Believe it or not, Frontier Airlines has been around since 1994. That’s just shy of 30 years. However it’s only been designated as a “major carrier” by the USDOT since early 2007. That is probably about the time when those of us not in Denver and the surrounding area started to take notice of the ultra low cost carrier.
Over the years Frontier has tried all different kinds of ways to get publicity and extra money:
- They sold flights for 100% off
- They had a status match offer (if you paid for the application)
- Their offer that was best given to your enemies
- Why they said checked bag fees were good
- They let you fly free to Orlando…if your name was Orlando
And that was just in the past 3 or 4 years!
In November, 2022, Frontier decided on another way to get extra money – a limited-time “all you can fly” pass. They called it the GoWild! Pass (GWP). With it, you could pay a flat fee and, effective May 2, 2023, passholders would be able to book flights for a fare of $0.01, plus taxes, fees and booking charges, for X amount of time (3 months, a “summer season,” a full year, etc. It depends on whatever the current promotion is). Adding baggage or assigned seating would, of course, cost extra. Originally introduced with only domestic flights, the program was eventually grown to include Frontier’s international flights to Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.
There was one catch – you had to book your domestic travel within 24 hours of the flight, or within 10 days of international travel (so they were obviously only filling up the few empty seats a flight would still have, last minute).
Frontier hasn’t let on how many people have actually bought their GWPs. However there’s a public Facebook group, run by fans of the GWP program, with about 10,000 members. If the comments of the group members are any indication, there seems to be a lot of buyer’s remorse. Here are some of the common problems mentioned:
Inability to find open seats
Members oftentimes couldn’t find an empty seat on a twice-a-week flight between Point A and Point B. You may have to work the system by flying to Point C (maybe on Frontier, maybe on another airline) and THEN flying on Frontier from Point C to B, because THAT flight happened to have an empty seat.
One person who got the GWP explained a situation where she searched for free flights for “tomorrow,” and those that were available included 12+ hours of flight times due to multiple connections; it was the only way they could get from Point A to Point B.
Cancelled flights
It’s hard enough to find domestic flights because you can only book 24 hours or less in advance. Frontier gives you a little more leeway for international flights (isn’t that nice of them), and even has occasional “extra” advanced booking time. And then they cancel the flight. That has to be SO frustrating.
(Almost) being charged for cancelled flights
Someone’s flight was changed from a 3-hour flight to a 9-hour flight with a layover. They decided to cancel. When they did, they were hit with a cancellation fee. Apparently if you use GWP, you can’t just cancel like a regular person. You have to cancel on the special portal they have. (this type of issue was brought up time and time again)
They don’t live where there are a lot of flights
Obviously, the more flights Frontier flies in and out of your area, the better your chances of finding flights with open seats. And if you live in a remote area, the GWP might wind up being such a bargain for you, because you’ll have less opportunity to use it.
The app stinks
The GWP app is apparently trash; it’s strongly recommended that you only use a browser. LOTS of people nowadays do the vast majority of their computer work on their phone, not an actual computer.
The system is not user-friendly or intuitive
Using GWP to your advantage apparently takes a learning curve. That’s great if you have the time and ability to learn it. If you don’t, and already bought the pass, welllll… (the FB group apparently has an 11-page FAQ. Yes, eleven pages to just learn how the system works).
They’re not the only ones!
Besides the experiences in the GWP Facebook group, there has been article after article about the pass and, yes, its positives…but also its glaring issues.
- Mashable
- NBC News
- Insider
- Michael Mastronardi, a SoCal-based video producer, posted a TikTok sharing his frustration when he tried to book an international trip with his GWP.
Overall Frontier’s GWP can be helpful if you’re in a place where you have time to learn the ins and outs of the system, are OK with planning very last-minute flights that might be cancelled, don’t mind spending the money you saved on GWP by spending extra nights in hotels because there weren’t any flights home for 3 days, may not necessarily care where you fly (“Hey, there’s a flight to San Jose in 10 hours; let’s go!”), and, if you have a goal of where to go, if you don’t mind the possibility of enduring multiple flights to get there (or back). Oh, and if you live in an area where Frontier has a decent amount of flights.
But otherwise? It sounds like there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse. Possibly not enough for Frontier to cancel the system – I mean, they’re still making a few hundred dollars on every person, when they may only typically pay $29 per flight. But overall, nah, it doesn’t sound very popular.
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30 comments
There are very narrow circumstances that this pass may be good. It might be good for someone who lives in a city with a non-stop Frontier Airlines flight to Cancun or some other international destination and the person likes going on spontaneous short trips there. Since international trips allow 10 days booking, one could book the outbound and return trips so that the return is 10 days or closer to the date they book the ticket.
Booking a domestic ticket is too risky unless one is confident that they will be able to get a return flight or has the flexibility to wait a number of days to get the return flight.
This is the airline in the US. No customer service phone line. I lost my luggage since January I have not received a phone call from anyone yet. My next step is to contact a lawyer for that. Hope I can resolve that issue.
Hahaha, that’s funny. You fly for one penny, the airline cannot get you there, so you cancel the flight and then they have the audacity to charge you money because you canceled a flight when they couldn’t get you to your destination.
You get what you pay for.
Too bad the airline one gets the pass from is the worst airline to possibly get a pass from. Too much planning for a 24 hour notice reservation with way too many ways to get stuck somewhere.
I bought the pass, then find that they post Cheaper options using their Den program… able to book in advance and bundle… major Remorse
Seems like one of the better uses for it would be a retiree who has family in another part of the country and could hang out with the grandkids a few extra days if they were having trouble finding a seat home.
I love my go wild pass. I’ve been to San Diego 3 times, New York, Las,Vegas, Florida, San Juan, and Columbus Ohio.
As others have said, it depends on the person. If you live where Frontier has a large presence, and/or don’t mind making last-second reservations and/or don’t mind taking “a while” to get to where you’re going because of long layovers (potentially lasting for days), then sure, it’s fine.
Most travelers aren’t in those categories.
It completely sucks, having is one of the worst decisions I ever made
I was am early purchaser of the GWP and for the first month or so it worked great. Tgen Frontier added a Summer Only GWP, a fall one and a winter one. Now you CANNOT find any flights that offer the GWP pricing. Its a total SCAM. Any day to any place and there are none available. Just another money grab by this airline. Its time for the Government to crack down on this group.
You will not be able to see GW prices unless youre booking the day before (domestic) or 10 days before (international.)
If you don’t see prices, you are trying to book too early. I ha e the summer one and it works great!
Definitely a case of how fast to pickup the learning curve?
And live in an area that has lots of Frontier flights. And not mind making last-minute plans. And not mind multiple stopovers to get to where you want to go. And not mind potentially being stuck in a location for several hours/days until you can get back home. It’s a lot to consider.
I have the pass. I’m only disappointed because many times I’ll siear a flight Well-within the 24 hour time window and there will be flights for sale, but it wall say that the Gowild pass is unavailable. Even though they have seats available for sale. Sometimes if I keep checking, Ill see the gowild open up randomly right before the flight
I have the GO Wild Pass with residency in Demver, so I’m lucky to always have a ton of flights available practically anywhere in the country.
The “learning” the system curve is rather low, as the only change I’ve had to make when booking is being forced to do so on desktop.
I’ve used it for flights to Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix, and Minneapolis without any issues aside from 2-4 hr delays. And I have yet to have to wait a day for a flight, though I can definitely see that being an issue for locations with less flights. (I can’t even visit my hometown cause Frontier doesnt service the local airport.)
The real deal is getting the pass when it’s on sale because then you only have to take a few flights to get your money’s worth. One ways go for about 15-17 and round trips go fir around $30-35.
I do believe an improvement to the pass would be allowing for 1 carryon bag included in the pass.
Personally, I quite like it for my lifestyle–spontaneous, frequent traveling, generally flexible trips–and will most likely be a repeat buyer.
On the upside, they do have periods where they allow pass holders to book flights a few months early–usually 2-3 times within the life of the pass. If you cab schedule during those periods, it’s extremely worth!
The reality is there is NO accountability for Frontier.
We bought passes. You can watch the flights 24 hours out. The fact is, if they are selling tickets and people are buying them, they WON’T offer seats to GWP holders. That’s just the facts. When you chat with them through their “customer service” chat line, they just tell you there are limited GWP fare seats per flight and they are all filled up. But that is not true: you watch the flight before the 24 hour window, during the 24 hour window, and you still see that no passes are offered.
On one occasion, I actually saw a GWP fare open up and be offered 1 hour before take off, when it was not available 23 hours earlier.
The truth is they are rejecting the GWP holders from getting seats because now non GWP holders are buying the seats at high prices.
Frontier has no one stepping in and saying, “You can’t reject seat purchases to GWP holders when you told them they could buy a cheap seat if they wait until 24 hour before their flight time: You have to offer all the open seats to GWP holders as well as regular paying customers.” Where is that entity who forces them to do what they said they would do?
As of now they still sell regular seats to paying customers and don’t let GWP holders buy those seats—regardless of how close the take off time.
I live in Orlando. There are several flights. Yet Still—it is nearly impossible to find a flight to Dallas or even Cleveland (both cities have a fairly large Frontier presence).
Anyone who says it is working well for them . . . well, it is questionable, VERY hard for this GWP holder to believe.
Oh, and by the way, I have already spent at least 24 hours in the Denver airport on layovers. AND the fact you can’t guarantee a ride home (even with an 18hour itinerary) before you start your journey, is questionable as well.
There is no customer support. They just say sorry and we can’t give you assistance or we would have to help everybody.
Final note, when they sold the original ANNUAL GWP as correctly noted in the article, there was no one you could call or chat with via customer service. The chat line was a farce—we kept it open for literal hours and no one ever responded to our question before purchasing the passes.
And there was and still is no one you can call on the phone.
Anyone, and I mean ANYONE that was ignorant enough not to see just how flawed and asinine buying this “pass”was is getting what they deserve for being so stupid. Just goes to show, once again, that there is a sucker born every minute – and they choose to fly Frontier.
I guess I’m stupid. Paid $300 for the summer pass. We have flown from Vegas to Florida twice, Denver, Seattle, LA 3 times, SFO 3 times and it’s only July. This summer we went wild and NO regrets! Currently in San Francisco for the weekend after a trip to Denver during the week. I’ve banked most of my work travel allowance for work trips and fly almost every weekend to visit friends/family. Only 1 time I had to use points to book an alternative to a crappy flight option. I’d buy it again in a heartbeat. I hope enough “suckers” keep buying the pass so they keep this program going. #BestSummerEver
Frontier also has a heavy presence in Las Vegas, so you can go to a lot of places without a stopover. You also don’t have to worry as much about getting back from, say, Denver; there’s more than 1 flight between the two per week. People who live in Rochester, Cedar Rapids or Fargo? Probably not so much.
Love the pass. I’ve flown to 7 cities since buying the summer pass. I usually pay extra for a carry on and seat selection. Never had a problem yet except when I cancellwd a flight. Charged me $100. The seats are hard as a rock but…I’m in for the fall pass. Go Frontier!
I absolutely LOVE my annual pass and I don’t even live near a hub but I use constantly, prob average twice a week or more and I couldn’t be more satisfied w the purchase 🙂
I brought to go wildpass when it first came Out in November couldn’t use it until May try to book several times and cannot find a seat is a big rip off I would never deal with Frontier again
Ya’ll have to report to the FAA
not good even for retiree that has all the time in the world bc most flights are overnites on gwp, or should I say ” steal your money pass”.
I have been trying every day to get a flight into Boston since June 1& have not been successful.. this GWP is definitely a SCAM
The wording used to market the pass was deceptive. Frontier did not clarify the 24 hour rule. I’m confident that I wasn’t the only buyer that got suckered. When the pass went into effect in May, Frontier offered to allow the pass to be used to book flights in advance for a limited time. I think this was because they received numerous complaints from pass customers. Unfortunately, I only found one flight that met my travel plans and just recently, Frontier changed my itinerary causing me to cancel.
A total scam, my flight was canceled after I had hotel and car accommodations. And now I can’t cancel the stupid wild pass. I bought it for my entire family and feel robbed. What a shady business model, I bet they’re losing more customers than they’re gaining by scamming people like this. They definitely lost me as a client…
Having this pass has to be one of the worst decisions I have made, the stress to find a flight, one way them returning. the stress of having it canceled (3 times already) the stress of dealing with their employees at the airport. Not worth the 500 I paid not with a single penny.
I heard about to go wild pass, fly anywhere that they fly nationally or internationally for one dollar and it was all a lie. They said you could fly and not be charged for baggage that was a lie. They told me they flew to Costa Rica and Morocco they lied about that, or had some excuse why they were not flying there at the time that I tried to book which was within 24 hours of departure. I am semi retired. I can fly at any time I didn’t have to plan weeks or months in advance. That was one of the main reasons other than the lie about the one dollar fee for one year that I signed up for this go wow pass! I cannot talk to someone to schedule a flight online applications. Most of the time does not work, and they use some third-party people to attempt to book flights. Several of them told me they were not even aware of the benefits of the goal while pass I’m beyond upset with frontier! I do not appreciate all the lies they toll just to have me a senior citizen spend my money they need to pay for misrepresenting me and probably hundreds of other hard-working citizens!
Sign this petition to start a class action lawsuit against Frontier for their Go Wild Pass rip off. https://chng.it/nbYvTK8gfq