How to change or cancel a Frontier Airlines flight

Booking far ahead and not sure whether the flight will actually work for you? Frontier Airlines offers relatively flexible policies that may be of help.

As your travel date gets closer, the cost to change or cancel your flight will increase. However, even in a last-minute situation, you'll always have the option to change your plans or cancel if needed.

If you need to change or cancel a Frontier Alines flight, you might be pleased with the choices. Here's what you should know.

Frontier's cancellation policy

Canceling a paid Frontier reservation

When canceling a paid Frontier reservation, you'll be charged a flat $99 fee — regardless of when you cancel your flight. This fee is per passenger, per direction.

With Frontier's refund policy, you'll receive a credit for the price paid (minus the fee incurred) if you need to cancel a Frontier flight. The credit is valid for 90 days, but you only need to book a flight by the expiration date — you don't need to fly by this date.

Keep in mind that the credit is nontransferable and is only good for one-time use. So, if your new flight is less than the total credit amount, you'll forgo the remaining value.

If you cancel a paid reservation within 24 hours of booking the flight, you can get a full refund as long as you booked your flight at least seven days before travel. Flights booked within the seven-day window will carry the same cancellation fees as noted above.

Related: Ultimate guide to Frontier Miles: How to earn and redeem miles

Canceling a Frontier reservation booked with miles

Many other airlines waive the cost of redepositing miles when canceling a flight booked on miles, but in this case, you'll be charged a fee for doing so under Frontier's cancellation policy. To cancel your ticket and redeposit your Frontier miles back into your account, you'll have to pay a $75 redeposit fee. It doesn't matter how far in advance you cancel, but you must cancel before your flight's departure time.

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Since there's no benefit to canceling early, you're better off waiting to see if Frontier Airlines cancels the flight or significantly changes your flight. A change or cancellation by Frontier might let you cancel or change your flight for free.

Related: Why you should wait to change or cancel your flight if you want your money back

How to cancel a Frontier flight

Fortunately, Frontier makes canceling a flight pretty easy from the "Manage Trip" section of its website. After entering your confirmation number, you'll want to click on the "Cancel Booking" link and follow the prompts to confirm your cancellation goes through.

Related: Why I no longer avoid flying with Spirit, Frontier and other budget carriers

Changing a Frontier flight

Changing a paid Frontier reservation

When changing a paid Frontier reservation, you should try to do it as early as possible since the change fees get more expensive closer to your travel date. If you can change 60 or more days before your flight, there's no fee. This is a better policy than what many other airlines offer and doesn't require you to purchase a special (or more expensive) fare type.

If you need to change between 59 and seven days before departure, you'll be charged $49. Should you need to cancel less than seven days before departure (including the same day), there's a $99 fee.

Regardless of when you change your flight, you'll have to pay the fare increase if your flight price has gone up. However, unlike Southwest Airlines, you won't receive the difference back if your flight has gone down in price.

When you purchase a new flight, you can pay a Flight Flexibility add-on fee per person, per direction. This gives you one free date or time change fee-free up to 24 hours before the departure of your flight.

If you select this option, you'll have to pay the fee for all passengers on your itinerary; you'll have to do this both ways if booking a round-trip flight. This option can only be purchased during the initial booking process, meaning it can't be added later.

Related: All about Frontier Airlines' all-you-can-fly passes for 2024-25

Changing a Frontier reservation booked with miles

When booking a flight with Frontier miles, the fees to change your flight are the same as those incurred for a paid reservation. This means there are no fees if you change your flight 60 or more days before your flight departs. Within the 60-day window, if you booked your flight with miles, Frontier will charge $49 to change a flight 59 to seven days before departure and $99 to change within six days of departure.

Additionally, you'll be charged the difference if your new flight costs more miles. As with cash fares, if the new flight requires fewer miles, you won't receive a difference in miles back to your account.

Related: Strategy shift? Frontier unveils 54 new routes, goes head-to-head with competitors at their big hubs

How to change a Frontier flight

To change a Frontier flight, log in to your Frontier account and find the trip within your profile. You can also go to "Manage Trips" after logging in. From the page showing your trip information, click on the "Change Flights" link.

Your original reservation date and time will be listed, and you'll have the option to select a new date. You cannot select a new departure or arrival city, just a date or time change.

From there, select the new flight that works for you and go through the same booking process, including picking a seat assignment and selecting baggage options. Your fare difference will appear in the upper-right corner next to the cart icon. Clicking your cart will give you a breakdown of the total fare.

Related: Why I (sometimes) choose to fly a budget airline over a full-service carrier

Booking a bundle package to avoid change fees

You can add a few bundle options when you purchase a Frontier flight. These packages offer many perks, including the ability to change your flight for free with the flight flexibility option (though you'll still have to pay the fare difference). Of course, this bundled add-on option will increase the price of your ticket, but for certain situations, you might find the bundle to be worth it if there's a good chance you'll need to alter your plans at the last minute.

Avoid change fees with elite status

Finally, travelers with Frontier status will automatically be able to cancel or change their flight with no fee as long as they do so seven or more days from departure. Those with Elite Diamond status, however, will be able to receive a full refund — not a credit — when canceling their flight at least one day before the departure date. If you don't want to (or can't) earn Frontier elite status organically, know that Frontier occasionally offers status matches from other airlines.

Bottom line

Although it seems like you might need a flow chart to understand the policy in place for your exact situation, it is nice to know that as long as you change a paid reservation at least 60 days ahead of your flight's departure, you won't pay any fees. However, when canceling a flight at any point, you'll get a credit that comes with a decent amount of rules.

Changing a flight booked with miles also carries no fees as long as you make the change at least 60 days in advance. If you're not 100% certain which day you want to travel, you can always book an award ticket and then change it to another day if needed. If you're looking to cancel a flight booked with Frontier miles, keep in mind that the redeposit fees can quickly add up.