linglingfool

I'm not terribly familiar with Frontier, but this fee looks to be identical to Spirit's Passenger Usage Fee of ~$18, in that it's charged for bookings on the website or via a call center. From brief searching, it looks like the fee has gone up quite a bit so far this year -- I've seen examples of $4 from January, and $10 from the spring, whereas I'm being quoted $18 for a flight this fall.

Can this charge be avoided by buying at the counter like it can on NK? I assume so, since the F9 site doesn't mention it being charged at the airport, but I haven't been able to find a whole lot on this fee.

rsteinmetz70112

It would appear so. I'll ask next time I'm at the airport on Sunday/

On the other hand it is included in the web fare, which they say is the lowest fare. It may simply be a mechanism to avoid paying the excise tax on the ticket and the fares charged at the airport are higher.

linglingfool

I can confirm the song and dance is the same as on Spirit; I was not charged the CIC when buying tickets at the airport this morning.

Big4Flyer

Now this is exciting! So apparently we can avoid these fees by buying at the airport on Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant!

If you live near any of these airports it certainly can save a good sum.

rsteinmetz70112

How much was the fee and how long was the flight?

linglingfool

$18 ORD-TPA.

pgapro

I purchased a ticket a few weeks back at the airport and it was less than the on line price so about$34 lower just like spirit.... However when I went on line to add my frequent flyer number it wanted the CIC fee... So I wouldn't be able to get free seat assignments as elite member... Not sure if that means no earning miles on ticket at airport. I decided to cancel within 24 hours and buy online to get free advance seat assignments.

frugal_flyer

I actually just called Frontier to ask if we get miles credited for flights bought at the airport, and the agent said that we do. She did say, however, that there is a $10 booking fee if bought at the airport.

Based on the previous comments in this thread, that is not the case. But if any of you would like to set the record straight on this matter once and for all, I would appreciate it.

As I am seeing Buck Fares right now, the thought of getting a bunch of miles for around $2 with a ticket bought at the airport sounds somewhat enticing.

A mileage run on Frontier? Who knew..LOL

linglingfool

To add to what pgapro said, I get an error when trying to add my FF# saying I haven't paid the full amount, so you may be foregoing benefits when buying this way.

I wasn't charged a $10 fee; the one-way I bought was $18 cheaper all-in than dispalyed online.

frugal_flyer

UPDATE... I just bought a round trip at the airport. I was somewhat disappointed, to be honest.

Online, the CMH-LAS round trip fare is $38. So I figured --too hopefully, I guess-- that my fare would be $2 all in after the $18 discount each way. My total came out to $30. There was $14 in fees each way, but neither my ticket nor the screen in front of the Frontier agent (according to her) specified what the fees were. Very frustrating.

One thing I did just out of habit --and it may very well have made a difference after rereading a couple of the posts upthread-- is give the agent my Early Returns number.

I am planning to email Frontier to see if they can itemize what my fees were. I don't really love calling most of these businesses, if I can help it. I am still taking the trip, but for about $26 more than I mentally planned on.

If giving my Early Returns number is the reason I did not get a significantly cheaper fare, then that is on me. But Frontier --and Spirit, too-- obviously have no incentive to publicize these money saving tips.

If/when I hear back from Frontier, I will let report here.

Jerseyguy

The CIC is not a standard $18.00 for all flights it varies based on fare and doesn't seem to apply to Den Deals flights. Your CMH-LAS trip, the CIC is only $8 for the round trip so your $30 price is correct. When you price a fare on the website click on taxes and carrier imposed fees.


Then you will see a listing including the CIC

frugal_flyer

Jerseyguy... Thank you very much for that explanation.

I guess since I am more of a Spirit guy, I just sort of assumed that all of the flights were $18 cheaper each way if bought at the airport on Fronter as well. Looking upthread, it just seemed that the CIC fee just kept going up, so I had assumed that it had "settled" to the Spirit-like $18.

Well I now know how to check for this before making any special trips to the airport in the future. Thanks again for the help, Jerseyguy!

RustyC

Charging less for Discount Den or in some cases not at all would also be consistent with Spirit and the $9 fare club...on Spirit most of the difference between the $23.10 fares and $34.10 ones is their "passenger usage fee" .

BTW, the company to blame for starting the idiotic business practice in the computer age would have to be TicketMaster, which rationalizes its "convenience fee" (which can be quite hefty) by saying it's for the "convenience" of not having to go to the arena box office (though guess who also runs the system there). ULCCs are trying to play that same game with not having to buy at the airport counter.

In both cases it's a ridiculous bluff, as it'd cost the companies far more to try to handle the transactions at the counter and they're not set up for it. You're helping 'em save transaction costs by buying online, and they're "rewarding" you for that by charging a fee. And the only way they get away with it is by limiting your choices to where they have a chokehold.

Thankfully the USDOT under Obama saw the abuses increasing (Spirit being among the worst there) as far as "hidden" airline-imposed fees go, and put in place the REGULATION about all-in pricing that has at least given you the true picture of the totals AFTER the invented mandatory fees. Airlines would LOVE to go back to the old system of advertising single digit fares with a big fat asterisk to where the lowest a "$0" fares could be would be $40 or $50. Which would just be constant bait and switch. The DOT regulation is a good example of a successful regulation (as was the one to counter multi-hour ramp delays, BTW). Now more than ever you've got some airlines that'll throw common sense out the window and push the envelope on inventing fees. I guess they fundamentally don't believe they can be straightforward and still sell seats.

Jerseyguy

I think your right about airline imposed fees like the CIC, any fuel surcharges, etc. However, I think the airport or goverment imposed fees should be able to be added at check-out. Frontier doesn't charge me the the CMH Passenger Facility charge thats a fee from the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. The LAS PFC is a fee from Clark County, NV. Any airline imposed fee should be included in the total. Its not much money but an increased goverment/airport fee now gets absorbed by the airline because lets say Frontier is charging $19 for the flight from CMH to LAS. Columbus says, well we have a new terminal we need to pay for and ups its PFC to $9.00 from $4.50. Frontier has 2 options it can "raise fares" to $23.50 or it can keep the $19 fare and eat the extra $4.50 because $19 fares sound better than $23.50 and besides Frontier is not charging you $23.50 to go from CMH to LAS its charging you $10, CMH and LAS are getting the other $13.50

The one place this is totally out of control is car rentals, why should Avis be able to charge me a surcharge to recoup registration fees, did I miss the part where registering a car with a state is not the normal cost of running a rental car business??

rsteinmetz70112

Another reason for these fees is to reduce the overall cost of the ticket by charging a low "fare", which is subject to a 7.5% excise tax then adding fees that are not subject to the same tax.