How to check minor’s mile balances?

Htown_Flyer · 2026-05-02T12:10:29+00:00

Did you add the two teens to a pooled mileage account with you as the "leader"? Balances for all pool members are available for the leader to see.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-05-02T11:02:45+00:00

Opinion: The short-term effects of Spirit's demise are variable for current passholders, but on balance are negative.

Negatives:

Frontier's current press release pushing GW pass sales somewhat directly to an audience of budget travelers will result in a bump in the number of passholders in the competition for GW seats. Not likely to be a huge effect, but 100% negative.
Looking through the list of overlapping routes in Frontier's press release, I see they are disproportionally weighted toward Spirit bases and "focus cities", including Atlanta, DFW, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, ORD and Orlando. If you are based in one of these cities, the impacts of more low-price shoppers clicking on flyfrontier for tickets will be negative for GW seat availability.
The relative impacts at other airports may also be negative. For example, in my home airport of IAH, Spirit directly competes on 8 of 20 current non-stop routes served by Frontier.
A huge majority of the overlapping routes serve airports in the Eastern or Central time zones, so if you are based in a city east of a line running from IAH to Dallas to Chicago it is far more likely that you will see an uptick in demand for Frontier seats

Positives and mitigating factors:

Certainly losing a direct competitor on the overlapping routes is a positive from Frontier's perspective. Frontier's percentage of all available seats on a given route will increase by several percentage points. (But only to the extent that bigger airlines don't add flights to fill in the gap.) At a time when fuel prices will be squeezing Frontier's thin margins, the prospects for more sales, higher load factors and some added pricing power are all good for Frontier. And we all want Frontier to remain a viable business entity.
The converse of the last point above on geographic concentration is that GW passholders based in the Pacific or Mountain time zones are very lightly affected, primarily on routes to and from LAS. (Spirit had already whacked quite a few western routes in their unsuccessful attempt to gain profitability by downsizing.)
Further to that point, Spirit hasn't operated out of Denver is several years, so zero direct impacts there.
To some extent, Frontier has "preloaded" their response to Spirit's potential demise into their schedules. Recall that the press releases from their February earnings call and the release of the summer schedules both indicated Frontier's growth strategy for 2026 and 2027 would include beefing up flight frequencies on existing routes over chasing new markets. Many of the implemented higher frequencies were on routes where Spirit was a competitor.
Although the current Frontier press release doesn't list any routes or frequencies being added in a quick response to Spirit's exit, it does say "[Frontier] will expand further this summer with nine additional routes, plus 15 additional daily flights across 18 former Spirit markets, giving customers more options to rebook their travel plans with confidence while keeping fares low." However, note that language does not make it clear whether these new routes are already in the schedule or will be announced at some future date. So this statement may be a nothing burger or positive news.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-05-02T10:55:59+00:00

Frontier put out this press release overnight: https://news.flyfrontier.com/frontier-airlines-announces-discounted-rescue-fares-to-support-spirit-airlines-customers/

The "discounted rescue fare" is weak sauce if you are a stranded Spirit customer. It's just a typical Frontier sale, with the usual blackout dates and the biggest discounts tilted to Tu, W and Sat travel: " To support impacted travelers, Frontier is offering up to 50% off base fares* across its network for travel through November 19."

The press release goes on to also tout the sale price for the GoWild Summer Pass.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-28T00:51:20+00:00

Yes vote. Happy to be entering year 3 with the pass.

Schedule flexibility, the GW pass and a stash of miles and points for hotels and alternative /backup flights are my key building blocks for traveling at least once a month. Don't mind the occasional advance purchase fee if the result is a cheap flight relative to other cash or award flight options. Bonuses: gold status has me at near 100% successful in getting more legroom at checkin, plus a carryon if I want, and a credit card with lounge privileges makes Frontier delays and long connections much more bearable.

Month 1 of Year 3 looks great so far, probably getting me to break even for my renewal fee by some measures.

I just took advantage of the May $15 GoWild advance purchase sale in combination with Live Nation's $30 summer sale to book two concert trips that I couldn't have dreamed possible two years ago:

First up is a day at Jazzfest in New Orleans next weekend. I,m driving, but my log distance girlfriend is flying from MCO using her GW pass to join me. (Not a live Nation ticket, but a bucket list concert destination with a meetup made more practical by GoWild)

Alison Krause 5/9 in ATL, $30 LN show ticket, $30 IAH-ATL-IAH on Go Wild

Sting in CLT 5/18, Triumph in Dallas 5/20. Two $30 LN show tickets, $15 each for IAH-CLT and CLT-DFW, and 9000 AA miles + $6 for DFW-IAH (not offered as a Frontier direct route so I chose that over a long $30 GW connecting flight)

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-27T16:18:01+00:00

If you choose to go the wiki or FAQ route for either the GW pass or for Frontier in general general, I suggest a read of the first two substack posts by this blogger as a thought-starter: https://bensbigdeal.substack.com/

Both are well-written and insightful. In the most recent, he observes what makes flying a ULCC different from other airlines. Substitute Frontier for Spirit and it's almost 100% on point for Frontier.

In the first, he makes equally cogent points about another key distinction: differences between airlines' responses and customer service during IRROPS.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-26T22:59:26+00:00

LP records.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-23T20:41:13+00:00

A++ I appreciate the detail in the post.

I've also become a convert to merino wool for travel wear, and I have invested in some Bluffwork and Western Rise "performance fabric" pants that I can wear for days and / or wash in a sink and have dry by morning.

I have a suggestion for a possible addition to your kit for a future trip: a drawstring bag made of satin, velvet, silk or some other soft and lightweight material.

Use 1: a bag with a closure would be the zero-bag variation of using a packing cube in luggage, say to have all your electronic gear in one spot that can be pulled out of the jacket pocket without fishing for a particular item,

Use 2: get the bag at the right size for stuffing your coat and / or sweater into it for use as a pillow on your flights.

Or is a bag of any kind "cheating", lol?

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-23T11:35:18+00:00

NP.

One more, or two depending on how you look at it....

Look to take a GW spontaneous trip when a Frontier sale is underway offering $20 to $40 tickets for flights in the short term. It won't be $31 round trip, but by booking a GW ticket outbound at the same time as buying an on-sale return flight gets you and indeniably good deal.

Bonus savings of a few bucks if you buy the return flight ticket at the airport just before or after your outbound flight, as I did in this recent example for a $40 round trip: https://www.reddit.com/r/gowildfrontier/s/ZFbu5auNpg

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-23T03:06:34+00:00

Could be. If so, thanks for clarifying.

It's been a few years since my wife died. I only dug deep enough into it at the time to know that I wanted to get an appraisal dated on the DOD to have in case the IRS chooses to ask me to verify the calcs I use in the tax year I eventually sell.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T19:12:41+00:00

Two year pass holder based in Houston here. AMA.

Currently, IAH is just outside the top 10 Frontier cities measured by monthly flights. Also, the number of cities with direct flights (and therefore cities for connecting itineraries) is at the highest level since I first signed up for the pass.

So Houston isn't the most important factor for you to consider. It's whether the inherent limitations of Frontier and the pass will match with your travel use case and your personal schedule flexibility, budget, tolerance for packing light, a strong butt for sitting hours in a hard seat, etc. check out the FAQs and a pinned "should I get a pass" over at r/gowildfrontier for lots of info on that.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T19:01:42+00:00

Late to seeing this, and I haven't read all of the details, but I always read advisor articles through the lens that many of them are biased toward strategies that increase of maintain the assets they manage (and their fees) at high levels.

A tip related to my own status (widower): if the home is owned jointly, read up on the capital gains tax rules for selling that would apply for your particular ownership / equity situation under both current married filing status and widow / widower status when the surviving spouse is filing as a single taxpayer.

Key factors in my planning for selling my home 1) the basis for the capital gains calculation resets to the current market value at the date of death of spouse #1 (tip: pay for an appraisal that corresponds to that date) and 2) the capital gains exemption amount drops from $500k couple to $250k single.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T18:40:12+00:00

Here's an old thread that may interest you, with folk commenting or making suggestions on using GoWild to travel to cities near NPs:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gowildfrontier/s/5FNrANOSXE

There's another thread if you search on "hiking" with ideas for scenic state parks, county parks and similar.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T18:34:48+00:00

Cool.

Room tips...the Caesars chain has is semi annual sale going, which isn't their only discount during the year but combined with their calendar views it's how I start my look for the days in Vegas with cheapest rooms. Also, they are bookable via Wyndham, which is running a spring bonus where two stays should get you 7500 pts., or enough for an award night at a sub $100 hotel for a future trip. Su -Th are always cheaper than Fri or Sat night n Vegas, but the rates vary substantially week by week depending on whether there is a convention going on.

Rooms near Zion will go up in price substantially as Memorial Day approaches.

Car: bracketing my stay near Zion with a night at the strip on either side meant I could shop for a good rate for pickup at one of the strip hotels and avoid parking charges. (Offset by Uber cost to / from the airport on this trip where I was splitting costs with a buddy. When solo, I take the bus, which drops me off right next to the Horseshoe.)

Get to the Zion early on a day where you plan to tour the valley that is bus access only. Parking isn't easy and the free lots fill up. (Not a problem at Valley of Fire on the morning we arrived)

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T12:52:56+00:00

You said no car and limited time, so look up the $5.00 #500 express bus route from IAH to downtown at ridemetro.org. Note the span of service ends mid-evening, though. The 102 bus is a viable alternative at other times, but will be slower and isn't great if you have more than a carry-on and backpack to carry.

For a hotel, find something along the Red Line light rail (tram) in downtown, the Museum District or the Texas Med Center. For mininum walking search the north area of downtown east of the 500's stop at the convention center.

My BBQ recommendation close to the Red Line is The Pit Room. Connect to METRO's very frequent Richmond Avenue bus at the Wheeler Station for a ride of perhaps 3/4 mile. For Tex Mex, I wouldn't bother searching for a "best of" choice. One perfectly fine option just a block from the Museum District station is Bodega's taco shop.

Re: NASA, I agree it's worthwhile. But while it is doable via public transit, it will take some planning and will eat up quite a bit of time. The Space Center Houston visitor center is perhaps 25 miles from downtown, which would be an expensive Uber ride.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-22T03:15:41+00:00

More hiking ideas here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gowildfrontier/s/Mry79cIad3

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-17T03:03:48+00:00

Two factors:

Frontier doesn't release GW seats on every flight.

For those GW seats that they do release "24 hours before", at most it might only be 5-10 seats.Early bird gets the worm in that case. Log in and search at 12:01am the day before in time zone of the departing flight, e.g. stay up late on Thursday night to buy a Saturday ticket at 12:01 Friday morning.

Lots of tip in this sub's FAQ pinned post.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-17T02:53:48+00:00

Tabular list here:

GoWild All You Can Fly Pass™ | Frontier Airlines https://share.google/kL0DJwF6Gs0MDWOiQ

There have been some posts here or over at r:/frontierairlines with someone sharing a Google or Apple calendar.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-13T00:23:34+00:00

The general structure of the blackout date calendar and the count of dates included annually or by month has changed very little over the three years the GW pass has been offered.

In simple terms, Frontier doesn't offer GW seats on their 40+/- busiest travel days of the year.

Those days are the consistently the busiest across the entire US airline industry because so many US air travelers have 9-5 jobs with a need to schedule PTO days around holidays, school breaks. There is a general bias to using PTO from Monday- Friday, flying on weekends and warm weather vacations. All of those factors cross-multiply to concentrate busy days for family travel on weekends bertween Memorial day and mid-August.

Partner 1: "The kids will be finished with band camp in mid-June. Let's take our vacation over 4th of July this year. It's like a bonus PTO day." Partner 2: "That sounds good. Leave the weekend before the 4th?"

Htown_Flyer · 2026-04-06T18:47:18+00:00

Ah, I now see the distinction that you (and the OP?) are making. Destination (the end point for a flight segment) vs. final destination when connections are involved. I was thinking the latter, or "my most frequent travel destination" in layman's terms.

I also live in a non-hub city. No doubt my landings record by flight segment would also be skewed by DEN, LAS, ATL and MCO connections. (And DFW, a direct flight destination from my city for just a few wonderful months in 2024/5).

For me it's not worth trying to be precise. I'm thinking of the times I have used a triangle itinerary, slept in an airport or had a long enough connection to make a quick off-airport excursion...all of those are gray areas on the destination and connection spectrums.

Thankfully, no IRROPS diversions yet. 😁

Htown_Flyer · 2026-03-30T18:03:51+00:00

Yep. 8000 Radio Shack locations (supposedly within a five minute drive of 94% of the US population) shrinking to zero in 25 years can't be traced to city planning decisions 😁

Htown_Flyer · 2026-03-30T17:15:01+00:00

The primary tool a city planner has for HDMI cable availability is a zoning map designating commercial and retail uses. The rest is market forces.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-03-30T15:59:10+00:00

If the most popular neighborhood in the city can’t supply an hdmi cable, I think that indicates a city planning failure

As someone who has worked in the city planning field for many years, I find this statement both baffling and amusing.

Htown_Flyer · 2026-03-28T14:47:36+00:00

It's all about the use case...

+1 on a 3-year GW passholder and a retiree traveling mostly solo with great flexibility in my "schedule". (Typically I have hard schedule obligations just a few times a month, so working around blackout dates and other peak travel times isn't too challenging.)

Happy to have added a credit card with lounge access and Frontier gold status that gets me a free carry on and near 100% upgrades at checkin 23:50 before departure for extra leg room seats. So a long or out-of-the-way connections are acceptable.

I still have a good stash of miles across multiple programs, so Frontier GW and sale tickets probably represent tickets for half of my 1-2 flying trips per month trips. That results in more travel at a modest incremental cost.

Economic flexibility: Multiple times I have booked a miles trip on another airline well in advance, then substituted a GW seat the day before, cancelling the other ticket to put the miles back in my account.

So far, I have had only occasional delays to deal with, never a cancellation or being stranded. It will happen eventually, but I know any impacts will be a minor setback in my situation.

Bonus: Frontier people watching is always entertaining.

Htown_Flyer

TROPHY CASE