Known for its budget-friendly fares, Frontier Airlines serves dozens of cities in North America and the Caribbean. It operates a hub in Denver and has multiple “focus cities” throughout the country, including Chicago and Orlando.

If you’re a regular Frontier passenger, it’s worth checking out the airline’s frequent-flyer program, “Frontier Miles.” The program doesn’t have many of the high-end benefits of its counterparts from full-service airlines, but it does offer decent value given Frontier’s generally low fares.

Here’s a rundown of how the program works.

New to Frontier Miles in 2024

Frontier is making some significant changes to its Frontier Miles loyalty program in 2024.

For starters, the program is shifting how you earn miles. Going forward, you’ll earn miles and qualify for elite status based on dollars spent, not miles flown. The standard earning rate will be 10 miles for every $1 spent on Frontier products, including flights, bags, seat assignments and bundles.

The airline is also overhauling its elite status tiers with new names and perks, and adding a new, lower-level status tier.

Going forward, the Frontier Miles elite status tiers will be:

Silver (new).

Gold (previously “20k”).

Platinum (previously “50k”).

Diamond (previously “100k”).

Frontier will also introduce new elite status in 2024, such as:

No change or cancellation fees for all elite members seven days or more before departure.

Priority customer care (an online chat option).

Pet fee waivers for Platinum and Diamond members.

Expanded perks for both elite members and their traveling companions, such as free seat assignments, bags and priority boarding, depending on the status tier. See full breakdown of tiers and benefits below.

What’s the value of Frontier miles?

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Frontier miles at 1.1 cents apiece. Here’s how this value compares to other airline loyalty program miles:

To determine the value of reward miles, NerdWallet compared cash prices and reward redemptions for economy round-trip routes across several destinations and dates. We divided the cost of the cash ticket by the cost of the reward ticket to determine a “cent per mile” value for each flight, then averaged this value across several flights and dates.

How has the value of Frontier miles changed over time?

The value of Frontier miles has increased steadily after taking a dip in 2020. At our latest valuation, Frontier miles are worth almost quadruple what they were in 2020, though the value of any redemption will still vary.

Frontier vs. competitors: How it stacks up in 2023

Frontier came in second-to-last place out of nine airlines in our most recent analysis on the best airline loyalty programs. Our analysis didn’t consider average fare costs, meaning Frontier was pitted against more expensive airlines like Delta and American.

The Frontier rewards rate is actually the highest of all the airlines we reviewed, meaning whatever you spend with the airline pretty quickly morphs into free future flights. It’s also not too bad a pick if you’re bringing a pet with you.

That said, Frontier ranked abysmally when it comes to added fees, given those complicated Frontier baggage and seat selection fees. It also ranked pretty poorly in terms of operations, which considers factors like baggage mishandling and on-time arrivals. It also has a painfully bad in-flight experience: no movies, no TV, no Wi-Fi – not even available for purchase. Snacks and drinks will incur an extra fee as well, so no free pretzels and soda. Not to mention, Frontier’s seating fees and rules can be confusing.

Here's a closer look at how Frontier competed across categories in 2023:

First in rewards (mile) value.

Third to last in operations.

Fourth in elite status benefits.

Worst in terms of total fees.

Worst in terms of in-flight experience.

Third in most pet-friendly airlines.

How to earn Frontier miles

Any passenger can join “Frontier Miles” for free. Confusingly, the “Frontier Miles” program is nested within another program called “MyFrontier,” which includes Discount Den members and Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® holders. Signing up for Frontier Miles automatically enrolls you in MyFrontier.

In other words, don’t sweat the difference. Here's how to earn miles on Frontier.

By flying

Starting in 2024, earning Frontier frequent flyer miles will be based on how much you spend with the airline.

As a standard Frontier Miles member, you’ll earn 10 miles per dollar spent with Frontier. The earnings rate accelerates with status.

Here’s an example of how it works: This below round trip between Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Orlando goes for $47.96.

Previously, you’d earn 1,574 miles for the 1,574-mile round trip between the two airports. Starting in 2024, though, you would earn 178 miles for the ticket portion of your trip. This is based on $17.87 in spending, after subtracting the government-imposed taxes and fees from your ticket price.

However, you’d also earn 10 miles per dollar for add-on items like seat selection and bags, which can really add up.

On this trip, Frontier’s cheapest bundle, “The Perks,” which includes bags and seat selection comes to $206 round trip, translating to an additional 2,060 miles earned.

As your status level climbs, you’ll earn at a faster rate.

Silver: 12 miles per dollar spent.

Gold: 14 miles per dollar spent.

Platinum: 16 miles per dollar spent.

Diamond: 20 miles per dollar spent.

If you forget to book your flight through your frequent flyer account, you can still get credit for miles up to 180 days after your flight by filling out a flight mileage credit request form.

By spending on a credit card

The Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® with an annual fee of $89 is your card if you want earn miles for your spending. It gives you 5 miles per $1 spent on airfare purchased directly from Frontier on flyfrontier.com, 3 miles per $1 spent at restaurants and 1 point per dollar on all other spending. There’s a generous sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus miles plus, $100 flight voucher, after spending $500 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. That’s enough for two domestic round-trip tickets.

And every year that you put at least $2,500 on the card, you get a $100 discount voucher — more than making up for the annual fee.

Frontier’s partnerships with certain hotel chains allow you to earn points in those hotels’ loyalty programs and then transfer them to Frontier. Since those chains have their own credit cards that earn points with every purchase, those cards can effectively become Frontier cards.

Frontier’s card also gets you a leg up on elite status. You’ll earn one elite qualifying mile for every dollar spent on the card. Terms and conditions apply.

By shopping with partners

Frontier doesn't partner with any major airlines, but you can earn miles on car rentals and hotel stays through other Frontier partners. Partners can change but have been known to include Marriott, Wyndham, Alamo, Hertz and National rental car. Spending with car rental agencies, hotel chains and other retailers that you would shop with anyway can be an easy way to earn additional Frontier miles. See the full list of partners on Frontier's website here.

By buying additional miles

Frontier allows customers to buy Frontier miles at a rate of 2.5 cents per mile. In general, buying frequent flyer miles on any airline provides poor value, and this is no exception.

That said, buying miles can be helpful for members who are just shy of being able to redeem their accumulated miles for a flight.