Frontier Airlines Guts Elite Status—Cuts Mileage Earning Up To 90%, Takes Away Benefits And Sells Them Back

Frontier Airlines has announced what it calls “enhanced elite benefits” for its frequent flyer program. Any time an airline calls something an enhancement, get ready, because it’s a major devaluation. Unfortunately some are just reporting the airline’s spin. The one actual positive for some is making top-tier Diamond status easier to reach, requiring 75,000 points instead of 100,000. Of course, Diamond gets less rewarding also. Starting with purchases January 1, 2027, elites buying the cheapest Basic fare will no longer receive complimentary seat selection and their change fee and cancel fee waivers disappear. Complimentary UpFront Plus seating and upcoming first class upgrades will require the purchase of a bundle. So no more upgrades for elites simply buying tickets. Starting with purchases September 1, mileage earning and status credits are cut as much as 90%. Most Members Will Earn Far Fewer Miles And Status Points Currently, ordinary members earn 10 miles and 10 elite status points per eligible dollar spent with Frontier. Silver earns 12, Gold 14, Platinum 16 and Diamond 20. Here’s what Frontier will award beginning September 1 to members who don’t hold its credit card: Status Current Earning New Basic Fare Earn New Bundle Earn Member 10x 1x (-90%) 6x (-40%) Silver 12x 3x (-75%) 8x (-33%) Gold 14x 5x (-64%) 10x (-29%) Platinum 16x 7x (-56%) 12x (-25%) Diamond 20x 11x (-45%) 16x (-20%) Even customers buying Economy, Premium or Business bundles earn fewer miles and status points at every level. A bundle merely makes the devaluation smaller. The clear winners are Frontier Airlines World Mastercard cardholders who buy bundles. Their program rates will be 12x for a general member, 14x for Silver, 16x for Gold, 18x for Platinum and 22x for Diamond. In each case that’s two points per dollar more than current rates. Eligible cardholders may also earn another 5 miles and one status point per dollar when paying with the card. Cardholders buying Basic fares still take a haircut. Their program rates fall to 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x and 14x depending on status. The new earning rates apply based on booking date, so tickets purchased by August 31 retain current earning. New Elite Status Requirements Frontier is simultaneously changing its qualification thresholds: Silver: 10,000 points increases to 15,000, a 50% increase Gold: 20,000 points increases to 25,000, a 25% increase Platinum: remains 50,000 points Diamond: 100,000 points falls to 75,000, a 25% decrease The reduced Diamond threshold sounds much more generous than it is because Frontier is also changing the speed at which points are earned. A nonelite member can currently reach Silver with $1,000 in eligible Frontier spending. Under the new program, that same customer needs $15,000 when buying Basic fares or $2,500 when buying bundles. An existing non-cardholder Diamond who requalifies entirely through bundled purchases used to need $5,000 in eligible spending. Next year the requirement changes to $4,688, only 6.25% less, despite Frontier advertising a 25% reduction. A Diamond buying base fares will need $6,818, about 36% more than it’s been even though the threshold is 25% lower. Benefit Changes Are Brutal Frontier status has been exceptionally useful because it allowed a frequent customer to fly Frontier without paying fees. That was the deal. As the head of the program put it to me some years back, they don’t have lie flat seats to offer so need to make the value proposition compelling in other ways. Making it lucrative to fly the airline with status meant selling the credit card to earn that status. Previously, a Gold member could buy a ticket and receive a carry-on, select a Preferred seat at booking, move to a Premium seat at check-in, board in Group 1 and request an UpFront Plus upgrade four hours before departure. Changes and cancellations made at least seven days in advance were free. Frontier’s new terms remove the change- and cancellation-fee waiver from every status tier. Economy, Premium and Business bundles continue to have no change or cancellation fees, although cancellation generally produces a Frontier credit rather than a refund. Diamond’s separate ability to refund a reservation at least 24 hours before departure is eliminated, too. The seat changes vary by tier. They’re basically taking away your benefits and selling them back to you through a bundle. Silver loses standard seat selection at booking and Preferred seating at check-in on Basic fares. It gains access to an UpFront Plus or first class upgrade four hours before departure, but only after buying an eligible bundle. Gold loses Standard or Preferred seating at booking and Premium seating at check-in on Basic fares. Its UpFront Plus upgrade window improves from four to eight hours, but the customer must first buy a bundle. Free carry-on and Group 1 boarding remain. Platinum loses standard seat selection for everyone on the reservation, Premium seating at booking for the elite and Premium seating at check-in for companions on a Basic fare. Its UpFront Plus upgrade window moves from 12 to 18 hours, provided you buy a bundle. Diamond loses Premium or Preferred seating at booking for everyone on the reservation. Its 24-hour UpFront Plus or first class upgrade window at check-in remains, but only with purchase of a bundle. Silver and Gold gains preferred seat upgrades when buying a bundle. Golds get group 1 boarding for companions. These upgrades aren’t automatic. The member can self-select a seat during the applicable window if inventory remains. Platinum also loses one of Frontier’s most valuable benefits: unlimited companion travel. It will receive two companion certificates instead. A Platinum who used unlimited companion travel therefore sees the nominal requirement for that benefit increase from 50,000 points to the new 75,000-point Diamond level, and earning those points is slower without both a credit card and bundled fares. Several other benefits disappear from the program: Platinum’s 50% Discount Den discount Diamond’s free Discount Den membership Platinum’s annual gift of Silver status Diamond’s annual gift of Gold status Frontier says new “Milestone Rewards” will let elites choose additional benefits, but it hasn’t said what those rewards will be or when they will be earned. There are a handful of additions. Upgrade windows come earlier. Free checked bags come with an extra 10 pound allowance for the member and everyone on their reservation. One open question is how this will hit elites who buy the GoWild pass. A GoWild ticket doesn’t include advance seat assignment or baggage, while the new rule says only travelers holding a bundle qualify for a seating upgrade. Frontier’s current GoWild FAQ says elite benefits apply to GoWild travel, but these announced rules limit seat upgrades to elites buying an Economy or Premium bundle. That seems like an oversight they’ll need to reconcile on the website. Why Frontier Wants Elites To Buy Bundles Currently Frontier’s best customers spend the least. The bet was they were getting monetized through frequent purchases and earning status with the credit card. These changes are a huge reason not to get the Frontier credit card, since the value of the status earned with the card is so much less. They are trying to compensate for that with higher points-earning rates (taking away less) but the value in the card isn’t free flights on Frontier (which will now come with fewer benefits from status – the free flights have been devalued for elites, too). Frontier suffers from what I used to call the Greyhound Road Rewards problem. The reward for suffering 10 bus rides was getting stuck with… another bus ride. Frontier lacks partner airline redemptions and a far-flung route network. Nonetheless, they think they can drive elites to pay them more for benefits they used to receive from status. Put another way, American Airlines has just stopped honoring elite seat and upgrade benefits on basic economy fares. Frontier Airlines literally is basic economy. If all you’re buying is the ticket they’re selling you, they don’t want your business. Structurally, though, the new program turns status from being a substitute for buying a bundle into a reason to buy one. A Gold member retains a free carry-on but has to buy an Economy bundle (which includes a carry-on benefit) to regain seat selection and become eligible for an upgrade. Platinum and Diamond members will have to buy bundles containing benefits their status already provides in order to gamble and potentially get an upgrade. Frontier and Barclays recently extended their partnership through 2037, with Frontier telling investors that the new deal improves program economics. The airline has said it wants to increase loyalty revenue from under $3 per passenger to $6 by the end of 2026 and $10 by 2028. Their theory is that giving customers less incentivizes them to be more loyal and spend more on the card. Awarding fewer miles reduces Frontier’s future redemption expense. Making lower-tier status harder limits the number of customers receiving free benefits. Requiring bundles before releasing otherwise-unsold premium seats produces revenue before Frontier gives away a seat close to departure. There are very few people truly stuck flying Frontier, though. Status was a reason to do so. They’re going to offer first class and sell Starlink, so there are times that maybe the product won’t be so bad and they’ll actively chase premium customers away? But these changes would seem to signal that a return to their fees for everyone model, where each customer has to pay them more on each trip and spending on their cobrand credit card to earn status is no longer a way around that. I have to say I don’t understand how someone knowledgable could have looked at these changes and then write, “these improvements suggest the carrier is serious about attracting former Spirit loyalists and new flyers to its brand.” Topics on this page