A Spoiled Business Traveler Flies Frontier: The True Story of a Fare Sale Flight on a Budget Airline (With Bonus Kittens!)
After two years of near-constant business travel, all on US Air (may it rest in peace) and/or American Airlines, I quickly earned status. And equally as quickly, I became one of those travelers. You know, the spoiled, always-upgraded, holding up your boarding process so the flight attendant can bring me a gin and tonic kind of traveler. I’ve even waved to my husband from seat 2C as he shuffled his non-status-having sorry ass back to seat 28F. Like while going on vacation together. (I’m really not a very nice person.)
Thus, it is safe to say: I don’t like flying in coach. But more than that, I don’t like staying on the ground. Which is why I will do pretty much anything to make travel affordable. And which is also why I found myself on a Frontier flight out of Trenton last month. A Frontier flight which cost a grand total of $30. Total. Round trip. From Trenton, New Jersey to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
The Outbound Trip
I have to admit, after spending far too long in the slightly-larger-than-a-Burger-King airport that is Trenton Mercer, there was fear in my heart as I boarded my first $15 flight. Would there be seats? A lavatory? Wings? An engine??? The answer to those questions were yes, yes, of course yes, and obviously yes. Though I could not help but snap a quick photo of said wings and one engine as I boarded, just for proof. There they are, up in the header photo of this post. It totally was a plane.
And more than a plane, it was actually a rather nice plane. It was either a newer model or had been renovated recently, as the seats were new and thin, allowing for–gasp–some semblance of leg room. My one personal item (more on this later) fit perfectly under the seat in front of me. And by some stroke of luck, I had no seat mates, which meant that I had an aisle, a middle, and a window seat all to myself.
But wait! There’s more! The flight attendants were actually nice. And hold onto your hats for this one–the plane took off early. And we landed early. And were able to, like, get off the plane early (a pet peeve of mine is arriving early only to sit on the tarmac at my destination waiting for an available gate. And annoyingly, I’ve found this to be more the rule than the exception.) I was driving away from the Sixt Rental Car facility before my flight was even scheduled to land!
It was baffling.
Of course, I did not celebrate at that point. No. I was confident that flight was a fluke, and that I’d pay for my cheap fare with a painful flight home.
I was wrong.
The Return Trip–With Bonus Kittens!
After enjoying a glass of chardonnay at MSP–a glass of chardonnay which, with tip, cost as much as my return flight–I sauntered over to the gate ten minutes before boarding to find…boarding was almost complete! Yikes! So I scurried on board to find seats, lavatories, wings and engines, just like before. And just like before, we took of–and landed, and got off the plane–early. (EARLY!)
The return flight was just as painless as the outbound flight, with one added bonus: the guy sitting sort-of next to me was flying with a bag of kittens as his carry on! That’s right–my $15 fare came with a kitten-adjacent seat! Shortly after I sat down, I noticed the man sitting at the window (I was on the aisle) was looking down at his personal item a lot. And then I saw the personal item move. And then I heard a meow. And then he pulled the bag up and I–and every single other person passing by during boarding–went ‘AWWWWW! KITTENS!’
After we had safely reached cruising altitude, the kitten-carrying man asked if I minded that he put the bag ‘o kittens in the middle seat (which was empty) to which I replied ‘that would be awesome’ and contented myself with staring at their little kitten faces for most of the flight (I also had a nice conversation with kitten-man. So, like, I wasn’t just some creepy silent woman molesting his pets.) Oh, and in case you were wondering: the kittens names are River and Tigger. No, I do not know which one is which. But really, can I get an ‘awwwww’?
So there you have it. A $30 round trip flight. Both flights were more than on-time. The flight crew was lovely, the planes themselves were perfectly acceptable, and I got to sit next to a bag of kittens. If that’s not a travel value, I don’t know what is.
Additional Tips for Flying Cheaply on Budget Airlines
- Make sure you print your boarding pass out in advance (or have a digital version on your phone.) I don’t think Frontier does this, but other carriers will charge you to do this at the airport. So, like, just don’t wait until you get to the airport to do it.
- Skip the in flight extras. Do you really need a soda? Do you really? Because they will charge for one. So, like, just don’t buy one. (Or if you must have a beverage, get a glass of wine. They are $7 on Frontier, just like on any other domestic coach flight.)
- If you want a specific seat, pay the extra fee when you book the flight. It will only get more expensive from that point on. (On Frontier, it was $9 per leg to reserve a seat at the time of booking; it was $15 per seat at the time of check in. Full disclosure: I paid an additional $18 ensure that I’d have an aisle seat. But that’s because I have issues.)
- The same goes for baggage; it will always be cheaper to pay for baggage–either checked or carry-on–at the time of booking. If you want to fly really inexpensively, just don’t take much stuff. I carried ONLY a personal item (which is free on Frontier) for my week-long trip to South Dakota. If I can do it–with half of that personal item filled with a dSLR and an extra lens–you can do it. I promise.
- Look for fare sales. Because the only thing better than a budget airline is a fare sale on a budget airline. (Did I mention $30 round trip?!?)
***
Another fare sale is happening today on Frontier. Check it out HERE. And the future looks bright for cheap flights as well. Sixty-nine dollars from Hartford to Edinburg? Who wants to join me on a scotch-drinking trip in 2017?
Disclosure: No one paid me to write this. No one even encouraged me to write this. But come on–a fabulous $30 round trip flight? I had to share. Thanks, Frontier Air. I will fly you again. Oh yes. I will.
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I was just going to ask if you were going to take advantage of the current fare sale … have you pulled the trigger? I can’t bring myself to fly Frontier. In my mind, they’re the airline that bought Midwest Express and took away our chocolate chip cookies (my primary airport is MKE).
I have not…yet. I actually just got back online to look at it again. The issue is that I can’t decide where I want to go. For my last flight, it was a no-brainer–I so wanted to see South Dakota, and MSP was the closest I could get.
Sorry about your cookies. That would bum me out. But for $30? I’ll bring my own. 😉
I’ve never flown to or through MKE, though I’ve heard good things. In fact, I’ve never even been to Milwaukee, despite having spent all winter working in Chicago. I must remedy that asap–I’ve heard great things!
Milwaukee is actually a great place to visit, but unless you’re a fan of cold weather, I’d avoid it from November – March/April. We’ve got museums, sports teams, parks, breweries (so many breweries), bike trails, music/arts, amazing food … and a statue of The Fonz on the riverwalk. Fronteir flies here, so maybe catch it on one of their sales 🙂
I can get to Chicago for $40 round trip right now. The issue is that rental cars at ORD are insane! I will get there some day, though.
Oh and I can handle the cold. I made it through winter in Chicago. I can do anything. 😉 Also: breweries have heat!
You don’t need a rental car in Chicago! In fact, it’s much easier to use the train/bus to get everywhere!
If you are staying in Chicago proper, you are correct. I was talking about the desire to drive to Milwaukee from ORD. For that, I’d need a car. I also needed a car when I was staying downtown and working on the south side–79th and Honore. To take the train plus the bus would have been a 90 minute commute. Which is why I know that car rental prices are insane 😉
I’ve heard decent things about Frontier so it was good to get your opinions as well. I wish every flight came with kittens! 😉
It was definitely a good flight. My current big regret was hesitating yesterday and not booking two $38 round trip flights to Orlando for my husband and myself (because why not, right?) And yes, all flights should come with kittens. Agreed!
For a short time about 10 years ago, Frontier flew from LAX to SFO, which is a route I travel a lot. Flights were cheap and empty, and had tv’s on the back of the seats before Virgin even existed! Of course, they ended that route quickly. Oh well, it was good while it lasted!
Don’t you hate it when great things go away??
Also: awww. You fly from LA to SF. I drive. It’s…really stupid far. Flying is totally valid!
This past spring, I flew Alaska Air from Seattle to LA. I think I paid $80. And it was a great flight. I’d fly Alaska any time. If I lived on the proper coast.
Thank you so much for showing how great budget travel can be! I used to work for Frontier and the hardest thing for me as a flight attendant was how grumpy people would be at all the additional costs! I get it, we’re all spoiled by free drinks and free carry-ons, but when you really look at the cost of your ticket on other airlines you can see that nothing is actually free! Before I worked at Frontier I started flying them bc I always go straight to sleep on a flight, and I was going to have to check a bag anyway, so I might as well check one with a company that doesn’t have a weight limit (don’t quote me on this, things may have changed lol). I spent $70 round trip, including buying my seats and paying for a bag during one of their ridiculous sales. I LOVE BUDGET TRAVEL!!
Yes! Thank you! I will never understand why people complain about fees when the ticket price is so low. Math is simple, people! It is still cheaper, even if you do pay for the ‘extras’. And personally, I like being able to choose which extras I want! I don’t NEED a free checked bag (I often don’t even need anything other than a personal item) so I like that my ticket price doesn’t include them.
Team budget travel!