Frontier Airlines (ULCC): Is It Worth the Hassle?

As someone who recently had a bad experience with booking a flight on Frontier Airlines, I have to say that I am skeptical about the airline's value proposition. Yes, they may offer low fares, but the hassle and frustration of dealing with their customer service and policies may not be worth it in the end. In this article, I will share my experience with Frontier Airlines and take a closer look at their stock and financial information.

My Experience with Frontier Airlines

I recently booked a flight on Frontier Airlines for a trip to visit family. There weren't too many options for the dates I wanted to travel since it was on such short notice, and Frontier was one of the only reasonably priced options. I knew that I had to pay an additional fee for a carry-on bag as I read these things carefully before I book. I also knew that I had to pay extra if I wanted to select my seat, but I didn't really care about that even though I'm pretty tall. The flights are relatively short and not that uncomfortable. Yes, these "value" airlines like to nickel and dime their customers, but that's not the problem I had.

The problem I had with them was the result of a stupid programming issue on the transfer of my information from the broker I used, Expedia (EXPE). My last name has a suffix, and Expedia's form doesn't include an extra select menu to add the suffix. At the end of the booking process there was a scary reminder to make sure my name matches my government ID exactly. It was one of those moments where even though you suspect you're about to do something really dumb, you do it anyway. I went ahead and entered the suffix in the box for my last name with a space between my last name and the suffix. Yes, I've done this before and there has never been a problem. In fact, the non-Frontier leg of my trip went through with no problem. When I went to confirm my itinerary at Frontier's website, I saw that they had eliminated the space I had put in between my last name and suffix, running the two together as one. This meant that my last name on the booking did not match my government ID exactly, and was the precise thing I was trying to avoid in the first place! Stupid. I spent the next two hours sorting it all out over chat with a very helpful (but slow) Frontier customer service representative. It was not fun.

To make matters worse, my flight was delayed by several hours. When I tried to contact Frontier's customer service to inquire about the delay, I was put on hold for over an hour. When I finally reached a representative, they were not very helpful and seemed to be reading from a script. I was frustrated and felt like I was not valued as a customer.

On the day of my flight, I arrived at the airport early, but found that the security line was much longer than anticipated. When I finally made it to the gate, I found that my flight had been overbooked, and there was no room for me on the plane. I was left stranded at the airport and had to spend the night in a hotel before I could catch a flight the next day.

Overall, my experience with Frontier Airlines was a nightmare. The low fares may have been tempting, but the hassle and frustration of dealing with their policies, customer service, and poorly designed back-end system were not worth it in the end.

Stock and Financial Information

Now, let's take a closer look at Frontier Airlines' stock and financial information. The company is publicly traded under the ticker symbol ULCC and has a market capitalization of approximately $2.4 billion.

In terms of revenue, Frontier Airlines reported $2.5 billion in revenue in 2019, a 12% increase from the previous year. Like so many other travel related companies and industries, Frontier suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Their revenue dropped precipitously in 2020 and has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The company's financials are concerning, as they are not generating a profit. Additionally, the airline industry is incredibly competitive, and Frontier Airlines is not the only low-cost carrier in the market. Other airlines, such as Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air, also offer low fares and may be more attractive to customers.

Here's a look at their annual income statements for the last few years.

Is Frontier Airlines Worth It?

Based on my experience and the company's financials, I would say that Frontier Airlines is not worth it. While the low fares may be tempting, the additional fees and frustration of dealing with their BS may not be worth the cost savings.

However, there are some positives to Frontier Airlines. The company operates a young and fuel-efficient fleet of aircraft, which helps to keep operating costs low. They also offer a rewards program, Frontier Miles, which allows customers to earn points towards future flights.

Additionally, some customers may have had positive experiences with Frontier Airlines. The airline has a 2.9-star rating on Yelp and a 6.1 out of 10 rating on Trustpilot. While these ratings are not stellar, they do show that some customers have had positive experiences with the airline.

Stock

In recent months, analysts have been lowering their price targets for the stock.

And they've been mostly right. The stock has been under performing for some time.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my experience with Frontier Airlines was frustrating and disappointing. The additional fees and poor customer service made the low fare not worth it in the end. While the company's financials are concerning, there may be some positives, but I've looked and they're pretty hard to find.

Avoid.