Frontier touts credit card hot streak, predicts next big airline merger is coming

Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle wants more customers to pull out their Frontier Miles credit card when they go to make a purchase — even as the airline touts breakneck growth in the number of travelers carrying the budget carrier's cobranded card.

"Right now, we're kind of the fourth or fifth card in their wallet," Biffle said, speaking at an industry conference in Florida on Wednesday. "At the end of the day, we just need more credit [card holders] and we need them to spend more."

In recent months, the airline saw customers apply for the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® at unprecedented rates: Applications spiked 25%, Biffle said, after the carrier announced plans to add first class-style seats to its planes in late 2025 — with complimentary upgrades to those seats planned for elite status members.

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It wasn't just new card applicants, either. Existing cardholders' spending on their Frontier cards rose 10% during that time, Biffle noted.

"All because we announced that they'd be able to upgrade to first class a year from now," he said. "So imagine when they can actually upgrade to first class."

A huge emphasis on credit cards

Like most U.S. airlines in 2025, Frontier sees the credit card arm of its business as a linchpin of its financial success.

As budget carriers look to rebound from recent years' lackluster earnings, many are trying to reclaim even a small sliver of the card spending that's a cash cow for the large network carriers; Delta Air Lines last month reported earning $7.4 billion from its American Express partnership in 2024.

Angling for a piece of the pie

Frontier isn't alone in its quest.

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JetBlue recently announced a new premium credit card that will ultimately deliver cardholders complimentary access to its new — albeit small — portfolio of airport lounges, though initial reviews of the card and its pricey $499 annual fee have been mixed.

Pro tips: The biggest mistakes people make with travel rewards credit cards

Frontier more bullish in 2025

It's worth noting, though, that Frontier did more than announce first-class seats and free upgrades in December — perhaps a reason for the increased uptake for one of the lesser-known airline credit cards on the market.

The Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier announced a no-strings-attached companion pass for high-level elite status members that will launch later this year — which the carrier hopes will increasingly entice flyers to its loyalty program — and planes.

Those moves came on top of sweeping adjustments to where (and when) the carrier flies — namely, fewer flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and to Orlando, and more flights on weekend getaway days and between big cities.

Add up all of that, and Biffle said he's increasingly bullish about the airline's 2025 prospects, following recent years' financial hurdles, speaking Wednesday in Miami — particularly as Frontier's competitors have similarly shifted and outright cut routes.

Supply and demand evening out

Airlines widely blamed a glut of flights and stiff competition for cheap fares — and sagging profits — in 2023 and 2024.

But in 2025, the winds seem to be shifting: Biffle specifically singled out Southwest Airlines, which in the first half of this year will fly nearly 26,000 fewer flights than it did in 2024 — about a 3% drop, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The Dallas-based carrier also made headlines this week for its decision to lay off about 15% of its corporate employees, an unprecedented move for the company that, to Biffle, signals opportunity in the cutthroat world of airline competition.

"Once you make that decision, well hell, cutting [flights] becomes simple," Biffle said, speaking Wednesday at the Industrial Select Conference in Miami. "If they're willing to cut that kind of workforce, there's nothing that's off the table."

Fallout from Spirit rejection

Of course, Frontier is also fresh off a major business move not going its way.

Earlier this month, Spirit Airlines rebuffed the carrier's latest proposal for the two budget airlines to merge.

Biffle cast doubt Wednesday on Spirit's chances to effectively bounce back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which it hopes to exit by the end of March after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Thursday approved the company's reorganization plan.

"I think they're going to end up being smaller," Biffle said of Spirit. "But at the end of the day, that's what they wanted to do, so we wish them luck."

Merger, alliance chatter heats up

Even as Frontier and Spirit go separate ways, though, the conference where Biffle (and other airline executives) spoke was swirling with speculation about the next splashy mergers and partnerships that could hit the airline industry.

Airlines widely view the Trump administration as far more likely than its predecessors to greenlight mergers and acquisition activity, perhaps inviting the next wave of industry consolidation that defined the early years of the 21st century.

"I think the industry is ready for it," Biffle said. "If you're not going to do it now, then when are you going to do it?"

The Biden administration took a hard antitrust line, striking down a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue, after blocking JetBlue's Northeast Alliance with American Airlines.

JetBlue keeps new partner talks alive

Interestingly, JetBlue executives who spoke in Miami again fanned speculation that the airline might reapproach American about a revived deep partnership — something neither airline had ruled out, TPG reported in November. JetBlue has said it could also, alternatively, link up with a different carrier.

"We have said we're talking to multiple airlines. We're still talking. If we find a deal that's accretive we'll absolutely do it," JetBlue President Marty St. George told analysts Wednesday, noting the carrier is looking for a way to increase earning and redemption opportunities for its TrueBlue loyalty program.

"One of the things that we clearly hear from our customers is that the utility of a TrueBlue point is not as strong as the utility of a point from the Big Three airlines," St. George said. "Given that we don't really have full global earn and [redeem], I think to be able to add that to our network would be very, very helpful."

JetBlue's international portfolio is limited, consisting of a handful of Caribbean and Latin American markets, plus a half dozen European destinations it'll reach this summer once it launches nonstop service to Madrid this spring.

A JetBlue lounge update

Speaking of JetBlue, the carrier gave one update on the timing of its second-ever airport lounge planned for Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). While JetBlue has said the airline's debut outpost at its John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) home base will open by the end of 2025, executives had only said the Boston facility would open "soon after."

It now appears that will happen sometime after the calendar flips to 2026.

"The lounge in Boston will open next year," Chief Financial Officer Ursula Hurley confirmed Wednesday.

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• Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
• The best credit cards to reach elite status
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