The Best Airlines to Fly From Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport (FAA: DEN) is one of the most popular airports in the United States, with flights to almost every major destination on Earth! With over 25 different airlines operating direct routes from Denver to both domestic and international destinations, travelers are spoiled for choice when departing from Denver.
However, while having this many options is great for traveling to various destinations, it can also make it extremely difficult to know which airline makes the most sense for you! To help answer that question, we have pulled from both the data and our personal experiences to create a list of airlines offering the best price balance, amenities, destinations, and quality.
Now that we’ve got the background information out of the way, here are a few of the best airlines to fly from Denver:
1. United Airlines
Without a doubt, the overall best airline to fly from Denver International Airport is United Airlines.
While United has flights from all three main terminals at Denver International Airport, Terminal B is practically owned by United and United Express, with hundreds of flights operating out of the terminal daily. United also has more than 3 separate lounges in Denver, making it easy to relax if you’re a United status holder!
A great thing about an airline like United is the varying options of seats for a wide variety of budgets. United has options for budget travel through their basic economy fares, which let you travel with minimal amenities for low rates. However, United also has luxury options through United Polaris, allowing you to travel in style no matter your destination. Regardless of if you are on a strict budget or are hoping to fly in luxury, there is going to be a good option for your budget.
However, the main reason why United is the absolute best airline to fly from Denver is the coverage of destinations. United flies to hundreds of different airports from Denver, including both high-traffic domestic stops (e.g., Boston, Austin, San Fransisco) and international travel hotspots (e.g., Japan, Puerto Rico, London, Frankfurt) alike. This flexibility means that you can realistically fly on United for almost all of your travel, making it easier to earn airline miles and get closer to status!
See below for United’s full flight map from Denver:
United’s flight map from Denver Airport, covering almost every major domestic location and many desirably international routes! Blue destinations have the most flights, yellow have slightly fewer, and red have the fewest.
If you’re interested in flying with points, United is one of the premier Chase Bank transfer partners, letting your used your hard-earned Ultimate Rewards points to book flights on United, either through Chase or directly with United.
Overall, United is an excellent choice to fly from Denver Airport, no matter your destination or budget. With hundreds of travel choices for every budget option (including flying with airline miles/credit cad points), United can likely provide you with a good option that suits your needs!
2. Frontier Airlines
The second best airline to fly from Denver is Frontier Airlines.
Frontier’s whole value proposition is in its pricing. Unlike United, which often charges higher rates for added amenities, Frontier operates by offering exclusively budget seats with no amenities whatsoever.
See below for an example of a Frontier airline flight from Denver to Seattle on both Frontier and United.
As you can see, Frontier’s round-trip option is less than half the price of normal economy on United for almost exactly the same flight! This is not an anomaly either—you can consistently get incredibly cheap prices for flights that are 3+ hours by flying on Frontier, likely for a fraction of the cost of most other airlines. While this will always come at the cost of amenities, if you’re looking to travel for cheap, Frontier is an excellent option.
Frontier also covers more domestic destinations than any other budget airline. No matter where you want to go in the US, Frontier Airlines likely has a route to get you there! While it may not always be direct (some of these routes are seasonal), it is often worth flying with a delay for the savings.
See below for Frontier’s flight map from Denver
Frontier also offers a program called Discount Den, which allows you to fly with several added benefits for a set fee, including lower flight fares, free flights for children, and a wide variety of other deals. If you want to commit to flying budget for most of your travel from Denver, this is an excellent option, especially if you frequently travel with kids.
3. Southwest Airlines
The third airline on our list is Southwest Airlines.
Southwest is one of the more controversial airlines on this list, with travelers either loving or hating their unique “no seat reservations” approach to boarding. For those who are unfamiliar, on Southwest flights, you don’t select a seat beforehand. Instead, you have a pre-determined boarding order, and can choose any remaining seat you want!
Regardless of how you feel about the boarding system, no one can deny that Southwest has excellent coverage of the domestic USA (and a few spots in Mexico). Southwest is one of the best airlines to fly to the East Coast, with flights to Boston, NYC, and Atlanta, as well as multiple destinations throughout Florida. While Southwest has no flights from Denver outside of the US and Mexico, the variety of destinations that they offer domestically more than makes up for it!
Southwest is also another one of Chase’s travel partners (along with World of Hyatt, one of the most popular transfer programs), allowing you to use your Chase Ultimate Reward points to book Southwest flights. Southwest miles are considered to have decent redemption value (typically around 1-1.5 cents per point), and with Chase point transfers, you can easily use your points to save money on your travel.
If you can get past Southwest’s quirks, it is an excellent option to fly from Denver!
4. Delta Air Lines
The final of our recommendations to fly from Denver is Delta Air Lines.
Delta is one of the best airlines to fly in the USA, with great options from Boston, Austin, and Los Angeles. Similar to United, Delta has a wide range of options for all sorts of budgets, from cheap basic economy seats to luxurious first-class travel. Unsurprisingly, Delta is also rated as one of the best US airlines by the 2023 North American Airline Survey, largely due to its excellent customer experience and support.
However, the reason that Delta is so far down our list is due to their limited coverage from Denver. While Delta does fly to some high-volume travel destinations from Denver (e.g., Boston, Seattle, LA), Delta flies to less than 10 different destinations in total.
From the map above, it’s clear that Delta’s route selection is incredibly narrow. However, if you’re traveling to any of the specific destinations on this list (e.g., Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, LA, etc.), we recommend flying Delta above all the other airlines. The combination of the ability to transfer miles from American Express, the positive customer experience, and the variety of budget options make Delta an excellent choice for your travel from Denver.
However, while the Delta experience from Denver is great (Delta even has a lounge at Denver’s terminal A), the lack of destinations makes it hard to fly Delta. While status holders will still benefit from flying Delta whenever possible, others may have to be more intentional about flying on Delta in order to find good Delta options.
Summary
If you’re flying from Denver International Airport, you have a plethora of excellent airline options to choose from! No matter if you’re looking for budget flights or luxurious international travel, between United, Frontier, Southwest, and Delta, you can be sure that there’s an option that’s great for you.
We hope this article was helpful for planning your next trip! If you’re interested in other travel and credit card tips, make sure to check out our recommendations for the best Chase credit cards, the best cash-back business credit cards, and if you’re traveling out east, the best flights from Boston to Italy!
