How to Get the Most Out of the Frontier All-You-Can-Fly Offer
Buffets are good if you come hungry and have a plan of attack. You must be sure that you will eat more than you paid for admission; otherwise, you might as well order one dish and end the day. The frontier is going crazy! All-You-Can-Fly is a travel buffet, but it’s not for everyone. If you think you have hunger, here’s how to get your money’s worth.
Go crazy! The Summer Pass is an unlimited travel pass that allows you to travel on Frontier flights both domestically and internationally from May 2 to September 30, 2023 at a set price. Typically for $1,000, Frontier sells an undisclosed but limited number of $400 summer passes (the plan will auto-renew for $1,000 for summer if you don’t cancel by September 30). If your wanderlust extends beyond the summer months, the airline also offers a limited number of annual tickets for $1,300 (usually priced at $1,999).
What’s the catch?
Frontier’s plan, of course, is to sell enough tickets to make enough money to make up for their usual loss rate for seats that remain empty on most flights. But they also seem to be hoping they’ve put in enough restrictions and loopholes – from blackout dates to automatic renewals to additional fees and taxes – that most people who buy a pass will either not actually fly that much or end up paying enough for additional services and fees or for accompanying tickets in order for the airliner to take the lead.
This isn’t the first time Frontier has offered big discounts on this program. Their annual pass was reduced to $600 last November for flights starting this May, according to the Wall Street Journal. We have yet to see how Frontier manages the program in practice (you’ll probably see disgruntled customers complaining on Twitter about Frontier in May if the rollout doesn’t go smoothly).
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Frontier lays out the deal’s limitations on its website . Here are the most revealing ones:
- Flights can only be booked up to 24 hours before flight departure for domestic flights and 10 days before flight departure for international flights.
- Flights and seats are subject to availability; the last seat is not guaranteed.
- Flights are subject to the following shutdown periods: 25, 26, 29 May; June 29, 30; July 1-5, 8, 9; August 31; 1, 4 September.
- Flights do not include any additional services such as baggage or seat selection.
- Taxes, fees and surcharges are collected at the time of booking, including a fee of $0.01 per flight booked.
- If you book a flight and “no show” you are “subject to the terms and conditions set out in Frontier’s contract of carriage” so be sure to cancel if you know you won’t make the flight. If you repeatedly fail to appear or “violate the terms and conditions ”, you may receive financial penalties, including having your pass revoked without a refund.
How to get the most out of Frontier’s Go Wild! All you can fly
Since plane tickets do not become available for booking and confirmation until the day of departure for domestic flights, you need to be flexible in order to use the pass. Seats are not guaranteed when the flight is fully booked, so be prepared to change dates at your discretion if necessary. You will have a bit more leeway on international flights as you will have a 10 day window to book your round trip flight. However, if you want to stay more than 10 days, you won’t know when you’ll be back until you leave, which can be unnerving.
Plan ahead
If you don’t work remotely, it might be too risky for you to fly because you won’t be able to balance your free time if your plans change at the last minute. The same applies to hotel bookings, so it will be best if you can stay with friends and family or are not picky about hotel accommodation. If you work remotely or have a mixed schedule, take your work supplies with you in case you need to extend your trip a bit.
Also, expect things to go wrong. Flights are constantly canceled or delayed. Since last November, Frontier no longer has dedicated customer service , according to CNN. So if you are easily annoyed by trying to solve a problem without talking to the person, take that into account before buying a pass.
Prefer many short trips over several long trips
Since you can only really get your money’s worth by flying frequently, try to travel as often as possible. Check out the list of city-to-city flights you can take here . Find your city in the list and see where you can fly directly (if there are flights and places). Remember that when you are in another city, you can fly to another, but you will need to make sure that your bookings match. Just be prepared to pay fees and taxes for each flight (they can add up as these are technically last minute flights so they can be inflated).
Fly internationally
Since you can fly unlimited all summer long, international flights will give you the best bang for your buck. Here is a list of countries Frontier flies to . The best way would be to book all flights – both outbound, country-to-country and return – within your allotted 10-day window to give yourself some confidence, and plan for those dates. If you are flying from the USA, you can fly to 12 different countries. Since there are 152 days between March 2 and September 30, you can theoretically fly into one of them if you stay no more than 10 days in each of them, having booked tickets for incoming and outgoing flights at the same time (and provided that there are available flights on these and back). countries within 10 days). Doable or not, it’s a mindset to get the most out of a summer pass.
Travel light
Since you’ll hopefully be taking a lot of flights, you’ll want to make your life easier and only take a small bag with you. Frontier only allows free transportation of a personal bag. There is an additional charge for hand luggage and checked baggage and the price varies depending on the flight. You can check their bag sizes here . I have personally flown the Frontier many times with a medium sized backpack (less than 35 pounds) as a personal item and have not been charged for it as hand luggage. However, they say they “check at boarding” and technically can charge you if your personal item is larger than their dimensions allow.
bottom line
Go crazy! The Summer Pass is a great option for flexible travelers who like to pack light, especially for those who work remotely and are already planning an active summer trip. Most people may not tick all of these boxes, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get a decent deal on the deal.