We flew Frontier Airlines with their Classic Plus fully refundale airfare for the first time two weeks ago. The following is an account of our trip for those who are considering upgrading to this fare.

I originally purchased the tickets online through frontierairlines.com.  the fare went down a few hundred dollars before our trip. I called Frontier and they gave us a price match, only because we had fully refundable Classic Plus tickets. If they were not refundable, Frontier will not price match their own fares.

Phoenix to Denver
Online check in was fast and easy. At the check in desk in Phoenix, two lines were available but no staff monitored who was in line, so all customers were using the Classic Plus line.  The automated system worked well.  At the gate, many customers were asked to gate check carry on luggage for free because the flight was completely full.  Classic Plus customers were offered first choice of boarding.  Our Direct TV monitors were activated for us by the flight attendants.  We were given a drink and snack included in the fare, as well as a cookie.  The attendants were all very friendly.

Denver to Louisville
Our flight gate was changed twice in two hours while waiting for our layover. The rest of the flight was exactly like the first leg.  All was very well.

Louisville to Denver
There was only one check in line available, and only one attendant in Louisville.  All customers used a single line. There was no way to pass regular customers as advertised in the Classic Plus airfare.  Our boarding passes didn’t designate us as Classic Plus customers, which we failed to notice.  When the boarding began, we boarded first without question by the gate attendant.  Once on board, we were quickly told by the flight attendant that we were not Classic Plus customers.  Other customers were also affected.  The flight attendant was very clear to me that it is the customer’s responsibility to ensure the correct designation for the fare is written on the boarding pass.  After arguing with her, she eventually tried to swipe her card to give me access to the Direct TV, but my seat monitor card reader was broken.  They did not offer us any drinks or snacks. We were given a cookie.  Randomly on this flight leg, they offered Military service personnel the Direct TV access for free.  We were later told that the crew was an emergency replacement and they were not given any paperork, so they had no way to know who was Classic Plus and who was not.  Our flight stopped in Denver and continued on to Phoenix. Originally we were told that we would be staying on the plane. After landing, the temp crew told us we had to deplane and they didn’t know what gate we needed to go to.

Denver to Phoenix
We found our new gate across the A-terminal with a few minutes left. I approached the gate and asked the attendant to print us new boarding passes that said Classic Plus, to try to eliminate the problems from the first flight.  She said she could hand write “Plus” on our tickets, but that was all she could do. She assured us the paperork for the flight showed our status correctly.  We were allowed to board first. Our Direct TV was activated right away without any fuss.  The flight attendant later came through and said, “We have snacks for sale, but first what would you like to drink?”  We said, “Nothing to drink, thanks,”  she never came back to give us the snacks. Another lady came through and gave us a cookie.

Overall, Frontier is the least consistent airline for customer service in-flight that I have ever experienced.  The first four rows of comfort seats were very large and I enjoyed the Direct TV (when we got it) and the cookies.  Just be ready to fight for what you pay for with this airline.