Originally Posted by
rsteinmetz70112
While there are some rough edges to Frontiers policies and their web site, they generally do a pretty good job of informing passengers. I even get emails explaining the fees. I check their twitter account and there seem to be fewer of these kind of "hidden fee" complaints and as noted above some of them are wrong and totally irrational. One guy a while ago refused to understand the difference between a free "personal item" and and q "carry on bag". Some people apparently believe that seat selection fees were mandatory or that they will be charged for water in flight.
There's obviously a fine line between upselling and "trickery." When it comes to the seat selection fee, I think they cross it.
Otherwise, it's pretty obvious that the underlying strategy behind Frontier/Spirit is to entice folks with a low come-on fare, and then add on lots of ancillary fees. This isn't exactly a new marketing gimmick -- it's used in many retail situations.
I do think there's a market for "bad" cheap service, but only if the better airlines are willing to concede this market to Spirit/Frontier. If they're going to "harass" Spirit/Frontier with fare matching, I don't see how Spirit/Frontier can gain a toehold. Their product really does suck, and it's only worth flying if you can save real money. I don't see how the "math" works if you scare off all the customers who actually will pay more than the unit cost for the service.