How Do Frontier Airlines Boarding Groups Work?

Being in the back of the boarding group for the crowded Frontier gates feels like bad luck, but it is rarely bad luck. This unfortunate placement was likely determined well before your arrival at the airport due to a combination of status, purchases, and fare type. Don’t make the wrong purchases at checkout, and you will be watching overhead bins get filled from the sky on every trip you take with Frontier. 

The good news is that this is a problem that is easily remedied as soon as you understand exactly what goes into the ranking system that determines your placement. Before you are left sitting at the back of every one of your flights from now on, here is everything you need to know about this ranking system.

How Do Frontier Boarding Groups Work?

The boarding process is structured such that the aircraft’s passengers board in a certain order, from pre-board groups up to several numbered groups, until all the seats on the plane are taken. Instead of row numbers or seats, Frontier Airlines categorizes its passengers into boarding groups based on various criteria and clearly indicates these groups on the boarding passes.

Several structural aspects underlie the whole procedure:

• Both status and spending play a role, although the former usually has more weight. Elite status usually takes precedence over an add-on purchase belonging to the same group of boarding groups.
• An add-on, such as carry-ons and bundles, affects the passenger’s boarding group significantly. People with such purchases will board long before people without them, regardless of their elite status.
• Basic fare customers always board last because their boarding priority is not provided by default.
• The boarding process ends much sooner than one would think. The airline usually locks the doors 15 minutes before departure.

Since there are multiple criteria involved in the system instead of just one criterion, even two people who have reservations that look alike can wind up in separate categories.

What Are Group Boarding Rules on Frontier?

Prior to discussing the individual numbered groups, it is worth understanding the overall categories that the policy revolves around. In general, there are usually four categories in Frontier’s boarding process.

Pre-Boarding takes place before each group number and caters to a particular group of passengers as opposed to offering a platform for early boarding to all interested individuals. These include disabled passengers, active-duty U.S. Military, families traveling with infants less than two years old, and Frontier Miles Elite Diamond. 

The process of boarding begins immediately after pre-boarding is completed by boarding the numbers in combination with status and upgrades.

Frontier Airlines Boarding Groups: Full Breakdown by Group

That’s how the entire sequence works by group according to the official boarding process at Frontier.

Such an arrangement encourages the use of a dual approach of loyalty and spending as opposed to using just one of the two variables. A member of the program without any upgrade ends up in group five, but the same member, once he upgrades his baggage allowance, finds himself in group two.

Why Frontier Expanded to Seven Groups

Prior to the restructuring of Frontier Airlines' boarding process, the airline used to board customers using only four classes of boarding; however, today the airline uses seven different classes of boarding in order to achieve certain goals. As stated by the airline, such restructuring of the process is necessary to better reward loyalty program participants and add-on customers. As well as reducing gate congestion through the division of passengers into different groups during the boarding process.

Who is Considered Group 3 on Frontier Airlines?

The Frontier boarding group 3 includes passengers having bought a carry-on bag or an Economy Bundle but lack either Frontier Miles Elite Silver status or any membership in the general Frontier Miles program.

The importance of the difference is that, in spite of boarding at about the same stage of the procedure, Groups 2 and 3 differ mostly by the presence of loyalty program membership and not by purchases themselves. For example, the passenger without membership buying the carry-on bag would belong to Group 3, whereas the member of the Frontier Miles program buying the same item would be included in Group 2.

In view of the large size of Group 3, typical for flights in which passengers buy a lot of carry-on bags to avoid additional charges at the gate. Some crowding can be expected at this step despite the presence of several other steps ahead of it.

Why Group Sizes Can Vary So Much Flight to Flight

The third group and the initial numbering groups may be unexpectedly crowded, and this is not due to a malfunction in the process but actually intended. The company encourages customers to buy carry-on bags and bundle packages at the time of check-out, and therefore many passengers on one flight may qualify for the same boarding group. For a flight having some promotional bundling package going on, it is common that most of the people board in the initial groups, leaving only a few passengers in the later boarding groups. Thus, one needs to have realistic expectations from the start.

What is Group 4 in Frontier Airlines?

Group 4 encompasses multiple qualifying tiers into one boarding level, rather than being one type of passenger only.

• Frontier Airlines World Mastercard cardholders: They qualify for Group 4 as a perk of their membership and irrespective of any additional purchases they make for this trip.
• Frontier Miles Elite Silver cardholders: They qualify to board in Group 4 if they have not previously qualified in one of the previous groups by purchasing carry-ons or bundles.
• Priority Boarding members: Those who purchased this add-on rather than carrying on bags or purchasing bundles qualify to board in this level.
• Premium Seat or Exit Row: These seats are for members who do not qualify elsewhere via purchasing other items and will board in this group.

In essence, Group 4 serves as a catch-all for valuable yet slightly less valued priority qualifications which do not fit into Groups 1-3. This group is firmly in the middle of the boarding process, boarding before General Frontier Miles cardholders but long before basic economy passengers.

Tips to Improve Your Frontier Boarding Group

Several simple choices can significantly influence where you end up in the order of boarding on your next Frontier flight.

1. Sign up for Frontier Miles before booking, as a mere membership in Frontier Miles, without any add-ons, will put you before the rest of basic fare passengers in Group 5.
2. Purchase an extra carry-on bag or Economy Bundle if you are already planning on purchasing one way or another. This will automatically move you to either Group 2 or 3 based on your membership.
3. Consider the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard if you are planning on flying Frontier frequently, as a cardholder you will get placed in Group 4 regardless.
4. Purchase Priority Boarding outright if you do not need a carry-on bag but would like to board before basic fare passengers.
5. Get to Elite Silver or better through frequent flights, as being on higher tiers gives access to progressively earlier boarding groups without having to pay anything extra.
6. Bundle your purchases at the time of booking rather than purchasing separately, as sometimes bundle offers provide priority boarding along with other benefits for cheaper than separate purchases.
7. Checking your boarding pass far in advance of your arrival at the gate is highly advised. Because having your group number handy already allows you to avoid trying to determine what line to get into when the actual boarding begins.

Simply implementing one or even two of these methods will take a regular basic fare traveler all the way from Group 6 or 7 and place him or her firmly in Group 2, 3, or 4. This becomes especially beneficial for the frequent flyer who gains from moving up the status levels on Frontier with every flight.

Final words

The process of boarding on Frontier is not random, but rather, having information about the priority ranking with regard to status, purchases, and fare types gives you actual power. One single carry-on or bundle will advance you quite a few positions ahead compared to expectations, while your status will only increase this advantage. Here, look at your boarding pass before your next flight, consider buying a carry-on or bundle and move up towards earlier groups.

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