Originally Posted by
iahphx
Interesting. The single biggest deterrent to my flying Frontier more are their bag fees. I can get a free full-size carry-on flying any of the major US airlines on even a basic economy fare (I have elite status on UA, otherwise they still charge with basic economy tickets). This means I will only fly Frontier if their fare is absurdly cheap and I "can live" with a big backpack. Otherwise, there's no real cost savings and it's a hassle. BTW, I'm kind of astonished by Frontier's carry-on fee. First, I don't even know what it is! It seems to be variable. Lately, on my reservations, they've said $40 and $45 each way. That's batsh!t crazy! And others seem to agree: on full A321s, I'm seeing maybe 5 or 6 pax with carry-ons -- and some of those pax probably have status that waives the fee. So they're not making any ancillary revenue off this. Something like $20 would seem more logical.
The lack of carry-on bags is achieving their goal, though. People stowing carry-ons and trying to find room for them slows down boarding. By making the cost of a carry-on higher than checking a bag, most people will check a bag, thus speeding up boarding and allowing for shorter turns at each airport.