Ultimate guide to Frontier Miles: How to earn and redeem miles and points – The Points Guy

With its discount fares and robust frequent flyer program, Frontier Miles can be a great value for Frontier Airlines travelers.

As a Frontier Miles member, you can earn miles and elite status. Frontier elite status offers multiple perks to make your travels more enjoyable and less expensive, including complimentary carry-on luggage, advance seat assignments and the ability to pool your miles. You can then redeem your miles for award travel.

It’s worth noting the Frontier Miles loyalty program saw major changes in January 2024, moving to a revenue-based model of accumulating miles and status and introducing updates to its elite program.

Here’s an overview of how the program works.

How to earn Frontier miles and points

The Frontier Miles program is free to join.

In 2024, Frontier altered how you can earn miles with its loyalty program. These changes affected how you accrue redeemable Frontier miles and how you earn points to qualify for Frontier Airlines elite status, which comes with perks such as free flights, free bags and seat selections.

Overall, you can earn Frontier miles and points toward status by making eligible Frontier purchases, spending on the carrier’s cobranded credit card and making transactions with Frontier partners.

Earn Frontier miles and points on eligible Frontier purchases

Under its new revenue-based mileage accrual system, Frontier Miles allows you to earn based on the dollar amount of your ticket plus any additional products you purchase (including bags, seat assignments and bundles of optional services). Frontier Miles were previously accumulated based on the length of your flight.

Frontier Miles earning rates on purchases vary based on status. Non-elites earn at the starting rate of 10 miles and points per dollar spent, and earning rates go up to as many as 20 miles and points for every dollar spent at the highest tier (Elite Diamond, one of the updated names in the airline’s status level revamp, which we’ll dive into later).

In 2024, Frontier added a fourth status tier that starts at 10,000 elite status points. Frontier Miles also changed the names of its elite status tiers.

Tier names, qualification levels and mileage multipliers are as follows:

Earn miles with the Frontier Airlines credit card

Frontier Airlines partners with Barclays to offer the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®.

New cardmembers earn 50,000 bonus miles and a $100 flight voucher after spending $500 on purchases and paying the $89 annual fee in full within the first 90 days of card membership.

With this card, you’ll earn 5 miles for every dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Frontier (including airfare, fees and onboard purchases), 3 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases. The miles you earn on this card count toward elite status.

The card also offers valuable benefits like Zone 2 boarding on all Frontier flights and family pooling. You can also earn a $100 flight voucher after your account anniversary when you spend $2,500 or more on purchases with your card during the card membership year.

Cardmembers also get waived award redemption fees. We’ll discuss redemption fees later, but Frontier charges between $15 and $75 for reservations made sooner than 180 days before the date of travel.

Unless you place a high value on Frontier Airlines miles and elite status, we generally don’t recommend this card. Most travelers are better off with a transferable points credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

The information for the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Earn miles and points with Frontier’s partners

Frontier has relationships with several major rental car companies, so you can earn bonus miles and access negotiated rates when booking through their transportation partner page. While earning rates depend on the rental car company, you can generally earn between 50 and 100 miles per rental, per day or between 500 and 1,000 miles per rental.

Frontier Airlines also partners with Marriott Bonvoy and Wyndham Rewards. You can transfer Marriott points at a 3:1 ratio. You can transfer Wyndham points at a 5:1 ratio, and Wyndham points are transferred to Frontier in 6,000-point increments.

These are not favorable ratios; you’re probably better off redeeming those points for hotel stays. However, it’s an option worth knowing if you ever need to top off your Frontier Miles account.

Depending on the Marriott brand, you’ll generally earn either 1 or 2 Frontier miles for every qualifying dollar spent. You must update your Marriott account preferences to earn Frontier miles instead of Marriott points. We don’t recommend doing this since you’ll get a maximum of 2.2% back in Frontier miles instead of at least 4.2% back in Marriott Bonvoy points for your Marriott stays, based on our valuations.

Like Marriott, you can also opt to earn Frontier miles instead of Wyndham points on your eligible stays:

• Wyndham Blue (standard): 1 mile per dollar spent on qualified stays
• Wyndham Gold: 1 mile per dollar spent
• Wyndham Platinum: 2 miles per dollar spent
• Wyndham Diamond: 2 miles per dollar spent

Again, we generally recommend earning hotel points instead of Frontier miles.

You can also buy or gift Frontier miles and earn on eligible Vinesse Wine and Teleflora purchases. Finally, you can book a cruise through Frontier Cruises and earn miles at a preset rate. Often, you can earn more miles by booking through other cruise programs.

• One- to five-night cruise: 1,500 miles
• Six- to nine-night cruise: 3,000 miles
• Nine- to 12-night cruise: 5,000 miles
• Cruises 13 nights and longer: 10,000 miles

Related: Frontier Airlines World Mastercard vs. Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard: Which low-cost carrier card is best?

How to redeem Frontier miles

You can redeem Frontier miles for two things: flights and magazines. As you’d expect, the best use of Frontier miles is redeeming them for award flights. The airline publishes an award chart with starting award rates, but there are a few added fees that you should be aware of before booking. Here’s a breakdown of the specifics.

Frontier offers three different redemption tiers: Value, Standard and Last Seat.

Value: This is the lowest redemption rate for all Frontier redemptions and can be compared to a saver ticket on a traditional carrier. These are generally offered during off-peak dates and less desirable flights, but we’ve also found Value tickets when there’s low demand.

Standard: Standard awards are generally priced out at twice the cost of a Value ticket. These awards are available on more (but not all) dates.

Last Seat: As the name suggests, Last Seat awards are available for booking until the last seat on the plane is booked. Unfortunately, these awards are only bookable to Frontier elite members and cost 2,500 more miles each way than Standard awards. This can be a good option if you’re booking at the last minute and paid fares are high.

Here’s a look at Frontier’s current award chart, with starting award rates:

Travel within the US and Puerto Rico

Award travel type	Value	Standard	Last Seat
One-way	10,000 miles	20,000 miles	22,500
Round trip	20,000 miles	40,000 miles	45,000

Award tickets to or from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Antigua (taxes and fees vary)

Award travel type	Value	Standard	Last Seat
One-way	15,000 miles	25,000 miles	27,500
Round trip	30,000 miles	50,000 miles	55,000

Fees associated with Frontier award tickets

Unfortunately, Frontier adds a booking fee to most award tickets. You’ll pay this fee when you book an award flight within 180 days of departure; the closer you get to departure, the higher the fee is.

Here’s a look at the fee structure — note that these fees are charged in addition to other taxes and fees:

• At least 180 days before departure: $0
• Twenty-one to 179 days before departure: $15
• Seven to 20 days before departure: $50
• Six days or less before departure: $75

These fees are waived for Frontier elite status members and those with a Frontier Airlines credit card. If you frequently book award tickets close to departure, you may find applying for a Frontier credit card worthwhile, as this can save you considerable money. Additionally, companions booked on the same reservation as a Frontier cardmember or elite member receive waived redemption fees.

Be sure to factor these fees into the cost of your ticket when booking travel on Frontier Airlines. In some cases, booking a paid ticket instead of an award ticket may make more sense if you’re subject to a booking fee. Frontier often offers low-cost tickets at the last minute, making the cent-per-point redemption value extremely low.

Related: Frontier Airlines adds 7 nonstop routes; Pittsburgh and DFW among big winners

Frontier’s Discount Den membership

Frontier Airlines offers a membership program called Discount Den. While not the same as elite status, the program gives members access to discounted fares for $59.99 annually. New members have to pay a $40 enrollment fee on top of the annual fee.

Children under 15 years old (one child per adult Discount Den member) fly for free when accompanied by the Discount Den member on select flights, offering excellent savings on certain routes. This offer is only valid on Kids Fly Free flights.

We’ve found that Discount Den can offer pretty excellent deals, too. On a given flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), a Discount Den member would save $20 to $30 per ticket over the standard price.

These discounts also apply to international flights. For example, you can score a $10 discount per person when flying from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Cancun International Airport (CUN).

We recommend that frequent Frontier flyers consider a Discount Den membership if they get more than $59.99 annually in savings from the service. That said, a family of four may recoup the cost of a Discount Den membership from just one family vacation a year.

Related: Should you join Frontier’s Discount Den or the Spirit Saver$ Club?

Frontier’s Go Wild! Pass

Frontier Airlines also offers an all-you-can-fly pass, which it calls Go Wild!

TPG tested the pass in 2023 and found unexpectedly high fees and limited availability. Additionally, while it’s advertised as an all-you-can-fly pass, it doesn’t provide unlimited free travel after you buy it.

You generally can get the most value from the pass by booking last-minute flights. Here’s an example from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to LAS.

Go Wild! Pass customers can get confirmed bookings the day before flight departure for domestic travel and starting 10 days before flight departure for international travel.

The current price for an annual pass is $599 for the first year and is valid for travel between May 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025. The annual pass automatically renews at $599 per year.

Frontier also offers a fall and winter pass for $699 that’s valid for travel between Sept. 2, 2023, and Feb. 29, 2024. The airline’s monthly GoWild! Pass, valid for 30 days after purchase, is $149 per month, with the first month free (excluding a $99 enrollment fee). You can find the latest Go Wild! Pass offers here.

Related: All about Frontier Airlines’ all-you-can-fly passes for 2024-25

Frontier elite status

Frontier elite status underwent a major revamp in 2024.

It added a new tier, Elite Silver, and renamed all its status tiers, now called Elite Silver, Elite Gold, Elite Platinum and Elite Diamond. Aside from the addition of Elite Silver, which starts at 10,000 points, the elite status point thresholds for Frontier’s new tiers mirror the program’s previous requirements: Elite Gold (previously Elite 20K), Elite Platinum (previously Elite 50K) and Elite Diamond (previously Elite 100K).

Starting in January 2024, you can earn Frontier Airlines status in a revenue-based model determined by the dollar amount of your ticket plus any additional product purchases (including bags, seat assignments and bundles of optional services). Earning rates vary across status tiers, and members with no status will still earn 10 Frontier miles and points per dollar spent.

You can also get status with the cobranded Frontier credit card, and the airline has offered status-matching programs in the past, though the status-match offer was not available as of January 2024.

Let’s look at each of these status tiers and their respective benefits.

Benefits marked with an asterisk are new for the member in the 2024 changes or newly applied to everyone on the booking.

Related: How to get airline elite status

Bottom line

Frontier may not be the most exciting airline, but its loyalty program could be worthwhile for those who fly on the airline often. The Frontier Miles program underwent a pretty significant revamp in 2024, resulting in an overhaul of its elite tiers and a shift toward revenue-based earnings for miles and status, which are changes worth considering if you’re accustomed to the ins and outs of Frontier’s previous program.

However, its award chart is easy to understand and can provide excellent value if you avoid pesky booking fees. Frontier Airlines’ elite status could also be beneficial for families and those who want to avoid fees when flying on the low-cost carrier.

Now, you have the background to decide if Frontier Miles is the right program for you.