It was around midnight when our bird rolled up to the gate at SFO Terminal 1, 90 minutes late from Orlando.

To Orlando she would return.

My Frontier elite status let me to board in group 1, which allowed me to avoid the bag shoving that later ensued.

One thing Frontier elite status failed for the first time to hook me up with?

A Stretch seat: The first three rows and Frontier’s version of First Class.

Stretch seats were sold out on this flight, as were all of the seats. Full plane.

Here’s what Stretch seats look like:

As opposed to my row for this flight, right behind Stretch:

After six straight flights with free Stretch seats I was disappointed, but still grateful to be near the front of this human-packed capsule.

If you don’t have a big personal item under the seat in front of you, it’s fairly easy to stretch your legs out in the normal seats anyway.

Frontier’s non-Stretch seats are “pre-reclined,” whereas Stretch seats have a recline option.

No personal TV, Wi-Fi or power outlets, but at least there’s…a slot…for storage:

A cup of water is the only free option, but I actually like the menu:

Ten bucks for two drinks and two hefty snacks isn’t a bad deal when you paid $67 for the round trip flight (including a $50 apology voucher).

Thanks to my noise-canceling headphones and a neck pillow, I passed out for a few hours.

We began our descent around 8am, so the sun was piercing when I slid my window open for a look.

Returning to lush, green Florida is always refreshing after any extensive time away in the dry West.

The one thing I don’t like about my hometown airport, MCO?

Even the TSA Pre-Check lines are packed, at all times:

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Comment below with your Frontier horror/love stories!