Is the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard Worth Its Annual Fee?

If you’re a frequent flyer, then it can often pay to get the credit card of the airline that you fly with the most. In addition to the miles that you get from spending on the airline’s co-branded credit card, most airline cards offer perks that are especially useful to those who travel frequently with that airline.

The Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® is no different: Frequent Frontier travelers will benefit from having this card in ways that those who only occasionally travel with Frontier will not. Like many co-branded airline cards, the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® comes with an annual fee ($99), so it only makes sense to hold the card if the benefits you’ll get outweigh the cost.

Here are a few points to consider when deciding whether the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® is worth it for you.

» Learn more: Full card review

Valuable perks of the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®

The welcome bonus

Earn 50,000 travel miles after spending $500 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. NerdWallet values Frontier miles at 1.5 cents per mile.

Award flights start at 10,000 miles for a one-way domestic ticket so this sign-up bonus can be worth several flights on its own.

$100 Frontier Airlines flight voucher

On its surface, this travel voucher would seem to more than pay for the $99 annual fee. However, the travel voucher does come with several restrictions that make it a bit harder to use.

For one, you have to meet the required $2,500 spend in net purchases within 12 months of your account start date to qualify. You must book your travel within 180 days from the date of issue, and that the voucher is only good for airfare and taxes. The voucher will load to your account within six to eight weeks of your anniversary date, and it can be earned each year that you qualify.

Keep in mind that you can’t use your voucher to pay for seat, baggage or change fees, nor on a Discount Den membership.

Earning scheme

You can earn 5 miles per dollar spent on FlyFrontier.com. You can also earn 3 miles per dollar spent at qualifying restaurant purchases, plus 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Elite status

You can earn 1 Elite Qualifying mile for every mile flown on Frontier, as well as for every dollar spent on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®. The lowest level of Frontier elite status, Elite 20K, requires 20,000 Elite Qualifying miles. This level offers perks like a free seat assignment and a free carry-on bag, not to mention priority boarding.

» Learn more: Why Frontier elite status is the only elite status I have

Free checked bags

The primary cardholder gets two free checked bags on Frontier-operated flights. This could save cardholders about $55 to $80 per bag each way, which could more than make up for the annual fee if you check a bag on one round-trip flight per year on Frontier.

Miles expiration management

Frontier Miles typically expire with 12 months of inactivity. Having the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® provides an easy way to make sure that your miles don’t expire: Making a qualifying purchase on the card counts as activity.

Since occasional Frontier flyers will likely run into this miles expiration, this is a useful way to make sure you don’t lose your miles.

No award redemption fees

Frontier charges an award redemption fee from $15 to $75 for any award bookings within 180 days of the date of travel. Holders of the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® have this award redemption fee waived.

No foreign transaction fees

This perk alone can save you up to 3% in pesky foreign transaction fees when you swipe your card at an international destination.

The bottom line

Who is the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard® right for? If you’re a frequent Frontier flyer, you will likely be able to get a good value from the card that exceeds its annual fee.

Even if you’re new to Frontier or don’t plan on flying the airline often, it could make sense to apply for this card to earn the sign-up bonus well in advance of your upcoming trip. Just keep in mind that there are other options that might make more sense or provide more widespread value.