Budget airlines are not worth it, they changed my flight during layover

• I booked a Frontier flight from Miami to Salt Lake City with a stopover in Denver.
• After hours of delays, I decided to pay out of pocket for a Delta flight to Denver.
• It cost me $283 extra, but it was worth it to get to my destination on the right day.

I had my first experience with Frontier this summer, flying from Miami to Salt Lake City, and it was a baptism of fire.

I’d heard anecdotal stories about the budget airline and knew WalletHub ranked it the least trusted in its annual April rating. But he had a pretty cheap $286 ticket for a one-stop flight that landed in Salt Lake City at 1 p.m.

My plan was to take a rental car for a 10 day road trip through Utah and Arizona – a dream hiking getaway. Arriving earlier in the day was a big bonus as it would give me a few hours of daylight to drive.

With all the details lining up, I decided to play Frontier for the first time. Leaving a buffer room, I set rental car pickup for 4pm and hit shop.

However, shortly after completing the booking I received an email informing me that my second flight would depart late and land at 4:24pm.

I debated switching right away, but the car rental had a one-hour flexibility window, so I thought I’d email ahead of time and hope for the best.

The first half of the trip was relatively smooth, but things quickly went downhill

My flight from Miami to Denver was no different from the low-cost European carriers I’ve come to know and love. There were no bells and whistles, but that made no difference to the four-hour journey.

The first big hiccup of my travel day was being stuck on the plane for an hour on the way down to Denver.

Other connecting passengers were getting restless, but it wasn’t a huge inconvenience to me since I had a few hours to kill until my next flight.

When I finally got into Denver International Airport, I started to panic. Delays were listed on almost all Frontier flights above the departure boards.

Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that mine seemed to be unaffected, I got an email from Frontier. Although the boards did not change, according to the message, I would not leave until 5:00 pm to allow for aircraft maintenance.

Finally, I started looking for other flights

By now it was 1pm and I was looking at a board that was gradually changing Frontier flights. Around 2, the dreaded flashing yellow “delay” sign officially appeared next to mine in the airport.

A representative from Frontier confirmed that the flight was delayed two hours and 36 minutes due to maintenance issues.

Worried that I would now lose my car reservation and have to drive across Utah alone in the dark, I booked the next available option – a $283 Delta flight departing at 2:40pm and landing at 4:14pm.

I notified Frontier that I would not be boarding the delayed flight and requested a refund.

Well and truly done with the mental exhaustion of travel, I enjoyed my two-hour flight with Delta in comfortable seats with in-flight entertainment. It was so worth it.

Cheap flights don’t always save in the long run

After arriving in Utah, I was able to forget about my flying problems. And luckily, the car rental company was incredibly flexible throughout the process.

It wasn’t long before I was blasting music on Route 15, heading south toward Bryce Canyon National Park.

In hindsight, I just wish Frontier had consistent communication about the delay. If it had been confirmed at the airport earlier, I would have booked a replacement flight earlier.

Additionally, Frontier informed me that they only issue refunds if flights are delayed by at least three hours. Even though my total delays were over three hours because the changes happened at two different times (immediately after booking and on the day of), it obviously didn’t matter. I couldn’t get my money back.

At almost $300 worse, I’m definitely wary of booking with budget airlines. I understand that all airlines experience delays, but I wouldn’t fly Frontier again unless I had room to work in my itinerary.