Pa. woman frustrated with Frontier after getting involuntarily bumped from flight

DOUGLASSVILLE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A consumer told Action News she was bumped off an oversold Frontier Airlines flight and the airline refused to give her a refund.

According to federal aviation officials, Frontier is the most complained about airline in 2023. It racked up twice as many complaints per passenger as the next worst airline.

"I scanned my boarding pass from my phone and it didn't work," recalled Erin Woltjen, of Douglassville, Berks County.

Woltjen said she was supposed to fly Frontier from Philadelphia to Atlanta, but she and a few others were essentially booted from the flight.

"He looks at the computer and he says to us, 'I'm sorry, the plane's been overbooked,'" she said. "And he goes on to explain that none of us are getting on the plane at this time."

"We were told that we were owed 400% compensation because Frontier couldn't get us there for a certain number of hours.

Woltjen said she was told to expect an email about it.

"I never get an email from anybody about anything," she said.

To add insult to injury, when Woltjen finally reached a Frontier representative, the airline claimed she had been a no-show for the flight.

"They literally said, 'You were not there.' And I said, 'I was, I absolutely was there. Look a little harder. I was there,'" Woltjen said.

Finally fed up with Frontier, Woltjen contacted the Troubleshooters.

"I feel like they owe me that 400%," she said. "And I know that they want to give it to me in miles, but with all the trouble they've given me, I feel like they owe that in cash."

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, they do.

The DOT said if you're bumped from a flight, an airline must compensate you in cash or check, if that's what you prefer.

And before involuntarily bumping travelers, airlines must first seek out passengers willing to volunteer to take a different flight in exchange for compensation.

"They didn't do that," said Woltjen.

After the Troubleshooters got involved, Frontier finally agreed to give Woltjen the 400% cash compensation.

However, it will not refund the cost of the second ticket she had to buy from a different carrier to finally get to Atlanta.

"And I actually don't think that's asking too much," she said.

Frontier said it already offered the required compensation and apologized for the no-show error.

Now beware, Frontier has a dismal track record in this area. According to the DOT's most recent data, Frontier involuntarily bumped over 10,000 passengers last year.

That's compared to Delta which involuntarily bumped only three people all year.

Frontier Full Statement

To clarify, the 400% reimbursement required by DOT regulations deals only with the fare itself, not added seat selection. Thus, the required amount by DOT would be 400% of $36.98, or $147.92. We are offering this in addition to the $55.98 we have already reimbursed, which will total $203.90 for the passenger if she chooses to accept compensation.

Another Frontier flight with eight open seats departed from PHL for ATL a few hours later, however it appears she opted to take a flight on another airline and chose to instead seek a refund.

The passenger's initial no-show status was an error on our part, and it has been removed. We apologize for the confusion and frustration this caused.

She is requesting further reimbursement for other expenses. Per DOT regulations, these incidental expenses are not eligible for reimbursement and we were unable to honor the request.

We strive to provide the best travel experience possible to our customers, and we apologize for the inconvenience this caused.