For an airline that hasn’t turned a profit since before the pandemic, Frontier Airlines sure isn’t very good at taking money from people. I’ve heard some horror stories from others about Frontier canceling tickets, but here’s a case where it happened to us directly!
Frontier charges for tickets, then cancels due to “credit review”
On October 7, 2026, my colleague Jeremy booked a ticket on Frontier Airlines from Austin (AUS) to Denver (DEN), which cost around $189. He used our small business credit card, as it’s for a work trip. Side note — no, I didn’t force Jeremy to fly Frontier, but I was surprised to see he booked it, so maybe we need to have a little chat about that. 😉
Anyway, at around 4:30PM on October 7, Jeremy received the confirmation email from Frontier, which said “you’re all set.” Our business credit card was also charged, showing a purchase on October 7, and the transaction posted on October 8.
Well, at around 11:30PM on October 9, 2026, around 55 hours after the initial booking, Jeremy received an email with the subject line “Frontier Airlines Booking Alert.” It read as follows:
Your Frontier Airlines flight and any subsequent flights have been removed from your itinerary and refunded to the form of payment on file due to a credit review. You may rebook online or with the help of a Customer Service agent using a new form of payment. Please note: a rebooking fee will apply if booked through an agent.
Go figure that since the ticket was booked a few days ago, the fare has nearly doubled. I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but that sure is convenient, especially when the airline made no effort to reach out to Jeremy about the payment.
Following this, Jeremy contacted Frontier’s chat support, and a “resolution specialist” explained there was nothing they could do, and if he wanted to rebook, he could only do so at an airport with a valid government ID:
I understand that you used your company card for legitimate business travel and that the cancellation was unexpected. Unfortunately, I’m unable to override the fraud review decision or reinstate the canceled reservation. If you would still like to travel, a new booking will need to be created. Per the notes on the reservation, you would need to visit the airport with a valid government-issued ID so an agent can assist you with the booking process.
For the record, Jeremy has never had any sort of an issue with a Frontier ticket, and he’s not someone who is playing some sort of shady game that would arouse suspicion (I mean, unless booking business travel on Frontier is suspicious to the airline).
Why does Frontier seemingly have issues accepting payment?
Of course credit card fraud is a concern many companies deal with, though typically you’d think risk would be minimized by doing some sort of verification at the time the transaction is processed, as is common with many retailers, rather than reversing a transaction that has already posted.
To issue a ticket, and then days later cancel it, after the person has already been billed, while citing fraud, seems a little suspect. And now the airline is claiming that if Jeremy wants to book a ticket with the airline, he needs to do so at the airport? Seriously?!? Does Frontier want to lose money?
Here’s where it gets interesting, though. In late 2025, I covered how Frontier denied a passenger boarding over credit card fraud concerns. The passenger filed a Department of Transportation (DOT) complaint, and in the carrier’s response, they made the following claim:
As per Frontier Airlines’ policy, when a ticket is purchased using a credit card by someone who is not traveling, the cardholder must be physically present at the airport with the original credit card and a valid government-issued photo ID. This requirement is in place to ensure the security and verification of payment details.
This is of course totally ridiculous, and also so counterproductive if you’re trying to sell airline tickets. Under these rules, a parent couldn’t even buy a ticket for their college-aged kid without going to the airport.
I followed up with a spokesperson for the carrier, given the absurdity of that claim, and they told me the following, acknowledging their DOT response wasn’t accurate:
To be clear, our policy does not require a cardholder to be physically present at the airport any time they buy a ticket for someone else traveling, and different names between a ticketed passenger and credit card used alone will not flag a reservation for potential fraud. Other possible indicators – such as an abnormal IP address or a history of chargebacks with the credit card, to name a couple – may flag a reservation for potential fraud.
In-person verification at the airport with ID and credit card is only required when a reservation is flagged for potential fraud, as was the case in this instance. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience that followed, and as such issued a full refund to the customer involved. We always strive for a seamless travel experience.
But funny enough, they just outright canceled Jeremy’s ticket. They didn’t ask for verification, or anything else. For what it’s worth, Jeremy made the purchase from the United States, he has never filed a chargeback with the airline, etc.
Bottom line
It’s really hard to give Frontier Airlines money. My colleague Jeremy booked a roughly $190 ticket on the airline, and our company credit card was charged. Over two days after the booking was confirmed, he received notice that the ticket had been canceled “due to a credit review.” Yes, despite the fact that the credit card had been charged.
He was told he could rebook with an agent for a fee, or rebook online, but go figure the fare has gone up significantly.
I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I’m confused. Is Frontier really this bad at taking people’s money, or is this some sort of a sneaky operation intended to get people to rebook when fares go up? I’ve just never seen such unprofessional handling of an alleged need for credit card verification.
Has anyone encountered something similar with Frontier?
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