Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline known for its ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) model. In spite of its no-frills approach to air travel, Frontier Airlines has faced increasing criticism from consumers, journalists, advocacy groups, and the media for its unfair business practices. In 2023, Frontier Airlines was the most complained-about airline. Since 2022, Frontier Airlines received almost 6,500 BBB complaints, many of which consisted of specific issues like "customer service," "repair." Frontier Airlines customers have heavily-criticized the airline because of its history of prioritizing profits over passengers due to the airline's deceptive and exploitive business practices.

Frontier Airlines

Basic information
Founded	1994
Type	Public
Industry	Airlines
Official website	https://flyfrontier.com/

Consumer-impact summary

Over the years, Frontier Airlines has earned itself a budget-focused reputation because of its controversial business practices and business operations. The most well-known of these issues are:

• Denying boarding for customers due to the voluntary overbooking of flights
• Not compensating passengers or providing worthless forms of compensation to passengers for operational shortfalls (e.g., lost/mishandled luggage, canceled flights)
• Engaging in bait‑and‑switch tactics by charging passengers for "extra" services during checkout
• Charging customers for medical supplies
• Charging customers for speaking to a human
• Charging customers inconsistent fees without transparent price posting
• Charging customers succeeding fees in addition to the already-paid fee after the initial sale
• Temporarily removed its phone support in 2022, but reintroduced it in 2024 because of high customer demand
• Collect personal data on passengers before setting the price of seats
• Forcing customers to waive their right to sue or join class actions if they enroll in their fly pass program
• Sells passengers' personal information to third parties without making opting out readily available
• Making it difficult to check-in for flights online via web-based check-in

Incidents

Deliberately selling more seats on flights than available, then denying boarding for passengers

Compared to other airlines, including other airlines with a ULCC model, Frontier Airlines has the highest involuntary denied-boarding rate among carriers in the United States. In 2023 to 2024, Frontier had 3.21 involuntary bumps, the highest recorded number of involuntary bumps from 2023 to 2024. As a comparison, American Airlines follows this number with a rate of 0.6, a rate 400% lower than Frontier Airlines. At about 3.21 involuntary bumps per 10,000 passengers, this means that a paying Frontier Airlines passenger is about eight five times more likely to be denied boarding than an American Airlines passenger because of Frontier Airlines' practice of deliberately overbooking flights.

The following is an account from Frontier Airlines passenger, Erin Woltjen, who was denied boarding while attempting to board her flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta:

"I scanned my boarding pass from my phone and it didn't work. He looks at the computer and he says to us, 'I'm sorry, the plane's been overbooked.' And he goes on to explain that none of us are getting on the plane at this time."

The passenger was ultimately given a refund after speaking with a Frontier Airlines spokesperson. Many other passengers share Miss Woltjen's experience of being denied boarding due to Frontier Airlines' budget-focused practice of overbooking flights.

Failing to compensate passengers for cancelations and delays

Frontier Airlines has a large history of refund complaints by customers. In 2022, Frontier Airlines accounted for 13% of all refund-related complaints filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT), and only 2.9% of all boarded U.S. airline-boarded passengers were Frontier Airlines passengers. This indicates an extremely high complaint rate. Additionally, the airline was fined $2.2 million by the DOT, only 0.066% of the company's revenue in 2022. This equates to a person making $100,000 per year being fined $66.

There are numerous examples of Frontier Airlines providing worthless or inadequate compensation to customers, especially in the form of vouchers. Aviation outlet Simple Flying has warned consumers about Frontier’s unfair and “highly restrictive” compensation practices, advising passengers to decline vouchers and request cash refunds when they are legally entitled to them. In 2024, Frontier Airlines issued travel vouchers in an attempt to compensate bumped passengers. The vouchers were often only valid for 90 days, and excluded taxes, fees, the cost of seat selection, and the cost of baggage, rendering these forms of compensation effectively "worthless" in many circumstances.

The DOT has implemented a new rule that airlines must follow that mandates airlines to:

1. Automatically rebook passengers on the next available flight for free in the event of a cancelation due to a controllable circumstance or provide a refund to the original payment if the passengers chooses not to accept the new travel plans.
2. Issue a voucher or flight credit that is transferrable and valid for 5 years if the passengers opts for one.

In 2024, Mighty Travels Premium reported a YTD flight cancelation rate of 1.7%. Frontier ranked among the highest of airlines with a cancelation rate in August and October with a rate of 3.3% and 3.1% respectively according to DOT Air Travel Consumer Reports. Though not explicitly stated, the recent implementation of these DOT rules allude to the obvious shortcomings of Frontier's current rebooking practices.

Bait-and-switch practices

It is common for ULCC airlines to advertise low fares, and then add strict fees after the fact, making the posted fare difficult to purchase as-is. Frontier Airlines is exceptionally notorious for this. In 2023, Frontier constantly advertised low base fares for flights, but pressed fees for additional services. After declaring baggage and choosing seats, passengers may ultimately pay a total price about three to five times higher than the advertised base fare.

Charging customers for speaking with a human agent & ending phone support

Frontier Airlines has a history of charging passengers a $20 to $25 "Airport Assistance Fee" for communicating with their in-person support staff.

There is also a history of charging $35 fee for talking to customer service agents over the phone.

As of June 2025, passengers are still charged a $25 "non-refundable" fee for speaking with Frontier airport agents. They may qualify for an exemption, though.

In 2022, Frontier shut down its customer service phone hotline, leaving customers only the option to seek support via live chat. This has since been reversed in 2024.

Unfair treatment of passengers with disabilities and medical conditions

Multiple passengers have expressed their disappointment with Frontier for their egregious treatment of passengers with medical needs. Perhaps one of the most notable of these instances was when a Frontier agent forced a paralyzed passenger to pay in cash to check a medical-supply despite a confirmation from TSA that it contained no prohibited items.

On more than one occasion, Frontier has mishandled mobility aids.

Incentivizing gate agents to squeeze passengers on bag fees

It is a common practice for ULCC airlines staff to audit passengers' bag dimensions while they queue for boarding at airport gates. However, Frontier Airlines is arguably a great deal more predatory in this practice. In a 2024 U.S. Senate Committee Meeting where several major airline executives were present, Senator Josh Hawley raised a question about whether the airlines paid a "bounty" to their employees for catching passengers with bags that were too big at airport gates. Bobby Schroeter, who is the officer in charge of Frontier Airlines' commercial operations, states: "We charge them an incentive... we recognize this [gate-side baggage auditing] is a hard job and therefore, we incentivize them to do that... $10 per bag." According to a Frontier Airlines spokesperson, the commision-based bonus is "simply an incentive for our airport customer service agents to help ensure compliance with our policies and that all customers are treated equally.” Many customers argue that the incentives create financial motivation to not treat passengers "equally," but rather to be overly critical, and even aggressive in some circumstances over enforcing bag size limits.

Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines cumulatively spent $26 million between 2022 and 2023 paying gate agents incentives to catch passengers with bags that did not fit in the airlines' gate-side sizers.

Frontier Airlines tends to be more predatory in bag auditing at airport gates because they target passengers at the moment before boarding. Not only are passengers caught off-guard at this moment, the fees they pay at this time are a great deal higher, sometimes $99 compared to a lower fee when paid earlier.

Abbey Colville, a Frontier passenger, was forced to pay a $99 fee at the gate for the same carry-on bag—twice.

A class-action lawsuit alleges that Frontier gate agents utilized the gate-side bag-sizers smaller than the posted size to mislead passengers into paying fees for bags that were actually within size limits. To further push Frontier's budget-focused business model, the bag fee incentives, coupled with their bait-and-switch practice of cheap tickets, and multiple fees, appears to be an overarching strategy to exploit their customers as much as possible so that the airline can make as much money as possible.

Controversial and exploitive pricing strategy

Frontier Airlines has been criticized multiple times for collecting personal details from their passengers, like ZIP codes, age, and gender, before showing seat fees at check out. Suspiciously, other airlines like Delta, American, and United do not ask for personal details before showing the prices of their seats. Frontier and Spirit have faced Senate scrutiny for this practice because it's believed that they use this information to adjust prices for different passengers who purchase tickets for the same flight based on demographic data.

Not only does this confuse customers about the true prices that Frontier posts, it is an indirect discriminator practice. It is reasonable to assume that Frontier adjusts prices based on:

• ZIP code, which possibly correlates with passengers' income bracket or race
• Age, which possible correlates with passengers' ability to pay for a certain price
• Gender, which possible correlates with passengers' willingness to pay for a certain price

Forced arbitration via Frontier Airlines "Fly Pass"

Frontier's "GoWild! All You Can Fly" pass requires that members agree to terms that force them to resolve legal disputes outside of court and force them to abstain from joining class actions.

"You and Frontier agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims between us... tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory... "In addition, by agreeing to resolve disputes through arbitration, You and Frontier agree to each unconditionally waive the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action, representative proceeding, or private attorney general action."

In 2024, federal Colorado judge, Judge Kathryn A. Starnella dismissed a class action lawsuit filed against Frontier Airlines by fly pass member, Jeriyma Hartsfield for a breach of contract. Despite Hartsfield's attempt to representa class of passengers who also faced a similar situation, the lawsuit was ultimately shot down by Judger Starnella because she deduced that Hartsfield, "had ample opportunity to review the terms, including the arbitration clause, before agreeing to them." Hartsfield was then left to attempt to resolve the matter via arbitration instead of in court.

Lack of transparency with opting out of personal data sharing with third parties

Frontier Airlines shares its customers personal data with "service providers" and "affiliates."

"Frontier Airlines discloses your personal information to third parties for business purposes. When we disclose personal information, we enter an agreement that describes the purpose and requires the recipient to both keep that personal information confidential and not use it for any purpose except in performing the agreement. We provide your personal information for a business purpose to the following categories of third parties: (i) service providers; (ii) our affiliates and codeshare partner; and (iii) third parties to which you authorize Frontier Airlines to disclose your personal information in connection with products or services you elect to purchase from them."

In addition to personal data sharing, some of this sharing may count as selling of personal data under California law. Like with most companies, the mechanisms for opting out of these practices are buried in complex legal paragraphs, and they not made clearly available for customers. Of course, these terms only apply to passengers who are residents of California because of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Passengers outside of the state of California do not currently receive the same comprehensive rights of legal California residents in this case.

Obfuscating web-based check-in and charging passengers for it

Frontier Airlines has a suspicious history of technical glitches and errors with their website and mobile application when customers attempt to check in for their flight online. In addition to the technical inconveniences, passengers have reported long wait times for customer service and unresponsive support from customer service while seeking assistance with these online check-in issues. Passengers who checked in late, some no doubt due to the technical issues, were charged unexpected fees for doing so.

In 2023, Frontier's check-in form used to be readily available on the front page of their website. In 2024, passengers were then instructed to perform an additional step before checking in online: downloading the Frontier mobile app: Frontier Airlines Obfuscates Web Check-in Form

As on June 2025, passengers must pay a $5 "Web Check In" fee to check in on Frontier's website.