Lifestyle

Frontier Cancellation Fees Just Jumped to $149 Each Way

By Mike Harper · September 28, 2026

If you’re planning to book a Frontier Airlines flight, the cost of changing your mind just went up substantially. Effective September 25, Frontier increased its cancellation fee to $149 per passenger per direction for Basic and Standard bookings, up from $99 for tickets purchased on or before June 4, the airline’s own policy documentation confirms. Change fees within 59 days of departure can also hit $149.

That means a family of four booking round-trip Basic tickets is now on the hook for $1,192 in cancellation fees if the trip has to be scrapped — often more than the tickets themselves cost. And unlike most fees, this one can consume your entire ticket value: if the fee exceeds what you paid, you get nothing back.

Here’s what to know before you book.

The 24-hour federal cancellation rule still applies. Federal Department of Transportation rules require every U.S. airline to allow a full cash refund within 24 hours of booking, as long as the flight is at least seven days away and you booked directly with the airline. That protection has not changed. If you book a Frontier ticket and realize within 24 hours that you need to cancel, you can do it for free through the airline’s website — but not through third-party sites like Expedia.

The cancellation fee only applies to Basic and Standard fares. Frontier’s cancellation fee doesn’t apply if you purchased one of the Economy, Premium, or Business bundles at booking. Those bundles bake in change and cancellation flexibility, along with baggage and seat selection. If you have any doubt that your travel dates might change, the bundle price is often less than $149 and worth calculating against the risk of a straight cancellation.

Elite Frontier members are exempted. Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Elite members in Frontier’s loyalty program continue to have change and cancellation fees waived when eligible. Diamond Elite members can even qualify for a full refund to the original payment method if the cancellation is at least 24 hours before departure.

Otherwise, cancellations become travel credit — not cash. If you cancel any Basic or Standard fare outside the 24-hour window, the value of your ticket minus the $149 fee becomes travel credit, not a refund to your original payment method, Frontier’s cancellation policy specifies. That credit is only usable on future Frontier flights. If you don’t fly Frontier again within the credit’s validity period, you lose the money.

No-shows lose everything. If you miss a Frontier flight without canceling first, you lose the entire ticket value. There is no residual credit. Setting a phone reminder to cancel — even at the last minute — preserves whatever value the $149 fee doesn’t consume.

What this actually costs a family. Here’s the math nobody at the checkout page shows you: for a family of four flying round-trip on Basic tickets, canceling means $149 × 4 passengers × 2 directions = $1,192 in fees. If your total ticket cost was under $1,192 — common on a shorter Frontier route — the entire trip cost is gone. The fee absorbs everything.

The move continues a broader trend of ultra-low-cost carriers loading their tickets with fees that only surface when circumstances change. If you book Frontier, either pay for a bundle upfront, plan not to cancel, or use a credit card with trip cancellation protection that reimburses non-refundable travel costs when covered reasons force a change.

The cheap ticket isn’t cheap if the plans don’t hold.