Don’t even think of booking next year’s flights right now. At least not on Frontier Airlines.
The Denver-based carrier has reduced the length of time for purchasing tickets in advance. Instead of publishing its fares 11 months to a year ahead, Frontier now only allows bookings 8 months in advance.
A check of United, Northwest and other major airlines found no problems in trying to book flights for early 2009. Southwest Airlines, one of Frontier’s main lower-cost competitors, limits advance purchases to just a few months. Right now, in April, for example, Southwest only allows reservations up to September.
Frontier officials say the limits on advance-booking time make financial and operational sense in that they can change fares and flights without having to re-book customers who have already made reservations. Additionally, they don’t tip their hand to their competitors about route or pricing changes.