You'll Now Need to Be at the Airport Earlier If You're Flying Frontier — Here's Why

Frontier Airlines will shorten the window for in-person check-in and bag drop, ensuring travelers must be at the airport earlier.

Starting this month, the low-cost airline will close its ticket counters for check-in and checked baggage 60 minutes before a scheduled departure, Frontier wrote in a Facebook post. Previously, the cut-off was 45 minutes before departure. 

The new rule will go into effect on Aug. 16.

“Important info for your next flight,” the airline wrote in the post. “Starting August 16th, all Frontier ticket counters will close for check-in and bag drop 60 minutes prior (previously 45 minutes) to your flight departure. We continue to be committed to getting you and your bags to your destination without interruption.”

A Frontier spokesperson Travel + Leisure the reason for the change was to standardize the check-in process and make loading baggage easier.

“Increasing the standard check-in and bag drop cutoff from the current 45 minutes to 60 minutes prior to scheduled departure will help to ensure ample time for customers to get through security and to their gate, as well as allow additional time for bags to move through airport handling systems to aircraft,” the spokesperson said. “It will also serve to standardize the cutoff times for both international and domestic travel.”

Other major domestic airlines have different policies, depending on the airport. Delta Air Lines, for example, recommends travelers check-in at least 30 minutes before their scheduled domestic departure when flying out of most airports, but increases that to 45 minutes for departures from Las Vegas, Honolulu, Miami, and more. Some airports have even longer minimum check-in times, according to United Airlines, like Toronto and St. Thomas, which each require passengers to check-in at least 90 minutes before their scheduled departure.

In general, most airlines recommend travelers arrive at the airport two hours before their scheduled departure for domestic flights and three hours before their scheduled departure for international flights.