mke9499

What nickel-and-diming action is next for this carrier?

http://www.denverpost.com/business/c...-service-calls

Often1

A carrier on the skids.

But, this isn't the reason. Toll-free dialing will go the way of the dodo bird sooner rather than later as more and more people switch to unlimited plans and thus the concept of "long distance" charges goes away.

CMK10

Exactly. I've been wondering what the point of 800 numbers is anymore, all numbers are created equal when I call from my cell phone which is also how I assume most people are making calls these days.

1353513636

I hope none of the big carriers do this because when I'm abroad, I like to call with Skype, which is free for toll-free numbers but costs money for non-toll-free numbers.

Is there a significant cost to the airline for having a toll free number?

rsteinmetz70112

I never paid much attention to long distance charges but I haven't paid any in years, except for very ocassional international calls.
The Denver Post seems to have it in for Frontier, they never seem to have anything positive to say.

nwflyboy

Gee, I wonder why they would be so negative about the airline...

worldspan

The most interesting point of all is that it is an 801 area code (Salt Lake City) to hopefully make many think they are still making a toll free call!

They copied Spirit to a tee on this one! Don't you love how big business likes to purposely fool people ?!

Worldspan
Naples, Florida

Jerseyguy

Not really, everyone is so wrapped up in the whole its not a toll free number they are taking something away, stop nickle and diming me that its a much better decision to not feed that. I'm temporarily working in retail as a second job and customers freak out about the smallest little things that aren't issues.

Frankly I think that carriers who still have toll free numbers are "leaving money on the table" as they say. The switch will effect maybe 2-3% of the public if that.

MKE, this is not nickle and diming, who has a landline anymore. If people have a house phone 95% of the time its VOIP (aka internet based).

Oh, just so you know, my brother got nickeled and dimed all the way from Philly to Houston for his family of 5 for $125 Round trip each on average with all the fees.

writerguyfl

For that answer, simply click the link that mke9499 provided in the first post.

Jerseyguy

According to the article
"The airline says the change saves about $160,000 per month — which equates to about $1.9 million per year"

rsteinmetz70112

I don't know what happened to your brother but it seems to me Frontier does a pretty good job of explaining the fees and the only way for him to have been charged that much was if he somehow didn't understand the fees, and even then it might have been cheaper than the alternates.

I just checked for a flight about 2 weeks out Southwest wants over $350 Round trip ($177 each way) and Frontier wanted just over $200 for their Works bundle.

Frontiers Base Fare was $40 and even selecting a seat assignment and a checked bag and carry on was still less expensive. To be fair there were some days when the fare was higher but only a couple which would have been higher than teh Southwest fare and to be fair to Southwest there were some days where the fare was lightly lower and some where it was higher..

However saying $125 in fees is excessive can only be evaluated in comparison to what fares would have been of some other carrier.

I have noticed that many of the people who complain about fees book their flights through third parties who may not explain the pricing very well.

Jerseyguy

Sorry I guess sarcasm doesn't translate well. I meant that my brother even with all that supposed nickel and diming only paid a total of $125 round trip incliding base fare, discount den membership and seat assignments. Yes it will cost him for bags but it does everywhere. He will probably pack 2 bags and have a backpack or other personal item for everyone for the stuff they need to bring on board.
Only thing which I haven't told him is no precheck but for $125 he shouldn't complain.

rsteinmetz70112

Sorry I have the same problem sometimes the [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] tags don't kick in. ^

Thank you for your support :-:

mke9499

At times, I can't get a signal to use my cell. It's rare when I can make or receive a cell call, while at work...can't get reception due to tall buildings and solid building construction.

There are also those who do not have access to a cell phone or computer...probably those who can least afford making long distance calls.

I can appreciate that many don't pay long distance charges, but don't rule out those who do.

Jerseyguy

Ok, there are some people this will effect and for those people yes this sucks. However you are the minority. First off, a large chunk of people atleast 70% never have to call reservations and use the internet to book the flight and check-in. Of the 30% who are left, 25% have no problems using their cell phone. The other 5% either don't have many minutes or in your case have bad cell phone reception.

Even if I'm one of the 5%, I would happily buy a calling card from 7-11 for $5 to get fares like $125RT between PHL and IAH including all fees (except baggage).