Carrier Interface Charge / "CIC"
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

$18 ORD-TPA.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.
http://www.trentonairportinfo.com/fi...8393a358a0.jpg

Then you will see a listing including the CIC
http://www.trentonairportinfo.com/fi...d23d5bcd72.jpg

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!

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" :mad:.

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.

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??

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.

Yep total fare in the example I posted was $1.86 which resulted in only a $0.14 excise tax

I think the counter-argument with the government-imposed fees is that they'd be the same (or similar) for any other airline, so it's at least a level playing field. A connecting flight would trip more PFCs than a non-stop, but the fees generally have caps. If memory serves, eons ago the legacies tried to punish Southwest by arguing to reduce the ticket tax (from 10%, I believe) to the current rate and substituting segment taxes instead, effectively penalizing airlines that weren't hub-and-spoke and would have more connections.

I also remember way back when airlines said they'd start itemizing all the taxes (back when they had paper tickets). They can still do that if they want (i.e. give a breakdown of that), but given how that's a preferred place for airline-imposed fees that some airlines try to make look like taxes, the info isn't always complete.

As for the car rents, those have gotten unbelievable, with 6 or more different added lines in some cities. Some that are taxes are really ridiculous and unfair, like Kansas City and the very expensive "downtown arena fee." You've also got BOTH the vehicle license fee and an extra road tax in some places, as well as high customer facility charges (for consolidated rental places) AND concession recoupment fees. The CFCs make the consolidated facilities look more like something done TO you than FOR you, and the concession recoupment should really be a cost-of-doing-business (as are others that aren't taxes). You also get "energy surcharges" :rolleyes: and companies like Avis that want $1/day if FF miles are earned.

BTW, one of the worst states on the tax side is Taxes...er, Texas.

You guys are awesome
 

@RustyC
@Jerseyguy

I never knew that you could save money just buying the ticket at the airpot.
No more CIC fees for me :D

Out of all the other fees listed here, is that the only one that would be avoidable?

https://s11.postimg.cc/v2d9dsxj7/ddd.png

No only the CIC will be waived at the airport. The rest are all government or airport fees. I actually just bought my first CIC free ticket the other day in Trenton. It was a second seat ticket for my return as I am a passenger of size. It was a $19 fare from Orlando to Trenton and while the CIC was only $4 I was going to be at TTN for some more pictures I wanted to shoot for my website. Best part of it was that the women who was issuing the ticket upgraded my seats to Stretch seats on both my tickets. I had paid $9 for seats on my first one. I think it has to do with working as a cashier. I am now extremely patient and polite to retail workers

Ooh nice. I've done the counter purchase "trick" with Spirit a couple times, looking forward to doing the same for Frontier. I foresee more totally unnecessary and ridiculously cheap weekend trips in my future.

Just wondering how this works. I'm also a big person and wonder if when purchasing a second seat, do you pay all the taxes etc? Are they charged per person or per seat in other words? Also, if you purchase a second seat do you have to pay for seat selection, or if you don't care where you sit, just that your two seats are together (obviously) you can skip that cost?

I tried to buy a ticket with The Works at the airport, and all the counter agents said that they cannot add The Works. A phone agent told me the same thing. Your mileage may vary.

In effect, The Works cost me an extra $19 by forcing me to buy it online. I am addicted to refundability, flying Southwest and using points to buy tickets if the passenger does not fly often.

Can't you add The Works online after booking at the airport?

Has anyone had success using a promo code at the ticket counter to save even more than just the CIC (which seems to be up to a maximum of $19 now)?

another question
 

For those who have done this successfully, did you have a reservation in advance? If so, was it made by phone?

Don't make a reservation in advance. Just walk up to the ticket counter (preferably at a time when they are not busy with flight check in) and tell the agent you would like to buy a ticket. They will make the reservation for you and take your payment. Sometimes they even will give you a seat assignment without charge.

Thanks for the info.

CIC fees and taxes
 

A flight from Cincinnati to Tampa on Frontier is $94 the taxes and CIC Fred address $80. I can fly other airlines for that price

Who is Fred? What is his address?

You don't give a date but I can see a $94 fare on 6/15. The cheapest Flight I could find for 6/15 was $110 on AA, and it included a plane change.

Any issues buying tickets at airport for passengers not present? Looking at myself + one and hoping only I need to trek out to the airport to do it. I read Spirit has required the traveler to be present for purchase.

In my experiences, Spirit does not require the passenger to be present.

I have bought large groups of tickets on both F9 and NK with only myself present.

Can anyone confirm as to whether miles are earned for tickets purchased at the airport?

I am also an elite member, so advance seat assignments are important as well.

Yes, the ticket is exactly the same as if booked online. You can purchase your seat assignment at the counter if you'd like or you can add it when you get home. I've occasionally also had them add a preferred seat for free when I've asked nicely.

just returned from the airport. (CLE)
I purchased three o/w tickets and saved $19 each.

I gave the counter agent my FF#, and he said he entered it, but he was not able to select free seats for me. (which I am entitled to as an elite member)
I looked at the reservations when I got home and noticed he had entered my name differently than it appears on an existing reservation and in my profile. My FF# was not on the reservation.
I changed the name to match and was able to enter my FF# and select free seat assignments.

My existing profile has no middle initial, and lists "JR" in the last name field, NOT in the suffix field... apparently this all must match exactly.
Capitalization didn't seem to matter.

I'm not sure, but I think the NAME CHANGE must be done within 24 hours of making the reservation.

Keeping track of the CIC
 

Anyone keeping track of the prices? Is this flat and going up or is it a variable number. I'm trying to book NY->ATL for end of August and it is currently $38.

I did the same flight earlier this month and checked my reservations in my email. The price of the actual ticket was more but it seemed the overall reservation was less because the CIC must have been cheaper.

I have purchased about a dozen o/w fares at the airport in the past two months, and the Carrier Interface Charge (CIC) has always been $19. (CLE-LAS & CLE-MCO)

Does anyone know if you can use a travel voucher because of a cancelled flight at the airport to avoid the CIC?

Will Frontier honor sale airfare prices if you purchase in-person at the airport?
Are you able to use cash or credit card?

Edited to add:
Based on another thread, it looks like Frontier won't honor Discount Den prices for airfare purchased in-person at the airport.

Correct.

They will not accept cash at the airport... at least they don't at CLE, but I think you will find it the same everywhere.