Frontier Airlines World Mastercard review: Worth your while if you’re a Frontier loyalist

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard overview

The Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® is likely not the most rewarding credit card out there, but it does offer some potentially valuable perks for frequent Frontier flyers. While this makes it a good secondary card for Frontier flyers, we recommend having a more well-rounded travel card in addition to this one. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐

*Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

With a low-cost carrier like Frontier Airlines, the à-la-carte booking option can be a great way for travelers to save a ton of money on flights.

An $89 annual fee and the ability to pool your Frontier miles with other family members, receive priority boarding and earn credit toward elite status makes this card worth considering. We recommend a credit score of at least 700 before applying for the Frontier Airlines Mastercard.

Let’s analyze this card’s welcome offer, rewards rate and other ongoing factors to see if the Frontier Airlines Mastercard is the best match for you.

The information for the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: Budget airline survival guide

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Ability to pool your Frontier miles with others $100 annual flight voucher Award ticket fees waiver when you pay them with this card	$89 annual fee Not ideal for non-Frontier loyalists Sign-up bonus leaves something to be desired

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard welcome offer

Currently, the Frontier Airlines Mastercard offers 60,000 miles to new cardmembers for its welcome offer. You’ll get 40,000 miles after spending $500 on purchases and paying the annual fee within the first 90 days of account opening. To earn an additional 20,000 miles, you’ll need to spend $2,000 on the card within the first six months of card membership.

One-way flights on Frontier start at 10,000 miles, so you can potentially book up to three round-trip award tickets with the welcome bonus and still have some miles left over. TPG’s June 2024 valuations peg Frontier miles at 1.1 cents per point, making that 60,000 miles worth $660.

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard benefits

The Frontier World Mastercard offers some unusual and potentially valuable perks for frequent flyers of the airline.

First, cardholders can pool their miles with up to eight other Frontier Miles accounts. Although Frontier calls this feature “Family Pooling,” it can be any eight people you choose — including friends, coworkers and roommates. There are no minimums or caps on the number of miles you can transfer through this program.

Young Asian woman traveller holding passport and suitcase walking in the international airport hall — D3SIGN/GETTY IMAGES

You’ll also enjoy a $100 flight voucher every account anniversary after spending $2,500 or more on purchases on the card in the previous year. Plus, for every dollar you spend on the Frontier Airlines Mastercard, you’ll earn one Elite Status Point on top of the bonus miles you’ll earn. This can help accelerate your path to elevated status with Frontier.

Other perks include priority zone two boarding, a waiver for award flight fees paid with this card, your choice of card design from five options and no foreign transaction fees.

Earning miles on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard

With this card, you’ll earn 5 Frontier miles for every dollar spent on eligible flyfrontier.com purchases, 3 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and 1 mile per dollar spent everywhere else.

Young businessman paying through credit card while using laptop in office — WESTEND61/GETTY IMAGES

Considering this card’s $89 annual fee, these earning rates aren’t bad. If you’re a Frontier loyalist, earning 5 miles per dollar spent on eligible online Frontier purchases is a great way to quickly secure award redemptions.

Still, the non-Frontier earning rates are nothing special, so this card works best as a complement to another card with better earning rates.

Redeeming miles on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard

When it comes to redeeming your miles, the Frontier award chart is pretty straightforward. The lowest-cost one-way Value awards are 10,000 miles within the U.S. and 15,000 miles for international flights. Standard awards, which have wider availability, will cost you 20,000 miles within the U.S. and 25,000 miles internationally.

You can pay a few more miles to avoid capacity controls if you have elite status. For an extra 2,500 miles on top of the Standard award price, you can book a Last Seat award as long as there’s a seat available for sale on the flight you want.

A Frontier aircraft lands at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport — A Frontier aircraft lands at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS). LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL/GETTY IMAGES

Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay taxes and fees on these tickets; however, the aforementioned award booking fee is waived as long as you use your Frontier Airlines Mastercard to pay for the taxes and fees. The associated taxes and fees can be quite pricey depending on the booking, so make sure to pay with your Frontier Airlines Mastercard.

Which cards compete with the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard?

When considering competitors for this card, you likely think of other airline cards first. However, it may be worth considering a general travel card against the Frontier Airlines Mastercard.

If you want a general travel card: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee and earns lucrative Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to any of Chase’s 14 airline and hotel partners. In addition, this card offers an up to $50 hotel statement credit on bookings through Chase Travel℠ and a complimentary DashPass membership (activation required by Dec. 31). To learn more, read our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
If you want a cheaper airline card: The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card has a $69 annual fee, which is mostly offset by a 3,000-point bonus award on every cardmember anniversary (worth $39 according to TPG’s June 2024 valuations). The Southwest Plus card may be better if you can’t justify the Frontier Airlines Mastercard’s annual fee. To learn more, read our full review of the Southwest Plus card.
If you want an airline card with no annual fee: The United Gateway℠ Card is a no-annual-fee card that offers 25% back on inflight purchases and has no foreign transaction fees. You’ll also get a one-year complimentary membership to DashPass when you activate by Dec. 31. To learn more, read our full review of the United Gateway card.

For more options, check out our picks for the best airline cards.

Is the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard worth it?

The Frontier Airlines Mastercard is worth considering if you’re a Frontier loyalist. However, a general travel card is better if you fly with other airlines. Before applying for this card, consider how much value you’ll get from it and whether that value justifies the $89 annual fee.

Bottom line

The Frontier World Mastercard doesn’t make sense for most people. Still, if you’re a frequent Frontier flyer, the added value of this card brings family pooling, award booking fee waivers and elite qualifying miles — which can all be worth far more than the annual fee.

With Frontier’s route network stretching to the Caribbean and Central America, this card may be a great companion for your upcoming travels.