Frontier Airlines handing out matching miles for student loan debts of 100 people

Frontier Airlines said it will dole miles to a certain number of people that hold student loan debts.

The Denver-based budget carrier unveiled the limited-time promotion on Friday, saying 100 people who enter its Student Loan Mile Match sweepstakes could score the equivalent of their outstanding student loan debt in airline miles. It will match the debt of those respective individuals on a 1-to-1 basis for a maximum of 100,000 miles, the airline said. 

Across all of the winners it selects for the sweepstakes, the amount of miles that Frontier will give out will not exceed 10 million, according to the carrier. Frontier estimated that total had a value of $10,000.

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The portal for entering the chance to win the miles will close Aug. 27, just a few days ahead of when federal student loans will begin racking up interest again. 

The income-driven repayment Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan created by the Biden administration for people with federal student loans saw its official debut on Tuesday. Under the plan, borrowers making roughly $15 an hour will not have to make any payments, while others earning above that amount will save at least $1,000 a year in comparison to other income-driven repayment plans.  

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Since late June, when the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s original plan to forgive federal student loan debt, people have been preparing for the pause on payments to lift. That program had sought to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell recipients, both subject to income requirements.

Borrowers will start having to pay off on their student loans again in about a month, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid website. 

“We’re thrilled to spread a little job among education borrowers and offer an opportunity to win free flights through this special mileage giveaway,” Frontier Airlines Vice President of Marketing Tyri Squyres said Friday.

In addition to having outstanding student loan debt, people must belong to the Frontier Miles program and have their membership number handy, the company said. Signing up for Frontier’s mileage program does not cost money.

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Frontier said on its website it will pick the people it will give the free miles to based on a random number generator. That will happen after all eligible entries get “assigned a number and added to the pool of entries,” according to the webpage for the sweepstakes. 

Winners cannot transfer the airline miles that Frontier gives them or swap them out for money, the airline said. 

Frontier planes travel routes to over 100 destinations, according to its website.

Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.