When You Come Back to Me Again Frontier
Yeah, I know, this is my third mail service nearly Frontier Early on Returns this calendar week. And that'south a lot for what is easily one of the worst frequent flyer programs in the manufacture. Simply hey, it's been five days since United last stranded a planeload of passengers.
For those that need to catch up, here are the other posts in this adventitious series.
- How Does An Airline Make Money If They Won't Sell Tickets
- Frontier Decides Selling Tickets Is Skilful. Extends Schedule.
In this post, I'll discuss an ingenious method for avoiding the $15 "close-in" ticketing fee that I've been grumbling about all week.
Shut-In Ticketing Fees
The so-chosen shut-in ticketing fee is a fee that some airlines charge when you redeem miles for a trip that is close to departure. Both United and American accuse a fee of $75 for whatsoever award trip booked within 21 days of difference. (The fee is waived or reduced for elites.) Delta does not charge information technology.
The best explanation I've heard for why airlines accuse these fees is that laurels tickets for trips parting soon are theoretically worth more.
If you want to purchase a ticket to fly from New York to San Francisco leaving tomorrow, you volition about certainly pay more for it than if yous buy the same ticket for August. Since booking a concluding-minute award essentially displaces buying an expensive concluding-infinitesimal ticket, the airlines reason that they should accuse something for the privilege. Or so the story goes.
Oh heck, allow'south forget economic theory — airlines accuse these onerous fees because they can.
Borderland's Close-In Ticketing Fee
Frontier actually has a tiered approach to close-in ticketing fees, which they sneakily refer to as redemption fees.
They accuse $50 for tickets booked from 7 – 20 days earlier departure, so $75 for tickets that depart within 6 days or less. That's actually either cheaper or the aforementioned equally United and American, which is pretty cool.
Too bad that's not all.
Borderland too charges $fifteen for award tickets issued betwixt 21 and 179 days prior to deviation. That's right, Frontier substantially defines "close-in" as anytime inside the next six months.Because conspicuously, deciding now to become to Salt Lake Metropolis in November is an impulse trip.
The real problem, every bit I explained previously, is that Frontier's reservation window typically doesn't even extend beyond 180 days, meaning that it'south but not possible to avoid the $xv fee.
There is no flight in their unabridged reservations system that you could possibly book without paying at to the lowest degree a $15 redemption fee. That stinks.
The Loophole
Every bit reader Josephpointed out in the comments yesterday, in that location is a loophole for avoiding the $15 fee. And it's perfectly legit. The downside is that the loophole only opens for a couple of weeks every 3 months.
But this is ane of those magical weeks!
The fundamental is that Frontier allows costless changes to laurels tickets every bit long equally the same fare class exists and the flying is 8 days or more than prior to departure.
Step 1: Volume an award flying for the route you want that is more than than 180 days out. (No booking fee.)
Step 2: Change the flight to the date that y'all actually desire. (No change fee.)
It's really ingenious.
An Example
Imagine that I desire to fly from Denver to Phoenix on Oct fourteen. I find that at that place is depression-level award availability that day, so it will cost me 10,000 miles + $five.60. But since the flight is inside 180 days of departure, I'1000 besides charged the "close-in" ticketing fee of $15.
Now I await for Denver to Phoenix on Jan 2 which is more than 180 days from now. Sure plenty, there is also low-level saver accolade inventory.
That ticket will cost 10,000 miles + $5.60. Since the trip is more than 180 days away, I'm non charged the "close-in" fee.
And then since the rules permit gratis changes to award tickets so long as the routing and fare form remain the same, I only change the Jan ii ticket to October fourteen.
Voila, I now have the same Denver to Phoenix ticket that I wanted, and I also have $15 in my pocket. (Which I could then utilise to pay for the privilege of selecting a decent seat…<sigh>)
Limited Time Opportunity
For near of the year, the Frontier booking window does not extend beyond 180 days. Therefore there are no flights that can be booked without paying some form of the "close-in" award redemption fee.
Based on what I've observed and read, Frontier tends to extend their schedule roughly every 3 months, at which bespeak they extend it for an additional three months. That means the opportunity exists now and will proceed to exist until about July eighth, at which betoken the loophole volition shut.It probably won't reappear until some time in Oct.
(If my math is correct, on July 8th there volition only exist i day — January 4th, 2022 — for which award tickets tin be booked without the fee. If you don't notice availability on that day, you're out of luck. So don't wait.)
Bottom Line
This is a nifty lilliputian trick for avoiding the $15 award redemption fee on Frontier. It volition merely salve you $xv, but hey, if you're a family of iv, that could add up.
At that place are similar concepts that use to other airlines, but the upside of this i is that information technology seems to fall within Frontier's policies. In other words, it should simply work, and not exist a situation of YMMV or HUCA. The downside is that in that location are only a few weeks every year for which it will work.
Thanks over again to Joseph for sharing the tip.
Have you taken advantage of this loophole to avert a close-in ticketing fee?
Source: https://onemileatatime.com/avoid-the-frontier-award-fee-with-one-simple-trick/
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