Summary
- Frontier Miles offers three award ticket categories with varying availability levels.
- Award tickets start at 10,000 miles for Value tickets within the US. Tickets come with additional fees, however.
- Using miles for Last Seat awards can provide the best value, especially when it is close to departure.
Frontier Miles is the points and loyalty program of US-based Frontier Airlines. Members can earn and redeem miles only on Frontier Airlines flights and also benefit from some frequent flyer perks when flying with the airline.
Mileage earning has recently shifted to a pure revenue-based system. However, redeeming miles for flights is still based on a fixed rate system (with rates determined by route). Using miles for flights is the only real option, so it pays to understand the system well.
Using miles for Frontier Airlines flights
Frontier Miles still operates a fixed-price award redemption system. This is unusual, though, in that there are three different categories of tickets with different availability. The availability of these will be linked to the remaining flight inventory, but the miles prices paid are not linked to the ticket price.
The three levels of flight award are:
- Value. This is the lowest-priced category and will have the least availability. They are more likely to be available when booking further in advance, at off-peak times, and on less popular routes. Staying flexible in plans and timing may help to find availability.
- Standard. This category is also restricted, but more seats are available at higher prices.
- Last Seat. This is the highest-priced option, but it guarantees an available seat on any flight that is not sold out. It is only available to Frontier Miles elite members.
Booking flights is straightforward. You use the standard Frontier flight search and select to search by miles. All flights can be booked online.
Rates for award tickets on Frontier Airlines flights
Awards in these three ticketing categories are then priced for different Frontier Airlines routes. Award tickets start at just 10,000 miles (for the lowest-priced Value award within the US and Puerto Rico). Awards are priced as one-way, with a return flight simply double the price (or you can mix and match categories, of course).
The full pricing for all routes is as follows (one-way prices):
|
Award region/route |
Value award price (miles) |
Standard award price (miles) |
Last Seat award price (miles) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Within the US and Puerto Rico |
10,000 |
20,000 |
22,500 |
|
To/from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, El Salvador, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Antigua |
15,000 |
25,000 |
27,500 |
Fees and charges for award flights
Low-cost airlines love additional charges, and Frontier Airlines is no exception when it comes to award tickets. On top of the miles price, there are some additional costs. These should definitely be taken into account and compared against the available standard cash ticket prices.
Taxes: For US flights, these will be $5.60 per one-way ticket. For international flights, they are higher (over $30 per sector, with the highest rates up to $112 for return flights to Mexico or up to $169 for return flights to Jamaica).
Booking fees: There is also a per-ticket booking fee:
- There is no fee when booking over 180 days in advance.
- There is no booking fee for Frontier Miles elite members or co-branded credit card holders.
- Other members pay $15 for booking between 21 and 179 days before the flight, $50 when booking seven to 20 days before, and $75 when booking less than seven days before.
Change and cancelation fees. Award tickets are subject to the same fees as standard cash tickets. Elite members can really benefit here, with free amendments up to seven days in advance from the Elite Silver level and full refundability up to one day before for top-level Elite Diamond members.
Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here.
Using Frontier Miles wisely
With such limited redeeming options, members will find themselves having to use miles for flights. The value that is obtained here can vary widely.
Using miles without fully comparing the value against available cash prices is not a good idea. Fares are often very low far in advance, and miles may not make sense. It could be better to keep miles for close-to-departure use. Elite members and credit card holders will not pay any additional ticket fee, so they can get much better value here.
The “Last Seat” awards available to elite members may seem more expensive, but they are only around twice the rate of the lowest “Value” awards (slightly more or less than double, depending on the route). Close to departure, especially when there are only a few seats left, the cash price would usually be much higher than twice the price it was months before. Keeping miles to use in these situations can give excellent value.
This strategy also works for those who hold a GoWild! Pass with Frontier Airlines. Such passes offer unlimited flights (for a season or for a full year) but have a major restriction with limited availability. Seats can only be confirmed close to departure (the day before for domestic flights and ten days before for international trips). If desired seats are not available, miles would be a useful alternative.
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Do you regularly use the Frontier Miles program? What do you think about the chances to spend miles and the availability of award seats? Feel free to discuss this in the comments section below.