Problem is most who will buy BE likely won't realize they will not be able to check their bag at the gate for free, like those in the last boarding group can now. And you will have people trying to board with a roller bag and having to be pulled out of line and pay for their bag. And then they get hit with a high fee, which is more than the $40 savings. Not sure what that fee is - I think Spirit charges $100 for gate check.

I am not sure if rear middle seats matter to those people (that is what they get now). But many times those don't have seat assignments and wind up getting premium center seats in the forward part or even exit rows when those are the last seats.

Remains to be seen how this is going to work out.