Frontier Airlines has just launched a potentially lucrative promotion that can get just about anyone elite status with the airline. There’s not even a need to have elite status with a competing airline, but instead, you just have to be a member of one of several loyalty programs. Frontier is obviously doing everything in its power to find more potential customers!
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Pay a fee and receive Frontier Airlines elite status
Frontier Airlines’ status promotion offers Frontier Elite Gold status to those who are members of Alaska Mileage Plan, JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest Rapid Rewards, or Spirit Free Spirit, and pay a $69 enrollment fee. To be clear, you don’t need to have status with any of those programs, but rather, just need to be a member of the (free) loyalty program.
As you’d expect, there are some terms to be aware of:
- To be eligible, you must have joined Southwest Rapid Rewards before August 18, 2025
- This offer doesn’t have a published end date, but is limited time, and can be pulled at any time
- Status will be awarded within 24-48 hours of the request being made, and will be valid through December 31, 2026
- Elite status can’t be applied to existing bookings to replace ancillary services that have already been paid for
What are the benefits of Frontier Airlines Gold status?
So, what are the benefits of Frontier Elite Gold status? The status will make travel on Frontier more pleasant and affordable, with perks like a free carry-on bag, free seat assignments at booking, complimentary upgrades to the carrier’s UpFront Plus seating (subject to availability), priority boarding, and more. You can find the full list of Frontier elite perks here.
It’s a tough time for primarily domestic carriers like Frontier, so the intent here is pretty straightforward. Frontier is trying to cast a wide net and get anyone to consider flying with the carrier, by offering them perks in exchange for a small payment.
Not only does the $69 provide some direct revenue to Frontier, but people are also more likely to actually fly the airline if they’ve paid in order to earn status. I don’t think this will be some game changer for Frontier’s bottom line, but every little bit helps.
Bottom line
Frontier Airlines has a paid status promotion, whereby any member of the loyalty program of Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, or Spirit, can earn Frontier Elite Gold status through the end of 2026 by paying a $69 enrollment fee.
If you’re going to fly with Frontier, you’ll likely recoup more than $69 in value from this status after one trip alone, given the carrier’s business model. Of course that assumes you’d otherwise fly Frontier, which is probably the limiting factor for most people.
Anyone plan on taking advantage of Frontier’s status promotion?
1) I had this offer a few years ago and it was a great benefit to have a free advance seat assignment, typically in one of their up-front seats, and not have to pay for a carry-on.
2) I got the email but deleted it, thinking you had to have status in one of those listed programs to take advantage of this. Thanks for clarifying.
3) Where are all those Frontier planes in the middle of the day? Here in Orlando.
Bottom line that the benefits will not be served well in practice because there will be too many people with status. Look at many other loyalty programs that made it easy to get status. A good deal, yes, but possibly a bad result coming soon.
First...$69? Nice!
Second, really, and I don't mean to be rude...is being an elite at Frontier a bit like being the world's tallest m!dget?
We fly from IAH to DTW to visit family several times a year -- I checked the schedule for Oct 24 - 28 to see what is available for a planned trip.
There is no flight shorter than 8 hours 58 minutes going to Detroit and no better trip length on the way back. I'll stick with my United flight, just under 3 hours.
This may be the best available value option for...
We fly from IAH to DTW to visit family several times a year -- I checked the schedule for Oct 24 - 28 to see what is available for a planned trip.
There is no flight shorter than 8 hours 58 minutes going to Detroit and no better trip length on the way back. I'll stick with my United flight, just under 3 hours.
This may be the best available value option for some passengers. It will be interesting to see if their $69 status "match" promo moves the needle for them at all.
I guarantee every flight between Houston and Detroit is under 8:58.
You can't get this if you are already Gold, FYI.
I just emailed status match customer service about this. My gold expires Dec 2025 and the status match offer goes to Dec 2026. Will gladly pay the $69 for the extra 12 months. Not sure if frontier will adjust the program in order to grab the money. Sound like F9 maybe trying to massage its Q3 earnings.
Are you saying that customer service was able to give you the promotion over email even though you’re already Gold through 2025? If so, I’d be interested.
16+ months of carry-ons and potential seat upgrades for $69 ain't bad. Esp when Spirit soon disappears or changes to ICE Airways. Frontier won the ulcc battle. Kudos.
In the past, what has been the waiting period between repeating these Frontier status matches/offers?
Frontier only serves a few destinations from my current home airport, so I would probably only use this for 2-3 flights before the end of 2026. However, in 2027 I will be moving to a different city where Frontier has a much larger footprint and I don't want to lock myself out of getting easy status then.
As the old saying goes: If everyone has status, no one has status.
Except Frontier will sell Zone 1 boarding to the entire plane. Was recently on a flight from ORD where literally half the plane was Zone 1. When everyone is a VIP, no one is.
Do you think more people will go for this ($70) or the essentially free Gold that they gave away earlier this year?
If you have a seat reserved, what’s the issue?
This would be great for me as a Denver resident except whenever I'm going somewhere the Frontier flight always seems to be either at 5am or gets in at midnight. Where their planes are in the middle of the day is beyond me.
Amen
It might get some general members and first rung members of other FF programs. I'm not sure how it's going to move the needle. The reputation of Spirit and Frontier is going to be difficult to change.