I haven’t flown with Frontier Airlines, but I consider them a viable option when I’m looking for an affordable flight. My first Frontier flight will probably be to Denver so I can take advantage of their free lift ticket at Copper Mountain! While researching Frontier’s pricing, I came across the Frontier Airlines the WORKS upgrade package. Basically, the WORKS lets you bundle together a bunch of options to save money compared to if you bought them all individually. So, the question is, should you upgrade to Frontier Airlines the WORKS?
In This Post
Frontier Airlines-Official Airline for Ski + Ride
Frontier Airlines wants to be known as the Official Airline for Ski + Ride. Beside two-for-one lift tickets at Copper Mountain, Frontier Airlines offers “the WORKS” package to “make your vacation stress free.”
When you upgrade to the Frontier Airlines the WORKS package, your tickets are refundable so you can reschedule your trip if the snow isn’t very good. You also get one carry-on bag and one checked bag included, so you can check your ski or snowboard bag for free. And when you bundle these options together, you’ll save a bunch of money.
How much does Frontier Airlines the WORKS cost?
I performed a sample booking on Frontier Airlines from LAX to Denver in March. The ticket was about $123 each way.
But, when I added Frontier Airlines the WORKS upgrade package, the price increased by almost 50%. The WORKS added $64 each way to my ticket price. Is it worth it?
Each flight has a little different price for Frontier Airlines the WORKS. For example, I also searched LAX to New York and the WORKS price was $81 each way.
What do you get with Frontier Airlines the WORKS?
With the WORKS upgrade package, you get a lot of benefits. However, it is up to you to decide if the perks are worth it. If you were planning on checking a bag ($35) and bringing a carry-on ($30), that would be $65 right there. Everything else included in the package would be a bonus.
And the good thing with Frontier Airlines the WORKS, you can pick the best seat available for no extra charge… including Stretch and Exit Row seats!
The premium seats in Exit Rows and with more legroom (aka Stretch) normally would cost an extra $15. And it would cost anywhere from $5 to $12 (at least on the flight I picked) to select any other seat during the booking process.
The Bald Thoughts
Because you cannot check luggage or bring a carry-on without a fee, the Frontier Airlines the WORKS package might be a good deal for you. If I were to fly Frontier Airlines to Denver to go snowboarding, I would most likely choose this package because my snowboard bag and suitcase would be roughly equal to the fee. However, I would consolidate as much as possible so that our family would only need a couple of bags, instead of the normal 1-2 bags per person we travel with now when we fly Southwest.
The Frontier Airlines the WORKS package can be a money saver, but this is good reminder to factor in all of the fees when comparing ticket prices. Yes, Frontier Airlines has fare sales offering tickets for $29-$39 each way on a regular basis, but the all-in price can be higher than a comparable Southwest Airlines ticket price when factoring in the charges for changing or canceling a ticket, checked bags, or carrying on your suitcase.
is the Works upgrade fee itself refundable upon cancellation of the upgrade flight?
Steve, good news, I confirmed with Frontier Airlines that the WORKS fee would also be refunded if you decided to cancel your ticket.
The problem with Frontier (Works or non-Works)…is that they are undependable; and have absolutely awful customer service. I flew Frontier as much as I could before they transitioned to becoming a ULLC: and they were a fun and quirky little airline to fly. After the became a ULLC, as you can see by Social Media, and just by things showing up on the Internet, the customer service has gone to hell; they do not have interline agreements with other airlines, so if you flight is cancelled; too bad……for me, (and thousands of others, it seems), I am happy to pay higher fares in return for reliability and decent service.
Robert, I haven’t had personal experience with them to know for sure. However, Tyler flew to Colorado Springs on Frontier when we visited the House of Miles this weekend. His flight was delayed by 2 hours… so he’s lucky that the weather was good and that his flight was originally scheduled for early afternoon. That’s such a shame that the service declined in recent years. And you make a good point about the interline agreements!
nice, clear, concise and informative post. thanks!
Thanks RMH. As always there are some pros and cons, but at least now you can make an informed decision.
I can tell you what I learned from this post…
I never want to fly Frontier! 🙂 Haha #NoMasCoach
Dude, I’m all for saving money, but I’m totally with you.
Curious to know the cost difference between “The Works” vs “Perks”. I personally did not care to have flight change or cancellation protection but did want to bundle bag(s), seat selection, and priority seating. Unfortunately, Frontier’s “Perk” option which is only provided AFTER a booking gives no prior information to help consumers compare its cost/savings with “The Works” which is only available during booking.
I’m not sure of the difference in cost Sandy. I have never flown Frontier because I prefer Southwest for domestic flights. I did this analysis because I was intrigued by their prices when booking a flight for a friend. Frontier definitely seems to hide a lot of the pricing, which is a shame.
To answer Sandy’s question about “Perks” vs “Works” pricing.. “Perks”, which includes less, is MORE expensive! So you are definitely better off getting the Works bundle! Frontier is a bit deceptive on this end in that they don’t show you the pricing of the Perks bundle until after you book the flight and logically you would presume that it would be cheaper since it doesn’t allow you to make changes and cancellations to your flight unlike the Works, which does.
My gf and I recently booked a flight to SLC with Frontier and we initially assumed the Perks bundle would be cheaper and we didn’t feel we needed the ability to change or cancel our flight for this particular trip. So we went ahead and booked the flight, ignoring the Works bundle offers for $84 and then wanted to add the Perks after booking. To our dismay it cost $94 (each way). We ended up calling customer service and thankfully they allowed us to cancel the booking for free and then re-book the flight with the Works bundle (a good thing they did because it otherwise would have likely been my last ever booking with Frontier).
An $84 fee each way is a big fee but I do have to say you get a lot for your money with that… at 6’5″ I am especially appreciative of getting to reserve a Exit or Stretch seat and being able to change or cancel your flight for free is always great.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Enis. I’m glad that Frontier’s customer service did the right thing for you and allowed you to cancel and rebook. Your story is an excellent reminder for people to know the rules before they click purchase. Hope you have a great time in SLC!
The difference between Frontier and Southwest is like the difference between Wal-Mart and Target. You get what you pay for. Southwest flight attendants are fun, professional and friendly! On Frontier you don’t even get free peanuts or pretzels. On my last Frontier flight I was seated only seven rows from the front bathrooms. After using the restroom, I was promptly reprimanded, in front of everyone, by the flight attendant and told that “THAT was the restrooms for FIRST CLASS” I had just used and that I was to use the restrooms in the way back of the plane (which I couldn’t get to bcz the drink cart was in the way), I felt so silly bcz sure enough, the sign on the door said “First class” No wonder the restroom smelled great and had hand lotion available (at no extra charge)! So yeah! If you fly first class with Frontier, you too can enjoy a nice smelling, clean bathroom experience and lotion for your hands for the extra money you are paying, and if you’re lucky, who know, they might splurge and throw you a FREE bag of peanuts, but a second bag will cost you an arm and a leg. BEWARE OF FRONTIER! If youre a simple minded generic kinda guy and dont care much how you get from point A to point B, Frontier is fine. If you would prefer to enjoy a nice “flying experience” try Delta or my favorite, Southwest.
I agree with you. Southwest is absolutely my favorite airline for Economy flights. And I LOVE that they continue to expand to new markets. We’ve had the Companion Pass for 12 years and it is amazing.
Frontier is only worth it to me when they are substantially cheaper than the competition. They’re fine for shorter routes when they don’t have service interruptions but overall their product just isn’t very good anymore. Some of the worst seats around and if service interruptions occur, you’re pretty much screwed. With that said, I fly DEN-MEM a good bit and they are often half the price or less vs United so they are worth it for me sometimes although I don’t usually go for works.
I agree, Will. Discount airlines can be good in specific situations, but I tend to avoid them when prices are anywhere in the ballpark due to he extra fees.
I choose the Work bundle, but it only provides 1 direction (the departure one). Not able to add the bundle for returning session, why? Did I miss something?
I’m not sure. That is quite odd.