Ultra low cost carriers in the United States have been struggling financially, given how consumer demand has evolved. There’s lots of talk of how premium travel demand is strong, and that’s something ultra low cost carriers have struggled to capitalize on. That’s something they’re slowly but surely trying to change.
Along those lines, Frontier Airlines has just launched a new seating product. I think it’s kind of smart, though it’s also likely to annoy the carrier’s most loyal customers.
In this post:
Frontier Airlines’ extra legroom seats with blocked middles
Frontier Airlines is introducing UpFront Plus seating, which is a new upgraded seating option with extra space and comfort in the first two rows of every aircraft.
UpFront Plus seating not only offers significantly more legroom than the standard economy seating, but also offers a guaranteed blocked middle seat. Think of it like business class on flights within Europe, except with more legroom and less service. Note that UpFront Plus seating doesn’t offer any additional services, so you still have to pay for all ancillaries separately, as before.
This new product is bookable now for flights as of April 10, 2024. As a special introductory offer, UpFront Plus seating upgrades are available starting at only $49 per passenger per segment. This applies for tickets booked by March 20, and for travel through April 30.
Here’s how Frontier CEO Barry Biffle describes this new seating option:
“Many consumers strongly prefer a seating option that offers extra space when flying. Frontier is all about choice and giving consumers the flexibility to customize their travel to suit their individual needs and preferences. UpFront Plus is a great option for those who want expanded personal space and extra comfort.”
It almost seems like Frontier is trying to copy Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat concept, except without the cost of actually reconfiguring jets.
Frontier Airlines’ UpFront Plus seating will annoy elite members
I think Frontier Airlines’ new UpFront Plus seating is generally a smart move, if not a bit unoriginal. Between the extra legroom and the blocked middle seat, this will at least guarantee a pretty comfortable flight when traveling with the carrier.
However, I suspect elite members of the Frontier Miles program will have a very different take on this seating. Frontier Miles Gold, Platinum, and Diamond members, all receive Stretch seating as an elite benefit. This is a great perk that makes flying with Frontier more pleasant.
The catch is that as Frontier introduces its UpFront Plus seating, the airline is also greatly reducing its Stretch seating:
- Previously Stretch seating included the first three rows of the aircraft, plus exit rows
- Now the first two rows are becoming UpFront Plus seating, meaning that Stretch seating just includes the third row of the aircraft, plus exit rows
So this represents a significant devaluation to Frontier Miles elite perks, since arguably the best seats (in the first couple of rows) are no longer available as an elite perk. That being said, from Frontier’s perspective, I can hardly blame the airline.
I’m curious to see how successful this becomes. Can Frontier attract premium customers with a product like this, when it doesn’t offer other premium services, like Wi-Fi? Or will these seats end up empty in the long run, at least beyond the introductory pricing?
Bottom line
Frontier Airlines is introducing UpFront Plus seating, whereby the first couple of rows on each aircraft will feature extra legroom and blocked middles. The airline isn’t actually making any changes to its aircraft, but rather the first two rows of Stretch seating are being rebranded, by having a middle seat blocked. I’m curious to see how this concept performs for Frontier…
What do you make of Frontier’s UpFront Plus seating? Do you think it will be successful?
Agree with Ben on how this may be problematic with Elites. The biggest weakness ULCCs have is the inability to leverage loyalty and this materially hurts that even more.
That said, this seems to align F9 with their fellow Indigo carriers that do similar things, such as Volaris.
I only have one data point, but on a flight I was considering a couple of weeks ago, they wanted $117 for extra legroom seating. Now on the same route they want 117 on UpFront and 58 on extra legroom. That’s still too expensive for either in comparison to what AA charges on the same route, but it does make extra legroom a better value to buy ahead.
Flew Frontier once years ago after being rebooked on it when my UA flight got cancelled. Never again.
Never flown Ryanair and never will. Tried EasyJet and Southwest a couple of times. Never again.
Legacy carriers are pretty bad but still feel like a picnic compared to the ULCCs.
With the ever shrinking price gap between F / J and Y on legacy carriers, there is really no need to even have status on any of them.
Aa a Diamond I selfishly hope this fails. Objectively I can't see them selling it much on leisure routes that didn't sell the front seats much as is. And getting alot of complaints from elites that paid alot of money to get stretch seating that's no longer there. I can't take my kids to exit row. Truly if they don't reverse it or atleast allow us to sit in them if not booked closer to boarding, I can't see using them anymore and letting it all go.
LOL Will America welcome the intra European blocked middle seat 'premium class' concept?. This would be a disaster if attempted by other carriers. They should stay on their lane, this isn't a very good idea for a ULCC. Go truly big or go home.
Your still getting a seat that is akin to a public bench. But the occasional IFE continues consisting of a couple morbidly obese passengers in wife beaters and daisy dukes swinging at each other.
Are they just rebranding stretch seats as UpFront Seats or are they actually swapping out existing seats for a nicer seat with more padding and somehow increasing pitch?
No, exact same (uncomfortable, thin, non reclining) seats. Yeah No. Been there once, never again
"It almost seems like Frontier is trying to copy Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat concept, except without the cost of actually reconfiguring jets."
Seems? That's exactly what they're doing!
Big front seats is similar to old domestic first without catering. This product is still a park bench with a middle seat blocked.
Those seats look awful. I flew Frontier, once. Never again.
Still amazed how few people know what that "diamond" shape does to the brain (which is why you see it EVERYWHERE in society), especially on plane seats.
No one ever asks why there are so few other designs to be used on plane seats.
Anyway, this is a smart move by Frontier.
What effect does the diamond shape have?
I'm sorry but the CEO's name is Barry Biffle???
No worse than Alaska's mini-coochie. ;)
This is a lazy effort to compete with Spirit's Big Front Seat, and it will either fall flat (at best) or create onboard chaos (at worst). I predict there will be plenty of people who try to "self-upgrade" to these "blocked" middle seats for various reasons - they have an emotional support golden retriever who needs the extra room, etc. Americans are not used to seeing this European style business class.
If, as per the picture, you can't lift up the armrests, that takes some of the value out of having an empty middle seat.
It is the front row. Front row seats have fixed armrests because the tray tables are stowed there. The second row should have movable armrests.
Right, but that's literally half of the all the UpFront Plus seats on the plane.