Start here: Frontier Miles — join, earn on spend, redeem Award Travel, keep miles active and reach Elite Status

Step 1: What Frontier Miles is and who it suits

You will learn: what the programme provides, what enrolling commits you to, and which travellers the rules are built around.

Frontier Miles is a member rewards program offered by Frontier Airlines that allows Frontier passengers to earn and use Travel Miles and Elite Status Points [1]. By gaining access to or enrolling in the programme, a member agrees to be bound by the Program Rules and by the Frontier Airlines Legal Terms, including the Contract of Carriage and Terms of Use [1].

Frontier reserves the right to change or cancel the Program Rules, in whole or in part, at any time, in its sole discretion and without notice, by posting updated text on its site, and any change applies to all members, including those who enrolled before it [1].

The rules are built around travel bought from Frontier and flown on Frontier: completed flights must be on Frontier flights whose flight numbers include the F9 airline code, codeshare flights do not accumulate miles or points, and the membership number must be given at the time of purchase through FlyFrontier.com or the Frontier mobile app [1].

Go deeper: Start here: airline miles.

Step 2: How to join

You will learn: who may open an account, what details registration requires, and how the one-account rule works.

Frontier Miles is a paperless, electronic customer loyalty program, and registration is online or through Chat With Us [1]. Membership is open to any individual person in any country that has not prohibited participation in frequent flyer programs, while other entities and parties, including corporations and travel agencies, are not eligible to enrol, earn miles or points, or receive benefits [1]. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, children aged 13 years or younger require parental consent to participate, and that permission may be revoked at any time [1]. Members may only have one account: where a member holds two, one is closed and eligible miles are transferred to the remaining active account, although some miles and points, such as enrolment bonuses and duplicate transactions, are not eligible to transfer [1].

Registration requires a first name, last name, date of birth, address, telephone number and a valid, individual e-mail address, and each member, including minors, needs a unique e-mail for login [1]. Each member must create their own account, and members or agencies may not create accounts on behalf of other individuals except parents or guardians of minors [1]. Requests for name changes may require supporting legal documentation, and the member is responsible for reporting changes of legal name, address, telephone number and e-mail address [1]. Participation is voluntary and an account may be closed at any time, while membership may be terminated for failing to comply with the rules, misrepresenting material information or acting in an untoward manner, in which case accrued miles and points are forfeited [1]. The full rules are published as the FRONTIER Miles Terms and Conditions [1].

Go deeper: Frontier Miles programme hub.

Step 3: How earning works

You will learn: which purchases and flights earn, which rates the rules print with which dates, and what to do when something does not credit.

Effective January 9, 2024, members may earn miles and points in three ways only: making an eligible Frontier purchase and completing the associated flight; participating in programmes with Frontier Miles partners; and using a Frontier Airlines World Mastercard or Business Mastercard issued by Barclays Bank, or a Frontier Airlines Access Mastercard, through special offers [1]. Miles and points for eligible flight purchases are allocated to the member's account regardless of who purchased the booking, and the member's number must be in the booking for the member to earn [1].

Section 3 prints two earn rules with different dates. It states that "Effective January 9, 2024, Members will accrue ten (10) Miles and ten (10) Points per U.S. Dollar" spent on eligible purchases for completed flights, and that sentence is still printed in the rules [1]. It also prints charts "Effective September 1, 2026", which are the later-dated rule: for basic fares, a Member earns 1x and a cardmember 4x, Elite Silver 3x and 6x, Elite Gold 5x and 8x, Elite Platinum 7x and 10x, Elite Diamond 11x and 14x [1]. The separate bundle charts read Member 6x and 12x, Elite Silver 8x and 14x, Elite Gold 10x and 16x, Elite Platinum 12x and 18x, Elite Diamond 16x and 22x [1].

The member name and Frontier Miles number on a reservation or purchase must exactly match the registered name and number, because any discrepancy may delay or void the credit [1]. If miles or points are not credited, a claim may be made within six months (180 days) through the Add Trip button on the Profile Page or by contacting the Frontier Miles team, partner activity must be taken up with the partner directly, and retroactive accruals can never exceed 180 days [1]. Miles and points may take 48-72 hours to credit and are not awarded on unused, cancelled, forfeited, refunded or fraudulent bookings or purchases [1].

Earning is excluded on tickets issued under trade and barter agreements, refunded, forfeited and unused tickets, free car rentals, hotel stays or other free services from a partner, passengers travelling on airline passes or industry or agency discount tickets, and tickets bought for additional seats to carry excess baggage, pets or extra space [1]. Travel Miles are all miles accrued through eligible Frontier purchases, the World Mastercard, Frontier travel partners or miles purchased through Points.com, and they do not qualify a member for Elite Status; Elite Status Points come from eligible Frontier purchases or the World Mastercard and are not associated with promotional miles, adjustments, partner miles, purchased miles or status-based bonuses unless explicitly stated [1].

Go deeper: How to earn miles.

Step 4: How to use Travel Miles

You will learn: what Travel Miles buy, where Award Travel can be booked, and the conditions attached to it.

Travel Miles may be redeemed for the base fare of a Frontier-operated and marketed flight, an Award Flight, and for Award Bundles, which combine benefits such as seat selection, baggage allowances and flight flexibility; miles may not be redeemed for any product or service except as Frontier expressly permits [1]. Award Travel must be booked directly with Frontier through FlyFrontier.com or Chat With Us, and partners and travel agents are not authorised to issue it [1]. There is no booking charge for Award Travel on FlyFrontier.com, but a Reservation Service charge applies when booking through the Reservations Center; Award Travel may be booked approximately eight months in advance or as the schedule permits, and taxes and fees starting at USD 5.60 must be paid by cash or credit card at booking [1].

Stopovers are not permitted, Award Flights exclude advance seat assignments, carry-on and checked baggage and other ancillaries unless stated, Award Bundles cannot be split, modified or bought à la carte with miles, and award redemption fees paid at reservation are non-refundable [1]. Flights bought with money may not be exchanged or refunded for payment with miles in whole or in part, cancelled Award Travel has miles re-deposited to the original member's account with redeposit fees possibly applying, and miles are forfeited if the booking is not cancelled before scheduled departure [1].

Family Pooling combines one primary account holder, who must be a Frontier Airlines World Mastercard holder or hold any Elite tier, with up to eight pool contributors; the primary holder can redeem from the pool without contributors' permission, redemptions run first in, first out, an account leaving a pool enters a 90-day cooling-off period, and expiration follows each contributor's accrual history except that contributors under 18 take the primary holder's expiry date [1].

Go deeper: How to redeem miles, award versus cash calculator.

Step 5: Keeping miles active and reaching Elite Status

You will learn: what keeps miles alive, how Elite Status is measured, and which thresholds carry which dates.

Miles do not expire so long as the member generates accrual activity every twelve months, including purchase activity on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard, and unredeemed miles expire at the end of the twelve-month period after the last accrual activity date [1]. Other activity, such as redeeming or miscellaneous adjustments, does not extend the expiration date [1]. Miles for World Mastercard cardmembers do not expire while the credit card account remains active and in good standing [1]. Frontier may send reminders to opted-in members, but expired miles are not reversed because a notification was not received [1].

Elite Status is earned by accruing Elite Status Points in a calendar year, defined as January 1 through December 31, and members who do not accrue enough points have no Elite Status [1]. Effective January 9, 2024, the thresholds are 10,000 points for Silver, 20,000 for Gold, 50,000 for Platinum and 100,000 for Diamond [1]. Effective August 27, 2026, members must accrue 75,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year to earn Diamond Status [1]. Effective January 1, 2027, the printed thresholds are 15,000 for Silver, 25,000 for Gold and 50,000 for Platinum, and a separate January 1, 2027 entry gives Diamond at 75,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year [1].

Effective January 9, 2024, all four tiers receive Priority Customer Care, no change or cancel fee for the member and up to eight other members on the same reservation with the same confirmation number where modifications are made 7+ days before departure and subject to any fare difference, and the option for Family Pooling; the 2024 benefits also include a mile and point multiplier earned through eligible FlyFrontier.com purchases of 20% for Silver, 40% for Gold, 60% for Platinum and 100% for Diamond, which is qualifying towards status and does not apply to the World Mastercard [1].

Companion travel is a benefit for members holding Elite Platinum or Elite Diamond Status, who may bring a designated Frontier Miles member on the same ticket for government taxes and fees starting at USD 5.60, with no limit on the number of bookings, and the companion earns no Travel Miles or Elite Status Points for the value of the flight [1]. Section 10 still prints "To achieve Elite Diamond Status, members must accrue 100,000 Elite Status Points within a calendar year" and refers to a promotion ending April 30, 2025, while section 9 prints 75,000 from August 27, 2026 and again from January 1, 2027 [1].

Go deeper: status calculator, mileage expiry calculator.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: the five things to do now, in order.

1. Create your own Frontier Miles account with a unique e-mail address, registering online or through Chat With Us, using the FRONTIER Miles Terms and Conditions as your reference [1].
2. Add your Frontier Miles number to every booking, with the name on the account matching the traveller's name exactly [1].
3. If a flight or purchase does not credit, claim through Add Trip on your Profile Page or contact the Frontier Miles team within 180 days [1].
4. Make sure you have accrual activity at least every twelve months if you want to keep your miles [1].
5. Check the effective date printed next to any earn rate or Elite Status threshold before relying on it, because the rules carry several dates at once [1].

Once your account is open and your number is in a booking, read the Frontier Miles programme hub for the pages that go further than this course.

Next: Start here: airline miles, guides, start here.