Frontier Miles expire after 12 months of inactivity. This means you need to generate some kind of earning activity within a year to keep your miles alive. Simply redeeming miles doesn’t count – you need to be actively earning them to reset the expiration clock.
However, if you have the Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®, your miles will never expire as long as your card account remains active and in good standing.
Frontier’s terms and conditions specifically state that:
“Miles in a Member’s account do not expire so long as the Member generates accrual activity every twelve months; this includes any purchase activity on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard. Unredeemed mileage accumulated in your account will expire at the end of the twelve-month period after your last accrual activity date. Other account activity, such as redeeming or other miscellaneous adjustments, will not extend your expiration date.”
How to Earn Frontier Airlines Miles
In 2024, Frontier completely overhauled its loyalty program, changing how you earn both redeemable miles and elite status points. You’ll now find multiple ways to build your Frontier Miles balance—from flying with the airline to strategic credit card spending and partner activities.
Earn Miles with Frontier Purchases
Frontier’s new revenue-based system rewards you based on dollars spent rather than distance flown. As a basic member, you’ll earn 10 miles and 10 elite status points per dollar spent on airfare and add-ons like seat assignments and baggage fees.
Your earning potential increases significantly with elite status:
- Elite Silver members earn 12 miles and points per dollar.
- Elite Gold members earn 14 miles and points per dollar.
- Elite Platinum members earn 16 miles and points per dollar.
- Elite Diamond members earn 20 miles and points per dollar.
This structure can be quite rewarding, especially when you factor in those extra purchases. For example, spending $118 on two checked bags would earn you an additional 1,180 miles as a basic member. Miles typically post to your account within three business days after your flight.
Earn Miles with the Frontier Mastercard
The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard® offers a quick way to boost your miles balance. New cardmembers can earn a substantial welcome bonus after meeting minimum spending requirements within the first few months of account opening.
The card’s earning structure is straightforward:
- 5 miles per dollar on eligible Frontier Airlines purchases
- 3 miles per dollar at restaurants
- 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases
You’ll also earn one elite status qualifying point for each mile earned through card spending. Additional perks include Zone 2 priority boarding, family pooling benefits, and a $100 flight voucher each anniversary year when you spend $2,500 on the card.
Earn Miles with Frontier’s Partners
Frontier offers several partnerships that allow you to earn additional miles, though these options only earn redeemable miles—not elite status points.
Multiple rental car companies partner with Frontier, including Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. Depending on the partner, you’ll earn between 50-100 miles per day or 500-1,000 miles per rental. You must provide your Frontier Miles number when booking to earn these miles.
For hotel stays, you can earn miles with Marriott Bonvoy and Wyndham Rewards. Marriott offers 1-2 miles per dollar at participating properties, while Wyndham provides 1 mile per dollar for Blue and Gold members and 2 miles per dollar for Platinum and Diamond members. You’ll need to select Frontier Miles as your earning preference in your hotel loyalty account.
Frontier Cruises lets you earn miles based on cruise duration:
- 1,500 miles for one to five-night cruises
- 3,000 miles for six to eight-night cruises
- 5,000 miles for nine to twelve-night cruises
- 10,000 miles for cruises thirteen nights and longer
Additional partners include Teleflora (10 miles per dollar) and Vinesse Wines (4 miles per dollar). While you can purchase Frontier miles at 2.5 cents each, this generally offers poor value unless you need just a few miles to complete a specific redemption.
Comparison of U.S. Airlines
Below are the mileage expiration policies for every U.S. airline.
