Summary

• Frontier Miles allows earning miles through revenue-based flight and extra spending and from a co-branded credit card.
• Spend miles when value is best by checking availability with flexible searching. Last-minute can often be the best value - especially for elite members.
• Elite status saves money with tangible benefits like free seat selection, hand luggage, and more.

Frontier Miles is the points and loyalty program of US-based Frontier Airlines. It allows members to collect miles on Frontier Airlines flights, and to spend them on free award tickets. It also benefits frequent flyers with elite status.

It is a much simpler program than those you see with the main full-service airlines. There are no additional airline partners and very limited ways to use miles. But it still represents a useful and rewarding program for regular Frontier flyers. This guide shares some perks and highlights of the program, arranged around earning miles, spending miles, and holding elite status.

Earning miles in Frontier Miles

Remember that additional spending will earn miles as well. Now that Frontier Miles has switched to pure revenue-based earning for flights, there are few opportunities to expedite or maximize earnings from flights. One bonus of revenue-based earning, however, is that all spending on extras (such as baggage, seat selection, or higher fare bundles) will also earn miles. With a low-cost airline such as Frontier Airlines, this can make up a large part of your spending.

Use a credit card for additional earnings. Frontier Miles is only really a program for US-based Frontier frequent flyers. They will have access to the co-branded Frontier Airlines World Mastercard. This earns miles on all spending but has a significant bonus for Frontier spend. With an annual discount rebate, the annual fee is effectively offset as well.

Spending miles in Frontier Miles

Use miles when the value is best. Frontier Miles uses a fixed-rate award ticketing system. Availability is split into three categories (Value, Standard, and Last Seat). The first two categories have limited availability, but the pricing is not linked to the current ticket price.

This makes the value you get variable. Cash rates typically go up close to departure, and the miles rates in those cases often represent the best value.

Search flexibly for award seats. With any fixed-price award program, seats are either available for the price or they are not. One flight can be sold out on awards, but another is wide open, even if standard cash ticket prices are similar.

To take advantage of this, and get the best value from miles, consider the following:

• Always check flights at different times, or even different dates
• Possibly look at alternate airports
• If booking for multiple people, look at breaking up and using different flights (there may only be one or two seats available on a particular flight).

Earn elite status or take a credit card. Regular travelers will get much more value out of their miles if they have elite status in Frontier Miles (or, failing this, take out a co-branded credit card). This will eliminate close-in booking fees (of up to $75 when booking seven days before departure). Elite status will also open up Last Seat inventory – where some of the best value in miles can be found.

Take advantage of “Last Seat” booking. This allows elite members the chance to use miles to book any available seat (so booking onto any not-sold-out flight). This is an excellent, potentially very good value perk not offered by many loyalty programs. Availability-limited programs certainly do not offer it. Dynamically priced programs may allow this, but it could be at a very high point or miles price.

Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here.

Holding elite status in Frontier Miles

Save with elite status. The elite status benefits with Frontier Miles may not be as glamorous as those with some full-service airline loyalty programs. You are not going to get business or first class lounge access, nor are there lucrative free upgrades on offer. But you do get tangible benefits that can save money on every flight you take.

Good benefits are on offer from the first level. Each elite level offers tangible money-saving benefits. Starting from the first level of Elite Silver (earned with just 10,000 points), you will receive free standard seat selection and waived change/cancelation fees. The next level adds free hand luggage to all flights. The higher levels offer even more savings with free checked baggage and more. Top-level Diamond gives free “Discount Den” membership, offering cash discounts on many flights.

Take advantage of credit card promotions. There is no standard offer for elite status in Frontier Miles when you take out a co-branded credit card, but there are regular offers. In the first half of 2024, there is a promotion to earn Gold status with a $3,000 spend on the card. If you are using it as a main card, this should be attainable. Gold status will bring valuable benefits - including free seat selection, free cabin and checked baggage, and more.

Get more from the GoWild! Pass with elite status. The GoWild! Pass is an interesting and potentially valuable product from Frontier Airlines. It offers unlimited flights, but only close to departure and subject to availability. This is obviously more worthwhile for the flexible traveler. The pass only covers the standard base fare, but with elite status, you may get free seat selection and baggage as well.

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Are you a regular user of the Frontier Miles program? What do you think are the best value areas of the program and the parts that set it apart from other programs? Feel free to share in the comments section below.