Sticker shock over the real ticket pricesĪfter looking through my flight options, I decided to book a round trip from Ontario to Denver to visit a friend. The first time she used her GoWild pass, due to a long layover, it took 14 hours to get to Dallas, a destination that’s typically a 2½-hour flight. “A lot of people are buying the pass and then they’re finding themselves unable to get to destinations they want to go because their airport doesn’t have many options,” said Sarah Yi, 46, a frequent flier based in New York City. Dallas Atlanta Chicago and Phoenix.Ĭonfusion about which routes and airports Frontier is flying has frustrated some GoWild users. destinations), take a flight to one of the international airline’s major hubs and then fly to my final destination.įrontier offers direct flights from Ontario International Airport to San Francisco Las Vegas Denver Orlando, Fla. If I wanted to take an international trip, I’d likely have to drive to the Ontario airport (which offers Frontier flights to eight U.S. Looking at Frontier’s route map, I found that Frontier flies to three destinations from John Wayne Airport: Las Vegas, Denver and Dallas. Squyres said that Frontier makes changes to its flight network seasonally “to meet where there is the greatest customer demand.” (Frontier’s top flight hubs include Denver, which has 63 routes Las Vegas, which has 60 Orlando, which has 49 and Atlanta, which has 38.) Though Frontier previously offered flights from Hollywood Burbank Airport, it recently stopped. Times’ office), I learned that my closest airports would be John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana (45 miles away) and Ontario International Airport (55 miles away). Confusion over airports and routesīecause Frontier doesn’t operate out of Los Angeles International (which is two miles from the L.A. Here’s what happened when I put my pass to the test. (Because you’re only allowed to book domestic flights 24 hours in advance and international flights 10 days in advance, the answer is essentially no.) There were questions about seat availability, cancellation fees and luggage.īut parsing through the fine print didn’t seem like it would get me all the answers I wanted, so I did what any travel reporter would do: I begged my editor to let me try it out. “Is round-trip possible with the GoWild! pass?” another asked. “What are the downsides to the $599 Frontier Airlines ‘Go Wild!’ pass?” one Reddit user posted. When the GoWild Pass was announced, intrigue soared, with writers describing the program as “ built brilliantly” and “chaotic, but might be worth it.” Soon enough, people jumped online to figure out if the deal was too good to be true. The most comparable program currently on the market seems to be Alaska Airlines’ limited Flight Pass, which launched in February 2022 and allows people to pay a flat rate for six, 12 or 24 trips per year within California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. In 2009, JetBlue launched a more modest monthlong “All You Can Jet” pass for $599 that sold a little too well, which led them to suspend sales. In the 1980s, American Airlines let a few dozen lucky people purchase unlimited lifetime AAirpasses for upward of $250,000, but the airline eventually rolled some of the passes back. And while such programs are always enticing, they tend to go wayward. Unlimited flight passes have, of course, been around for years. Here’s what the ride in coach is really like. Perhaps you’ve come across this popular train on TikTok, where people rave about its gorgeous observation cars. Travel & Experiences 34 hours on America’s most scenic train. “The real genesis of the pass is we’re flying thousands and thousands of empty seats every day,” Squyres said. (After that date, the price will revert back to $999, though Tyri Squyres, Frontier’s vice president of marketing, said the passes may sell out entirely this month.) Annual passes, which are good for a calendar year starting May 2, started at $599 and are currently on sale for $1,999.įor Frontier, which carries around 25 million passengers annually, the pass is a remedy for a problem that many airlines face. 30, started at $399 and are $499 until May 31. Its premise was simple: Users can book unlimited flights for fares of 1 cent (plus taxes and fees). The Denver-based low-cost carrier caught my attention last November when the company announced it would be launching the GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Pass. Yet Frontier Airlines didn’t come across my radar until more recently. I’ve traveled thousands of miles on JetBlue (my ride-or-die), TAP Air Portugal (amazing), Vueling (decent), Ryanair (can you tell I studied abroad in Europe?), French Bee (they lost my bag at Paris Orly for nearly a week) and Spirit (who among us wouldn’t buy a $45 round-trip ticket to see Pitbull play in Nashville?). As a person who takes many last-minute trips, I’m used to flying on budget airlines.
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