Buffets are great if you come hungry and have a plan of attack. You need to be sure you’re going to eat more than what you paid to get in; otherwise you might as well order a single dish and call it a day. Frontier’s Go Wild! All-You-Can-Fly is a traveler’s buffet, but it’s not for everyone. If you think you have the hunger, here’s how to get your money’s worth.
The Go Wild! Summer pass is an unlimited pass allowing you to travel on Frontier flights, both domestically and internationally, from May 2 to September 30, 2023, for a set price. Normally $1,000, Frontier is selling an undisclosed but limited number of summer passes for $400 (the plan will automatically renew for $1,000 for the summer period unless you cancel by Sept. 30). If your wanderlust extends beyond the summer months, the airline is also offering a limited number of annual passes for $1,300 (regularly priced at $1,999).
What’s the catch?
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Frontier’s plan is surely to get enough passes sold to make them enough money to cancel out their usual loss rate for seats that go empty on most flights. But they also seem to be hoping that they’ve imposed enough restrictions and loopholes—from blackout dates to automatic renewals to additional fees and taxes—that most people who buy a pass either actually won’t end up flying that much, or will end up paying enough for add-on services and fees or for companion tickets that the airliner will come out ahead.
This isn’t the first time Frontier has offered deep discounts on this program. Their whole-year pass was marked down to $600 last November, for flights beginning this May, according to the Wall Street Journal. We have yet to see how Frontier will manage the program in practice (you’ll surely see unhappy costumers in May complaining on Twitter about Frontier if the rollout doesn’t go smoothly).
The fine print
Frontier outlines the deal’s restrictions on their website. Here are the most salient:
- Flights can only be booked within a 24-hour period before the flight departure for domestic flights and a 10-day period before flight departure for international flights.
- Flights and seats are subject to availability; last seat availability is not guaranteed.
- Flights are subject to the following blackout periods: May 25, 26, 29; June 29, 30; July 1-5, 8, 9; August 31; September 1, 4
- Flights do not include any add-on services, like bags or seat selection.
- Taxes, fees, and additional charges apply at the time of booking, including a $0.01 charge for each flight booked.
- If you book a flight and are a “no show,” you are “subject to the terms set forth in Frontier’s Contract of Carriage,” so make sure to cancel if you know you won’t make a flight. If you repeatedly no-show, or “violate the terms and conditions,” you can receive financial penalties, including your pass being revoked without a refund.
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How to get the most out of Frontier’s Go Wild! All-You-Can-Fly
Since flight tickets don’t become available to book and confirm until the day before departure for domestic flights, you’ll need to be flexible to take advantage of the pass. Seats are not guaranteed if the flight is completely booked, so be ready to change dates on a whim if necessary. You’ll have a bit more leeway with international flights since you’ll have a 10-day window to book a round-trip flight. If you want to stay more than 10 days, however, you won’t know when you’ll be coming back until after you leave, which might be nerve-racking.
Plan ahead
If you don’t work remotely, it might be too risky for you to fly because you won’t be able to juggle time off if your plans change last minute. The same goes for hotel bookings—so this will work out best if you can stay with friends and family or aren’t picky about hotel accommodations. If you work remotely or have a hybrid schedule, bring your work materials with you in case you have to extend your trip for a bit.
Also, expect things to go wrong. Flights get cancelled or delayed all the time. Frontier no longer has dedicated customer service as of November of last year, according to CNN. So if you get irritated easily trying to problem-solve without speaking to a human, take that into consideration before you buy a pass.
Favor many short trips over a few long trips
Since you can only really get your money’s worth by flying frequently, aim to travel as often as you can. Check the list of city to city flights you can take here. Find your city on the list and see where you can fly to directly (if there are flights and seats available). Remember that once you’re in a different city, you can fly to another one, but you’ll have to make sure your bookings line up. Just be ready to pay the fees and taxes for each flight (they might add up, since they’re technically last minute flights, so they might be overpriced).
Fly internationally
Since you can fly unlimited all summer, fly internationally will give you the most bang for your buck. Here is the list of the countries Frontier flies to. The best method would be to book all flights—both departure, country to country, and return—within your allotted 10-day window to give yourself some assurance, and plan around those dates.
If you’re flying from the U.S., you can fly to 12 different countries. Since there are 152 days between March 2 and Sept 30, you can theoretically fly to of them if you stay 10 days or less in each, booking your inbound and outbound flights at the same time (and provided there are available flights to and from those countries within the 10-day period). Whether that’s feasible or not, that’s the mindset you’ll to have to squeeze the most value possible out of the summer pass.
Travel light
Since you will hopefully be taking many flights, you’ll want to make your life easy and take only a small bag on each. Frontier only allows for a personal bag to be included in the flight for free. Carry-ons and checked bags cost extra, and the price varies per flight. You can check their bag dimensions here.
I’ve personally flown with Frontier with a medium-size backpack (under 35 pounds) as my personal item many times and have not been charged for it as a carry-on. However, they do say they “check during boarding” and can technically charge you if your personal item is bigger than their dimensions allow.
The bottom line
The Go Wild! Summer pass is a great opportunity for travelers who are flexible and prefer to pack light—especially those who work remotely and were already planning a busy summer of traveling. Most people might not check all those boxes, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get a decent value out of the deal.