Flight Review: Frontier “Stretch” Economy

Frontier Stretch Seating

Like many of you, I tend to avoid “a la carte” airlines like Frontier and Spirit because many of them treat customers like cash cows, herding them about the skies and milking them for every penny they can. Unfortunately, I made a late decision to attend the Boarding Area Conference (BAcon) a couple of weeks ago in Washington D.C. leaving me with no viable flight options other than Frontier.

United and Southwest, my usual selections as a Denver-based traveler, wanted over $500 round trip while Frontier was reasonably priced at $231. Because I was booking through the Citi ThankYou website and I was in a rush, I forgot to look at how much Frontier charged for carry-ons. I also didn’t select a seat to save a few bucks, determined not to give them another penny than I had to on principle. Sadly, the day after booking, I saw that Frontier charges $35 for any carry-on that won’t fit under the seat in front of you.

Weighing my options, I chose to upgrade to a Stretch seat for $45 each way and bring a backpack to store in front of me. As someone who is 6’2″, I know my limitations when it comes to a standard economy seat with personal items.

The Seat

I sat in Row 3 – Seat F on both the outbound and inbound legs from DEN to DCA, which were 3 hours and 3.5 hours, respectively. Stretch Seats have a pitch of 36″- 38″, depending on the row, while standard economy is 28″- 29″. It’s kind of funny to me that Frontier copied Delta Comfort+ by differentiating the “premium economy” seats from all other seats by adding some decorative stitching to the back. The amount of cushion in the Stretch seats were also a bit of a disappointment as well. One would think that Frontier would have the sense to add some more padding if they were going to sell this product as an upgrade.

The Service

To be honest, my headphones were in most of the time watching the John Adams series on Amazon Prime, so I didn’t interact with the flight crew anymore than to say “no thanks” to their overpriced soda and bottled water. Granted, if you wanted a cup of ice and tepid water, you could get that for free. I realize that Frontier doesn’t believe in giving away anything, but I was still shocked at their constant nickel and diming of passengers. Though I do like how they give each of their planes a spirit animal!

Final Thoughts

If you are really trying to save money, don’t mind being squished in a middle seat with backpack at your feet and hunkering down for a couple of hours, then frontier isn’t a bad option for you. They have great sales and serve quite a few destinations. My parents use Frontier regularly to come visit me in Denver from Austin. As for me, I’m going to stick with United and Southwest for my domestic flying.

Have you flown Frontier recently? What did you think?