Frontier Airlines Rewards Program Review (Frontier Miles)

Frontier Miles Review Summary

The Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles program is the 6th best frequent flyer program for 2021, according to WalletHub’s review. Some of the best things about the Frontier Miles program are miles worth an average of 0.99 cents apiece, no blackout dates on award flights, and multiple ways to earn miles.

Below, you can learn more about the Frontier Miles program, from its status levels and benefits to how to earn and redeem miles. You can also see a comparison between Frontier Miles and some other popular frequent flyer programs.

Frontier Miles Review Scorecard

#4 for Earning Policies
#1 for Rewards Value
#10 for Redemption Policies
#6 for Destination Coverage
#5 for Other Features

Earning Policies: How to Earn Frontier Miles

Category Rating: 11/15

Frontier Miles members earn miles whenever they make purchases through Frontier Airlines and its partners. Below is a detailed breakdown of the transactions that award miles.

Transactions That Earn Frontier Miles

• 1 Frontier Mile per mile flown: Frontier Airlines flights
• 1 - 5 Frontier Miles per $1 spent: Purchases on a Frontier Airlines credit card
• 1 - 2 Frontier Miles per $1 spent: Stays at hotel partners like Marriott and Wyndham
• 50 Frontier Miles per day: Car rentals from partners like Thrifty, Dollar, Hertz, Alamo and National. Can earn up to 500 miles per qualifying rental for rentals of 5+ days.
• 500 - 1,000 Frontier miles: Car rentals with Budget can earn up to 500 miles for 1 to 4-day rentals and 1,000 miles for 5+ days.
• Up to 10,000 Frontier Miles: Frontier Cruises with over two dozen cruise line partners
• 10 Frontier Miles per $1 spent: Orders from Teleflora (online flower delivery service)
• 4 Frontier Miles per $1 spent: Orders from Vinesse Wine Club

In addition, you may be able to find special deals on Frontier Airlines flights on Frontier’s website. You might be able to spend fewer miles than usual on a reward booking or earn more than usual on a regular booking.

Other Key Things to Know About Earning Frontier Miles

Earning limitations: Frontier Airlines does not specify a maximum number of miles you can earn per ticket.

Retroactive flight credit for members: Frontier Miles members can get credited for miles from any Frontier Airlines flight taken in the past 6 months if their frequent flyer number was not on the reservation (as long as they were a member at the time).

Retroactive flight credit for non-members: New Frontier Miles members can get miles for flights taken up to 6 months before they became a member.

Rewards Value: How Much Are Frontier Miles Worth?

Category Rating: 19/20

Frontier Miles are worth 0.99 cents each, on average, according to WalletHub’s research. That means you need about 25,000 Frontier miles to get a free flight, based on the average domestic fare of $245.

Below, you can check out how many Frontier miles you’ll need for some popular round-trip routes, on average.

• New York to Denver: 38,303 miles (or $379.20)
• Los Angeles to Denver: 14,070 miles (or $139.30)
• Washington, DC to Denver: 23,717 miles (or $234.80)

Redemption Policies: How to Redeem Frontier Miles

Category Rating: 9/20

Other Key Things to Know About Redeeming Frontier Miles

• There are no booking blackout dates.
• You can book a flight with miles up to 370 days before departure.
• There is a $75 short-notice booking fee.
• Frontier Airlines does not allow layovers/stopovers on reward flights.
• There is a $59 award-ticket redeposit/cancellation fee.

Other Features of the Frontier Miles Program

Category Rating: 8/20

The Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles rewards program is free to join, but you won’t receive any benefits from it other than earning miles until you qualify for one of the “Elite” levels. Qualification for Frontier Miles “Elite” status is based on:

• Frontier Miles earned
• Segments flown (number of flights taken)

The more flights you take with Frontier Airlines, and the more money you spend with a Frontier Airlines credit card, the higher your status level will go. The higher your Frontier Miles status level is, the more benefits you will receive on Frontier Airlines flights and the more you will save when you fly.

Below, you can see exactly what you’ll need to do to achieve and maintain each Frontier Airlines status level, along with the perks that come with it.

Members must satisfy a given status level’s qualifying requirements between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 to reach or maintain that status level and enjoy its benefits. Once you earn any Frontier Miles status level, you will keep it for the rest of the current calendar year and all of the next calendar year.

Other Key Features

• Frontier Miles typically expire after 6 months of inactivity (no earning or redemption), but expiration is paused indefinitely due to COVID-19.
• You can transfer miles between accounts for a fee.
• Buying miles costs more than they’re worth, as Frontier Miles are sold at a 171% markup, on average.

Destination Coverage: Where Can Frontier Miles Take You?

Category Rating: 4/25

Frontier Airlines flies to 99 U.S. destinations and 10 international destinations. In addition, Frontier Airlines has one partner airline, Volaris, which visits 21 U.S. destinations and 45 international destinations.

You can’t turn Frontier Miles into Volaris miles, or vice versa. However, you can redeem Frontier Miles for Volaris flights.

Summary: Frontier Miles Scores by Category

Frontier Airlines Credit Cards

This content is not provided or commissioned by any issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of an issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by an issuer. Some offers are from WalletHub partners.

There is only one Frontier Airlines credit card option, the Frontier Airlines Credit Card. It has an annual fee of $79 and an initial bonus of 50,000 miles for making $500 in purchases and paying the annual fee in the first 90 days. The card requires at least good credit for approval.

8 Tips for Frontier Miles Members

1. The best way to redeem Frontier Miles is for Frontier Airlines flights. Miles are worth 0.99 cents apiece that way.
2. Pool or transfer miles if it makes sense. Frontier Miles allows members to pool their miles together for easier redemption, but there is a fee.
3. Avoid buying Frontier Miles, if possible. Frontier Miles cost more to purchase than they are worth when redeemed, on average. However, it could be worth buying a small number if it puts you over the top for a free flight.
4. Take advantage of status perks. One of the biggest reasons that airline rewards programs are worth joining is that their status levels tend to provide a wealth of benefits, such as bonus miles, priority boarding and fee waivers. Make sure you take advantage of everything that the Frontier Miles program offers.
5. Consider applying for a Frontier Airlines credit card. The Frontier Airlines Credit Card could save the average person well over $1,000 in the first two years of use, according to WalletHub’s calculations.
6. Try the Island Approach with your credit cards. The Frontier Airlines Credit Card offers competitive rewards on Frontier Airlines flights, but different credit cards may provide better terms on other types of transactions. Using a collection of cards for specialized purposes can enable you to get the best deal on everything you buy.
7. Make sure to read Frontier Airlines reviews & Frontier Miles FAQs. Learning from experts and fellow travelers will help you pick up some helpful tips as well as avoid tricks and pitfalls.
8. Compare your flight options if you’re not wedded to Frontier Miles. Frontier Airlines is not the only airline with a rewarding loyalty program. You can see how Frontier Miles compares to a couple of popular alternatives below. You can also check out WalletHub’s rankings of the Best Frequent Flyer Programs to learn more.

Frontier Miles vs. Free Spirit vs. Rapid Rewards

Frontier Miles Review Methodology

Overall program rankings are based on the same methodology as WalletHub’s annual study on the Best Frequent Flyer Programs. Editor’s ratings reflect the sum of each rewards program’s scores across the study’s 6 major categories – airline coverage, partner coverage, rewards value, earning policies, redemption policies and additional features & policies – adjusted to a 5-point scale, to create a representative distribution of ratings.

WalletHub calculated Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles values by comparing flight rates between U.S. cities and popular travel destinations – both domestic and international – to the number of miles needed to book a flight. We applied the process to round-trip flights from Friday to Monday for each destination’s high and shoulder tourist seasons.