack, you’ll seemingly not profit from the carry-on or checked bag advantages.
Associated: Easy methods to change or cancel a Frontier Airways flight
Is it value pursuing Frontier elite standing?
This reply relies upon completely in your journey habits. These (admittedly astronomical) projected financial savings are primarily based on ceaselessly utilizing all the advantages afforded to you. In brief, in the event you fly Frontier recurrently, this elite standing successfully turns the airline into an everyday non-low-cost provider with all of the charges which might be waived.
Listed below are some overarching inquiries to ponder earlier than you decide to Frontier elite standing.
Will you truly use these advantages?
As talked about earlier, these perks solely have worth in the event you truly use them. Therefore, a frequent Frontier flyer that all the time checks a bag or brings a carry-on is way extra more likely to get hundreds of {dollars} in worth from Frontier versus a traveler who solely travels with a backpack. Run the numbers and see if loyalty to Frontier is definitely value your time primarily based on how usually you will truly use the included advantages.
Does Frontier serve the places you journey to?
Frontier doesn’t provide the ubiquity of different airways like United Airways, American Airways and Delta Air Strains. It doesn’t fly to locations like Europe, Asia and Africa. It usually serves secondary airports that cater to low-cost airways as a substitute of main hubs.
If Frontier will get you to the place you need to go, elite standing is value attaining. If the airline solely takes you to 50% of the locations you plan to go, it might be value incomes elite standing with a extra outstanding airline as a substitute.
Associated: Which low-cost provider do you have to fly? Evaluating Frontier Airways and Spirit Airways
What’s the incremental worth of 1 tier over the subsequent?
It’s attainable that you could possibly wind up inside placing distance of the subsequent standing tier. You’ll want to think about whether or not the advantages are value pushing for it. There’s no sense in going out of your method for perks that don’t matter to you.
How delicate are you to cost and comfort?
This pastime is stuffed with trade-offs, probably the most frequent being the choice to make use of your most popular airline when it’s not essentially the most handy or most cost-effective. Would you e-book a one-stop Frontier flight if Southwest had a extra handy nonstop choice? If the reply isn’t any, it will not be value going out of your option to earn Frontier standing — or any elite standing, for that matter.
Are you able to take pleasure in elitelike perks with a bank card?
The Frontier Airways World Mastercard® comes with a couple of advantages that you just’ll in any other case want to achieve Elite 20k standing for:
- You possibly can pool your factors with as much as eight family and friends members.
- You gained’t be charged for award redemptions for reserving journey inside 180 days (which once more prices between $15 and $75).
- Zone 2 precedence boarding.
As well as, the cardboard earns 1 elite qualifying mile per greenback you spend — even when it’s not on Frontier purchases. This implies the cardboard is an absolute gem that can assist you obtain elite standing quicker. In case you spend on the cardboard, you could possibly scale back your value and energy required to earn Frontier elite standing considerably.
The Frontier Airways World Mastercard incurs an $89 annual charge. Nevertheless, it additionally comes with an annual $100 flight voucher after you spend $2,500 on purchases every account anniversary 12 months.
The knowledge for the Frontier card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Associated: The perfect bank cards to achieve elite standing
Backside line
Frontier is thought for including charges for every little thing from seat assignments to baggage. Nevertheless, in the event you can obtain even the bottom Frontier standing, Elite 20k, flying Frontier instantly turns into cheaper. You’ll get issues like free seat choice, a free carry-on bag, precedence boarding and a number of other different perks which will in any other case value you over $100 on a one-way ticket.
