Frontier Flight Delays & Cancellations: What You Need to Know!

Did your flight on Frontier Airlines get canceled or delayed by more than 3 hours? If so, you need to understand Frontier Airlines’ policy for handling these situations.

Flight delays and cancellations are an unfortunate part of traveling and while any unexpected schedule changes can be very frustrating, don’t let them discourage you from traveling.  Just make sure you know the rules and your rights when one of these situations occurs.

If you are flying Frontier Airlines, and your flight gets canceled or significantly delayed, here are the key things to know about Frontier’s flight delay and cancellation policy and the protections you have from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Frontier Airlines Flight Cancellations: What do you do if your flight is canceled?

If your flight is canceled, the first thing you need to figure out is whether the cause of cancellation is within the airline’s control.    A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation that has been caused by the airline. 

When the situation is “Controllable,” airlines have a responsibility and have made commitments, enforceable by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”), on how they will take care of the customer.

Controllable vs. Non-Controllable Delays & Cancellations

• Controllable Delays are caused by factors the airline can control, such as maintenance and mechanical issues, lack of available equipment, cabin cleaning, flight crew schedules, fueling, baggage loading, etc.

• Non-controllable Delays are caused by things that are outside of the airline’s control such as weather, air traffic congestion, terrorism, emergency diversion, etc.

Frontier Airlines Policy for Controllable Cancellations:

If your flight is canceled for a controllable reason, Frontier has pledged much less (to the DOT) than every other U.S.-based carrier:

• Rebook another Frontier flight for you at no extra cost.
• Rebook you on a partner airline or another airline with which it has an agreement at no extra cost. (unlike Delta, American, and United, Frontier will not book you on another carrier)
• Provide you with a meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation results in you having to wait for 3 hours or more for a new flight.
• Provide complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation. (Frontier will not provide hotel accommodations)
• Provide complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation. (Frontier will not provide ground transportation to a hotel)

How to rebook a delayed or canceled flight on Frontier

You’re eligible to rebook on Frontier when your flight is delayed significantly, but Frontier won’t state what that means.

You can call the Frontier customer service line (801-401-9000) or wait in line at the airport, but it’s normally faster to make the change on the Frontier website or app.

Frontier Flight Cancellation Compensation

The U.S. DOT has fewer protections for passengers than other parts of the world. If you are flying in the United States, airlines are not required to provide additional compensation when flights are delayed or canceled.  You will be eligible for a refund but not additional compensation.

Compensation is only required by U.S. law when passengers are “bumped” from an oversold flight.

Refund of Ticket Price

If your flight is canceled and you choose not to take another flight option provided by Frontier, you are entitled to a refund for the unused ticket – even for non-refundable tickets.  This refund includes the ticket price plus any baggage fees you paid, as well as any extras you purchased, such as a seat assignment or pet fee.  

Your compensation for a canceled flight is limited to the costs associated with your ticket only. Frontier Airlines is not required to reimburse you for any consequential costs affected by the canceled flight, such as a prepaid hotel room or rental car, a cruise, concert, or other tickets, or lost wages.

Frontier Flight Delays: What do you do if your Frontier Flight is delayed?

Just as with a flight cancellation, there are no requirements to provide additional compensation, so you will first need to understand what has caused the delay and whether it is controllable by the airline.

Frontier is committed to making customers aware of known delays and cancellations. The Flight Status section on Frontier’s website or the phone app are typically the best places to get an updated status of your flight.

Frontier’s Policy for Controllable Delays:

If your flight is significantly delayed for a controllable reason, Frontier has pledged much less (to the DOT) than every other U.S.-based carrier:

• Rebook you on another Frontier flight at no extra cost.
• Rebook you on a partner airline or another airline with which it has an agreement at no extra cost. (unlike Delta, American, and United, Frontier will not book you on another carrier)
• Provide you with a meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation results in you having to wait for 3 hours or more for a new flight.
• Provide complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation. (Frontier will not provide hotel accommodations)
• Provide complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation. (Frontier will not provide ground transportation to a hotel)

Tarmac Delays

The DOT’s tarmac delay rule requires that flights (departing from a U.S. airport) are required to allow passengers to get off the plane if the delay is longer than three hours (for domestic flights) or four hours (for international flights).

Exceptions to the time limits are allowed only for safety, security, or air traffic control-related reasons.  You should not exit the airplane unless told by the airline that you can do so safely.

• During a lengthy tarmac delay, airlines are required to provide:
  • Drinking water and a snack, such as a granola bar, no later than two hours after the start of the tarmac delay.
  • Working toilets.
  • Comfortable cabin temperatures.
  • Adequate medical attention, if needed.

Airlines do not have to serve passengers full meals during a tarmac delay, even if the tarmac delay lasts for a lengthy period of time. 

Frontier Flight Delay Compensation

As stated earlier, when flying within or from the United States, there are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with additional compensation when their flights are delayed. 

Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers.

How to check Frontier flight status

You can check the status of any Frontier flight via the Flight Status and Notification section of the Frontier website. Here you can search by flight number or if you don’t have the flight number, you can search by the route.

Four ways to avoid flight delays and cancellations

There’s no way to totally avoid flight cancellations and delays, however, there are a couple of things you can do to improve your odds.  

1. Fly out in the morning

Don’t fly in the late afternoon or evening. Book the first flight out in the morning.   Morning flights have the best chance of getting out as the plane is already at the airport, so the risk of an inbound delay is eliminated.

2. Book a non-stop flight

The logic here is straightforward. Having a single non-stop flight means you only risk having one flight delayed. If you have a connecting flight, you now have two flights to worry about, and your odds of having a delay have just doubled.

3. Fly a reliable airline

Any airline runs the risk of a flight delay, but it seems to happen to some more than others. Here is a list of the most reliable (U.S.-based) airlines in terms of delays and cancellations. Frontier is near the bottom, as you would expect.

 4. Fly out of a dependable airport

There are some airports that are known for flight delays and cancellations. If you are flying into or out of one of these airports there is a higher chance you will have a delay (listed alphabetically, not by performance).

1. Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI)
2. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
3. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
4. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
5. Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD)
6. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
7. Denver International Airport (DEN)
8. Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
9. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
10. LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
11. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
12. Orlando International Airport (MCO)
13. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
14. Reagan International Airport (DCA)
15. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

In Summary

Flight delays and cancellations are inevitable, you can’t totally avoid them, but there are things you can do to reduce your chances of experiencing them.  And if you do encounter a significant delay or cancellation, it’s always good to know the rules and the rights provided to you by both the airline and the DOT. 

If you are going to fly Frontier, you better make sure you the savings are huge, because they offer almost no customer service and will “nickel and dime” you for everything. You will be amazed how fast all of their fees add up.

Also, make sure you understand the rules for delays, baggage fees, and carry-on rules. You have to be informed if you are going to fly this airline!

Hopefully, this information helps!

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