Airline Pilot Central Forums - Sign on/retention bonus

Airline Pilot Central Forums (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/)

- Frontier (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/frontier/)

- - Sign on/retention bonus (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/frontier/140357-sign-retention-bonus.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by citationxtango (Post 3588897)

Can anyone that has joined F9 recently and taken the bonus confirm if they pull your credit ? I didn't see anything in the offer letter or promissory note mentioning it, but rumors on this thread would claim otherwise. I'm not planning on spending the money, I will just be keeping it in a savings account for 3 years, but I am planning on buying a house in the next few months and this would kill my almost perfect credit score and likely affect my mortgage rate...

They would require your permission to do a hard pull.

Quote:

Originally Posted by citationxtango (Post 3588897)

If your credit is above 800 a hard inquiry won’t do anything to your rate. Anything above 780 is a wash for the bank and one hard inquiry isn’t going to drop the score more than 10 points.

Thanks for the response everyone. I was more concerned with it showing up as a loan on my credit than anything. I realize they would have to disclose if they were pulling your credit, but companies don't always do the right thing.... I can confirm that in my offer letter email they gave me the option of having a different offer letter that did not have the bonus language in it. I'm definitely going to hang on to the money until the 3 years is up and hopefully it will earn me some interest in the meantime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brocklee9000 (Post 3588906)

They do not. It’s an up-front payment, now $50K. You either pay it back + interest (dumb, but unfortunately just how it is) if you leave. Or you stay for 3 years and you’re off the hook. Anyone hired in 2023 would have the bonus reported to the IRS in 2026 and it would be part of the return policy you file in April 2027 (the $50k plus whatever interest accrued over 3 years, even though you were only given $50K; that’s the contentious part for many)

Again, the interest-bearing part is dumb. But if you have any intent to stay for a while, and don’t touch the money during the 36 months, for better or worse you make an extra $50K. Since it’s only been offered for 3 classes so far, most people here are speculating.

Many people in my class took it. I can’t speak definitively about the next two groups but I believe people are mostly taking it. Word on the street was that you could decline the bonus and request they rewrite the offer letter to omit the bonus language. But someone from a more recent class would have to chime in to confirm.

I can confirm they let you request a letter without it. No ill treatment because of it.

Does anyone know if as a cadet you can deny the bonus?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigKitten229180 (Post 3592436)

Does anyone know if as a cadet you can deny the bonus?

Aren't you signing a contract saying you'll be at F9 for so many years as part of the cadet program anyways?

Quote:

Originally Posted by citationxtango (Post 3592453)

Aren't you signing a contract saying you'll be at F9 for so many years as part of the cadet program anyways?

If I’m not mistaken it goes by the bonus not by being a cadet.

Skipping the regionals and going to a major is amazing and am grateful to do so. If I have to do 3+ years at Frontier I will. I was asking out of curiosity because my end goal is legacies when that road comes.

Can anyone confirm that Cadets are eligible for the bonus?

Does anyone know if the bonus is subject to immediate repayment if you get furloughed? Not saying that a furlough is likely or anything but I was curious and that would be good info to know going in

Quote:

Originally Posted by aventhusiast (Post 3597923)

Does anyone know if the bonus is subject to immediate repayment if you get furloughed? Not saying that a furlough is likely or anything but I was curious and that would be good info to know going in

Our class was the first to get it, as you’ve probably heard the rollout was rushed and no one knew what was going on. Even at the top. They did a little live Q&A over zoom one night, and I want to say BL didn’t give a super clear answer on it. But essentially it sounded like any leave of absence paused the clock. One in particular that got address was if you got deployed on mil orders for six months or whatever.

Someone might have a better memory of that meeting than I do, but it sounded like S.O.L. if any sort of disruption. Though if furloughs happen, frankly that’s the last thing that would be on my mind.