- Summer season, $399 for May 1 2024 through September 30,
- Annual, $599 for May 1 2024 through April 30, 2025.
- Be a member of frontier’s frequent flyer program (no cost).
- Pay the same fees and taxes you would pay for a paid ticket.
- Pay separately for carry-on baggage, checked baggage, seat assignments, and other “ancillary” products.
You have to do a lot of flying to make the pass look like a good deal. Frontier’s regular fares start out as low as $37 each way, so you‘d need many flights to offset the pass price. Clearly, the pass is a good deal only if you (1) live near an airport Frontier serves and (2) Frontier flies from there to places you want to visit. Personally, I’d pay something to avoid flying that much on Frontier (or on any other line’s coach service), but Frontier’s hard product is not a lot worse than what you find on the giant lines these days. If the idea appeals to you, head for Frontier’s website (flyfrontier.com/); total pass sales are limited.
As far as I can tell, Frontier’s offering is currently the only such pass in the U.S. marketplace. But Alaska Airlines offers Flight Pass, a visitor ticket for round-trip travel within California or between California and Arizona, Nevada, or Utah: Sign up for a yearly fee, pay monthly, and fly for one cent plus tax and fees (currently a total of $15.11 per flight). Costs for a pass requiring a 14-day advance flight reservation range from $98 round-trip for six round-trips per year to $94.50 for 24 round-trips per year; passes allowing immediate booking cost roughly four times the 14-day pass. Check Alaska ( flightpass.alaskaair.com) for details.
Air passes have a checkered history in the U.S. At some prior times, different airlines have offered a wide variety of pass programs. A few have been true fly-all-you-want passes, but even though often called “passes,” most have been what I call “visitor tickets” consisting of a set number of flight coupons for a fixed total dollar cost each. In the long-lost past, some lines sold various passes to senior travelers, including both coach and first class options, but these days U.S. airlines don’t cater much to us seniors.
Similar regional and one-country passes and visitor tickets are still available in random locations around the world. As far as I can determine, currently available options are offered for South America, in total, plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Canada, and also Tahiti. In the past, passes have been available elsewhere, but at this time I can’t find any. Still, it doesn’t hurt to look.
Overall my take is that passes are useful only to a niche market of travelers who have to travel a lot within a local area or on a given route. With today’s low everyday fares, it’s hard to figure out a deal where committing to a large number of flights is a good deal for most of you.
