AirTran, Frontier Unite Frequent Flyer Programs
Friday November 17, 2006
Low-cost airlines AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines are integrating their route maps and allowing passengers to earn frequent-flyer miles good on either airline. Members of AirTran's A+ Rewards program will be able to redeem their miles on Frontier flights, while members of Frontier's Early Returns program can use their miles to get seats on AirTran flights.
Both airlines operate domestic U.S., flights, while Frontier also has a strong presence in Mexico, and AirTran flies to the Bahamas.
In spite of all the hype about the Frontier Early Returns program, my experience is turning out to be less rewarding. My wife and I have accumulated more than a hundred thousand miles of credit and have been unable to get three concurrent tickets using the credited miles to virtually anywhere. Frontier only allows a limited number of seats on a flight and in a lot of cases there are apparently none. We wanted to treat our grand-daughter to a trip to DC this summer…..Frontier said no way! Couldn’t arrange anything to Florida or Mexico either. If someone knows what the secret is to be able to use Frontier’s program for anything other than single one-way trips to untoward destinations…..please let me know!