If you’re looking for a cheap way to fly within the United States or to a handful of destinations in the Caribbean and Central America, it’s difficult to find an airline that consistently offers better value than Frontier Airlines. This discount carrier promises “Low Fares Done Right,” and it even has a special membership program — Discount Den — for additional savings and perks.

Like other carriers with low-priced flights, Frontier doesn’t include a lot of extras in its basic fare. You may have to pay more for things like carry-ons, checked baggage and seat selections, but Frontier can still help you save hundreds of dollars compared to other airline fares.

It’s worth checking out, even if you have to pay for some items separately when you fly. This is especially true if you’re a frequent flyer who’s looking to save money with cheap fares and earn airline miles throughout the year.

In this guide, we’ll cover all you need to know about Frontier’s frequent flyer program, including how to earn and redeem miles, qualify for elite status and more.

Frontier Miles basics

Frontier Miles SM is Frontier Airlines’ frequent flyer program, and it works similarly to other airline loyalty programs. Signing up for Frontier Miles is free, and it offers elite status tiers just like other programs. To join the program, you’ll need to create an account and enter basic contact information like your name, address, email and phone number.

Additionally, Frontier Miles is one of the few loyalty programs that let you earn miles and pool them with family members without minimum or maximum miles requirements, fine print or hidden fees. Your family pool can be composed of up to eight people, and it can include anyone you want — actual family members, friends or acquaintances. One person will be the designated leader of the family pool, and they will be in charge of holding and redeeming miles.

To qualify for family pooling, the leader of your pool needs to have elite status with Frontier Airlines or carry the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®*.

Who is Frontier Miles best for?

The Frontier Miles program is best for people who fly with Frontier often or are looking for cheap, no-frills flights to select destinations in the U.S., Central America and the Caribbean. It’s also easy to earn miles for free flights, and it’s a great program for large groups who want to pool miles together.

How to earn Frontier Miles

You can earn Frontier Airlines miles through a few different methods, and you can use multiple strategies to earn more miles for free flights. Here are the main ways to earn miles in this program:

Flying with Frontier

Many airlines have confusing rules that dictate how you accumulate miles. Frontier Airlines keeps it simple: You earn 10X miles and 10X points for each qualifying dollar you spend, although you may be able to earn a mileage multiplier once you’ve achieved elite status with the program. For example, those who’ve reached Elite Diamond Status will earn 20X miles and 20X points on each qualifying dollar spent.

Shopping with Frontier partners

You can earn Frontier Miles when you log in to your account and make purchases with select partners, although the number of bonus miles you can earn will vary. Here are some of the partners that let you earn Frontier Miles.

• Car partners Alamo: Earn up to 500 miles per rental; Avis: Save on base rates and earn up to 50 miles per day on qualifying 1-4 day rentals and 500 miles per rental on rentals of 5+ days; Budget: Save on base rates and earn up to 50 miles per day on qualifying 1-4 day rentals and 500 miles per rental on rentals of 5+ days; Dollar Car Rental: Earn 100 miles per day on qualifying 1-4 day rentals and 1,000 miles per rental on rentals of 5+ days; Thrifty: Earn 100 miles per day on qualifying 1-4 day rentals and 1,000 miles per rental on rentals of 5+ days; Hertz: Earn up to 500 miles and save on base rates of qualifying rentals; National Car Rental: Earn up to 20% off every rental, 50 miles per day and 500 miles on rentals of 5+ days

• Hotel partners Marriott Bonvoy: Earn 1X to 2X miles per dollar on qualifying hotel stays; Wyndham Rewards: Earn 1X to 2X miles per dollar on qualifying hotel stays

• Cruise partners Frontier Cruises: Earn from 1,500 to 10,000 miles on qualifying sailings

• Retail partners Teleflora: Earn 10X miles for every dollar spent; Vinesse Wines: Earn up to 4X miles for every dollar spent, plus 5,000 miles

Using the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard

Another way to earn miles is by using the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®. This credit card, which is issued by Barclays, is the only airline credit card that Frontier Airlines offers. It comes with an annual fee of $99 and a welcome bonus of 50,000 miles plus a $100 flight voucher after you spend $500 on purchases and pay the annual fee in full within 90 days of account opening.

Cardholders can also instantly earn Elite Gold Status with account opening and first purchase but must spend $3,000 within the first 90 days of account opening to maintain Gold Status.

You’ll also earn:

• 5X miles on eligible purchases at FlyFrontier.com

• 3X miles on restaurant purchases

• 1X miles on all other purchases

• This card provides 1X Elite Status Point for every dollar spent on purchases or by flying Frontier if you’re interested in pursuing Elite Diamond or Platinum Status with Frontier Airlines

Other benefits include:

• No blackout dates on award travel

• A $100 Frontier Airlines flight voucher every account anniversary after you spend $2,500 or more on purchases within your card membership year

• Complimentary FICO credit score access

• An award redemption fee waiver (when you book an award ticket and use your card to pay related taxes and fees)

• Zone 2 priority boarding

• No foreign transaction fees

The card also unlocks “Family Pooling” and comes with an introductory 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 billing cycles on balances transferred within 45 days of account opening (20.24% to 29.99% APR after, based on your creditworthiness).

How to redeem Frontier Miles

The best (and primary) way to redeem Frontier Miles is for flights, which you can do by logging in to your Frontier account and booking a flight with miles. To get an idea of the minimum number of miles you’ll need for each type of flight, it’s helpful to reference the Frontier Miles award chart, which includes minimum redemption requirements for each award level and associated taxes and fees.

For example, Value awards within the U.S. start at 10,000 miles one way, a Standard award starts at 20,000 miles and a Last Seat award starts at 22,500 miles.

Flights to Frontier’s international destinations require slightly more miles per trip and can vary depending on where you’re traveling to or from. For example, Value awards to and from Mexico start at 15,000 miles one way, Standard awards start at 25,000 miles and Last Seat awards start at 27,500 miles. For all round-trip flights, mile requirements are doubled.

How much are Frontier Miles worth?

According to Bankrate’s recent points and miles valuations, Frontier Miles are worth about 1.3 cents each. This is slightly higher than valuations for other airline currencies like American AAdvantage miles but less than the points value of Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Frontier Miles elite status and memberships

Frontier elite status >> Frontier Airlines offers several levels of elite status — Elite Silver, Elite Gold, Elite Diamond and Elite Platinum — although the perks you’ll get may not be as luxurious as you would expect from a traditional airline.

Here’s how to reach each level of Frontier status:

• Elite Silver: Earn 10,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year

• Elite Gold: Earn 20,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year or by opening the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® (terms and conditions apply)

• Elite Diamond: Earn 50,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year

• Elite Platinum: Earn 100,000 Elite Status Points in a calendar year

If you are hoping for upgrades to business or first class just by earning elite status, the Frontier Miles program may not be what you’re looking for. This is a discount airline, and Frontier planes don’t have premium cabins like traditional carriers. The best you’ll get is a benefit called Premium or Preferred seating, which gives you access to seats with extra legroom.

Still, earning elite status with Frontier Miles is considerably easier than with other airlines that normally have a segments- or miles-flown requirement. Frontier Miles lets you earn up to its highest level of elite status with credit card spending alone, which is unheard of among other frequent flyer programs.

Frontier Discount Den membership

In addition to elite status, Frontier also offers Discount Den, an annual membership program that provides exclusive access to the lowest Frontier fares available.

You’ll also get access to exclusive promotions and offers, free fares for kids under 15 on select flights and dates, and discounted fares for up to nine people on the same reservation. The annual membership fee is $59.99, plus a one-time $40 enrollment fee for new members or former members who want to rejoin the program.

Frontier Miles transfer partners

As mentioned, you can earn Frontier Miles with select Frontier car, hotel, cruise and retail partners. But it’s important to note that Frontier Miles members cannot transfer their miles to other credit card or airline rewards programs. Currently, you can only redeem Frontier Miles for flights with Frontier Airlines.

The bottom line

Joining the Frontier Miles program is free, and doing so makes sense if you are hoping to earn miles and score some cheap — and free — flights. Although the elite status benefits aren’t that impressive, this program does make it easy to climb the elite status ladder through flying or credit card spending.

Information about the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer. Distributed by Tribune News Service.