Frontier is like any other low-cost airline in the USA where the cheap tickets are set up to be à la carte for seat selection, baggage, and priority boarding. However, Frontier probably has one of the best change and cancellation policies of any airline in the USA right behind Southwest.
In this article, I will explain Frontier Airlines’ generous change and cancellation policy in detail and then I will show you how to change or cancel a flight, step-by-step.
Updated September 18th to reflect the new cancellation policy.
Frontier Airlines flight change policy
Frontier has a generous change policy, especially if you’re someone that loves to book months before the flight. As you can see below, Frontier has a better and cheaper change policy than most other airlines:
Regular ticket | The WORKS | Award ticket | |
---|---|---|---|
Within 24 hours after initial purchase (made 7 or more days before departure) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
60 days or more prior to departure | $0 | $0 | $0 |
59 to 14 days prior to departure | $49 | $0 | $0 |
13 days to 8 days prior to depature | $119 | $0 | $0 |
Within 24 hours after initial purchase (made less than 7 days before departure) | $119 | $0 | $99 |
Within 7 days of departure (including same-day standby) | $119 | $0 ($119 for same-day) | $99 |
The WORKS bundle can cost you a hefty penny. Sometimes the price is less than $100 and sometimes it’s more than $100. Each route will determine the price. It can be very valuable to some, but only if you need everything included like carry-on, a checked bag, seat selection, priority boarding, free changes, and refundability.
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24-Hour risk-free Cancellation/Change
Tickets purchased seven days (168 hours) or more before the scheduled departure date are eligible for free changes and cancellations within 24 hours of the flight purchase date. Frontier holds the ticket for 24 hours and then charges you once the 24 hours are up. Therefore, your purchase will post to your credit card statement with a 24-hour delay. However, Frontier will hold the funds on your credit card.
Tickets purchased less than seven days (168 hours) before scheduled departure date aren’t eligible for free changes or cancellations.
This could give you a little more than 24 hours to change or cancel your ticket made directly through Frontier, only if you booked your flight seven days or more before the departure date. Tickets made through travel agencies like Expedia, Priceline, Orbits, etc. will have to go through the travel agency’s 24 hours change and cancellation policy.
Prices
Fees will be per passenger for the whole itinerary unless noted.
Regular tickets change fees are $0 for 0 days or more before departure, $49 for changes made 59 to 14 days prior to departure, and $119 for changes made 13 days or less prior to departure. Same-day standby/change will also be $119.
The WORKS tickets have no change fees until 24 hours before departure, which will then occur a $119 change fee for a same-day standby/change.
Award tickets change fee is $99 for modifications made seven days or less. For changes before eight days or more prior to departure, the change fee will be $0. Modifications can only be done over the phone.
Deadline
Regular tickets changes made within 24 hours and greater than seven days will be free. Changes made 60 days or more prior to departure will be free. Changes made 59 days or less prior to departure will be subject to a fee.
The WORKS tickets changes made anytime before 24 hours prior to departure will be free. Changes made within 24 hours prior to departure will be subject to a fee.
Award tickets changes made eight days or more prior to departure will be free. Changes made within seven days prior to departure will be subject to a fee.
Price changes
Flight changes will be subjected to price differences if the value of the new ticket is higher than the original of a regular ticket or award ticket. You will have to pay the difference in ticket value. Ticket values that are less in price than the original ticket value will receive a credit called Frontier credit.
For example, if you hold a regular ticket that originally cost $500 and change the flight that now costs $400, you will be credited $100. However, if you change the flight that costs $600, you will be charged $100 since the value of the new ticket is higher. (The same concept applies to the WORKS ticket, but instead of credit you get a refund to the original payment method.)
- Related reading: Check out the full review of the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard!
Frontier Airlines cancellation and refund policy
Frontier cancellation fees are mostly the same price as their change fees, except for the award ticket redeposit fees. The WORKS is the only way to get a fully refundable ticket with Frontier.
Regular ticket | The WORKS | Award ticket | |
---|---|---|---|
Within 24 hours after initial purchase (made 7 or more days before departure) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
60 days or more prior to departure | $0 | $0 | $75 |
59 to 14 days prior to departure | $49 | $0 | $75 |
13 days to 8 days prior to depature | $119 | $0 | $75 |
Within 24 hours after initial purchase (made less than 7 days before departure) | $119 | $0 | $75 |
Within 7 days of departure (including same day standby) | $119 | $0 ($119 for same-day) | $75 |
24-Hour risk-free Cancellation/Change
Tickets purchased seven days (168 hours) or more before the scheduled departure date are eligible for free changes and cancellations within 24 hours of the flight purchase date. Frontier holds the ticket for 24 hours and then charges you once the 24 hours are up. Therefore, your purchase will post to your credit card statement with a 24-hour delay. However, Frontier will hold the funds on your credit card.
Tickets purchased less than seven days (168 hours) before scheduled departure date aren’t eligible for free changes or cancellations.
This could give you a little more than 24 hours to change or cancel your ticket made directly through Frontier, only if you booked your flight seven days or more before the departure date. Tickets made through travel agencies like Expedia, Priceline, Orbits, etc. will have to go through the travel agency’s 24 hours change and cancellation policy.
Prices
Fees will be per passenger for the whole itinerary unless noted.
Regular tickets cancellation fees are $0 for 60 days or more before departure, $49 for changes made 59 to 14 days prior to departure, and $119 for changes made 13 days or less prior to departure. Same-day cancellations will also be $119.
The WORKS tickets have no cancellation fees until 24 hours before departure, which will then occur a $119 cancellation fee for a refund.
Award tickets don’t have any cancellation fees, but there is a fee for redepositing the miles into your account for $75.
Deadline
Regular tickets cancellations made within 24 hours and greater than seven days before departure will be free. Cancellations made 60 days or more prior to departure will be free. Cancellations made 59 or less prior to departure will be subject to a fee.
The WORKS tickets cancellations made anytime before 24 hours prior to departure will be free. Cancellations made within 24 hours prior to departure will be subject to a fee.
Award tickets cancellations made anytime after the 24 hours cancellation window will be subject to an award redeposit fee.
Refunds
Regular tickets refunds are issued as Frontier credit for future flights. Therefore, you can only use the credit for Frontier Airlines in the name of the passenger that the credit was issued to.
The WORKS tickets refunds are issued back to the original payment method. Therefore, if you used a credit card to purchase a WORKS bundled ticket, your credit card will be refunded when you request a refund.
Award tickets miles would be re-deposited back into your account and if you’re eligible any fees charged at booking will be refunded.
No show and missed flights
Frontier Airlines doesn’t have an official no show policy, which means if you don’t show up for your flight, your ticket is gone and cannot be used ever again. You will not get any credit back from the ticket, or you will not get another ticket for a later flight. Of course, agents have the power to rebook you on a later flight with a valid excuse.
Frontier Airlines same-day standby for earlier or later flights
When flying on a regular or the WORKS bundled ticket, you can do a same-day standby for an earlier flight at the airport or call Frontier reservations before arriving at the airport for a confirmed seat on a later flight. The fee is $119 for same-day standby and changes. For Frontier Elites, same-day standby fee is waived.
For award tickets, you have to call in before the flight to make sure there is availability for same-day confirmed changes. The fee is $99, but elites have the fee waived.
Remember, standby is subject to seats being available. So, be aware some flights might not have any seats available.
Same-day standby to alternative airports
If you wish to do same-day flights to alternative airports, you can do so from the list down below. That means if you want to fly into another airport the same day and they are listed in the same bullet down below, you can do so.
For example, if my original destination airport was Orlando (MCO), but I prefer Tampa (TPA), I could change the same day as they are alternative airports, or also known as sister cities.
- Birmingham (BHM) and Huntsville (HSV)
- Bloomington (BMI) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
- Boston (BOS), Bradley (BDL) and Providence (PVD)
- Boston (BOS), Portsmouth (PSM) and Portland, ME (PWM)
- Charleston (CHS) and Myrtle Beach (MYR)
- Charleston (CHS) and Savannah (SAV)
- Charlotte (CLT) and Raleigh-Durham (RDU)
- Chicago Midway (MDW), Chicago-O’Hare Airport (ORD), Chicago Rockford (RFD), Dane County (MSN) and Milwaukee (MKE)
- Cincinnati (CVG) and Louisville (SDF)
- Colorado Springs (COS) and Denver (DEN)
- Columbus (CMH) and Cincinnati (CVG)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL), West Palm Beach (PBI) and Miami (MIA)
- Fort Myers (RSW) and Sarasota (SRQ)
- Harrisburg (MDT), Trenton (TTN) and Philadelphia (PHL)
- Long Island (ISP), Newark (EWR), Trenton (TTN), Philadelphia (PHL) and LaGuardia (LGA)
- Los Angeles (LAX) and Orange County/Santa Ana (SNA) and Ontario (ONT)
- Madison (MSN) and Milwaukee (MKE)
- Ontario, CA (ONT) and Palm Springs (PSP)
- Orange County/Santa Ana (SNA) and San Diego (SAN)
- Orlando (MCO) and Tampa (TPA)
- Phoenix (PHX) and Tucson (TUS)
- San Antonio (SAT) and Austin (AUS)
- San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose (SJC)
- Sarasota (SRQ) and Tampa (TPA)
- Washington-Dulles (IAD), Washington-National (DCA) and Baltimore-Washington (BWI)
How to change a Frontier flight online
From the homepage, you will want to select “my trip/check-in” to show the box to type in your last name and confirmation code. Proceed to the next screen by pressing search.
If there are multiple people on the same reservation (PNR), just use one of the last names and confirmation codes to bring up the trip itinerary.
You will be directed to the trip confirmation page.
On the trip confirmation page, you will see the option to change flights. Select “change flights.”
A popup to the right side of the screen will appear titled “itinerary changes.” If you have more than one flight on your itinerary, you can select one or multiple flights that you wish to change.
To change a flight, you will have to select a flight. Notice the check that now appears with the boxes to change the origin and destination airports along with the date of departure.
Once you input the new information, press “change” to proceed.
On the next page, you will see the flights available. The prices shown are the price of a new ticket and whatever fare difference to your current one will show on the next page.
After selecting your flight, bundle (only perks bundle is available if you didn’t select the WORKS), and other add-ons you will input your payment information. Then fees associated with your changes will be shown. (Refer to the change policy section outlined above.)
When you confirm your changes, you will see your new trip details in your trip confirmation page along with an email sent right away.
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How to cancel a Frontier flight online
From the homepage, you will want to select “my trip/check-in” to pull up the box to type in your last name and confirmation code. Proceed to the next screen by pressing search.
If there are multiple people on the same reservation (PNR), just use one of the last names and confirmation codes to bring up the trip itinerary.
You will be directed to the trip confirmation page.
On the trip confirmation page, you will see the option to change flights. Select “cancel booking.”
You will be directed to a new page displaying information like fees, if applicable, but I owe no fees as I was canceling the booking made within 24 hours and greater than seven days before departure.
After clicking “confirm changes” you will see your cancel confirmation along with an email sent right away. It will also show any fees you paid if applicable.
Canceling or changing a Frontier flight on the phone
You can cancel or change flights over the phone with Frontier Airlines.
- Reservations: +1-801-401-9000
- Assistance for the hearing impaired: 711
How to get Frontier fees waived
There are two ways to get some or all of Frontier fees waived, one is fly enough to become an elite with Frontier or another is purchasing the WORKS bundle at booking.
Elite status
Any level of status can get certain fees waived like same-day confirmed fee and reward redemption fees waived.
All you need is to fly 20,000 qualifying miles or 25 segments to become Elite 20k. Benefits include free seat assignment, priority boarding, free carry-on, family pooling, and stretch seating upgrade at check-in. Some of these benefits do help to make your flight a better one.
The WORKS bundle
As I explained above, the WORKS bundle creates a regular ticket into a refundable ticket and can change the ticket whenever you want. Plus, if you refund the ticket, the original payment method gets refunded. On top of that, the money you spent on the WORKS bundle also gets refunded. Changes and cancellations can be done anytime for free 24 hours or more prior to the flight departure.
In contrast, Frontier’s regular tickets policy is 59 days or more prior to departure free changes and cancellations, but you can only be refunded in the form of Frontier credit for future flights with Frontier.
Third-party ticket change or cancel
If you bought your Frontier flight through a travel agency like Expedia you will have to make changes/cancellations through the travel agency that you purchased the ticket through. Change or cancellations might result in additional fees by the travel agency. I recommend always booking with the airline directly unless a third-party agency has a better price with no added fees.
Frontier baggage policy
If you are new to Frontier, baggage isn’t included in the base fare. So, I suggest you to read our article about baggage fees when flying Frontier Airlines so you know what to expect.
Final word
When it comes to cancellation and change policies, Frontier is surprisingly relaxed and not price gouging you compared to the likes of Delta or Alaska. Even their elite program has fee waivers for certain fees that do come in handy. So, I do hope this article helps you better understand Frontier’s policy for changes and cancellations.
Cover photo by Tomás Del Coro via Flickr
Steve is a senior contributor for UponArriving and spends close to 300 nights a year in hotels while traveling the world and trying to eat as much as he can. Steve has spoken at summits like the FBZ Elite Summit in Austin. He holds top-tier elite status with almost every hotel program as a Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire, and GHA Black. Utilizing credit card points and miles, Steve takes over 100 flights per year while experiencing some of the top first class and business class cabin in the sky.