Best Airlines for USAFA cadets

WillCol14

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Dec 19, 2018
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We are looking for the best airline deals and have considered united mileage plus and Frontier discount den for deals as our cadet will fly to an from home on breaks etc. We were wondering what has worked best for current parents. Is it possible for cadets to have military perks or discounts as well?

Thanks!
 
Best airlines will be very dependent on where "home" is and if that airline flies into Colorado Springs or Denver or both.
A couple of perks: as a military member, the cadet can get baggage fees waved on most, if not all, carriers that charge for baggage.
Also, at least with Southwest, the cadet can use their government ID number to become a "known flier" to they get TSA Pre-check to make it smoother getting through security lines.
 
Any airline that does TSA Precheck allows for a government ID number to be entered for Precheck. Any time a military discount is available, cadets will be eligible for it - this transcends past airlines, too.
 
United, Southwest and Frontier all consider Denver a hub. So that works in their favor. But some things to consider:

United will likely have the most flights to the most cities. But it’ll also be the most expensive.

Southwest offers fully refundable fares — a huge benefit when dealing with the vagaries and changes in a cadet’s schedule. But its flight schedule and destinations won’t be as rich as United’s

Frontier is the cheapest, if you don’t mind ordering things a la carte: Seat assignment, check. Checked bags, check. Seat belt...oh, why not...check. But it has the smallest network of the three.

My advice, having dealt with all three out of Denver: Go Southwest if it flies to your hometown.
 
If you are lucky enough to have a destination city that Frontier flies to and from Colorado Springs you can find some amazing discounts. My DD was able to get some great discounts that way until the route was discontinued last year. I also think that using military ID at check-in meant that there were no additional charges for checked bags. I agree with MidCakePa the scheduling vagaries being what they are Southwest with it's refundable ticket options has been a life saver particularly if you want to take a chance and schedule way in advance for maximum discount.
 
If you go with Southwest, buy each leg as a separate ticket — no round trips. This makes for much easier cancellations and rescheduling.
 
Home is just south of the border and would fly prefer to fly out of Fargo, Grand Forks, or Devils Lake, but have considered Bismarck and Winnepeg. Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Winnepeg being the closest. Would anyone have any experience with the international flights?
 
We are looking for the best airline deals and have considered united mileage plus and Frontier discount den for deals as our cadet will fly to an from home on breaks etc. We were wondering what has worked best for current parents. Is it possible for cadets to have military perks or discounts as well?

Thanks!
Southwest is absolutely the best pro-military airline by far per my 2 AD kids, 2 SA kids, and one DD who fiies in and out of Denver very regularly on business.
 
DS is a 2016er. I would book multiple tickets on Southwest using points for his trip home because his schedule was using in flux and it was not clear when he would be released to come home. Then I would just cancel the unneeded ticket(s) and get a full refund. Points to fly on Southwest can be obtained by getting multiple Chase Southwest Visa cards. Just google.
 
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