shwtibby

Last weekend I flew Denver - Ft Meyers - Trenton - West Palm Beach - Denver on Frontier Airlines and their baggage check 'police' were aggressively checking all 'personal items' for 'compliance'; at every location. The person behind me, on the last leg to Denver, was in tears as she explained how they just charged her $99 additional for one bag that they said was too big. I also overheard a Frontier employee tell one person, in West Palm Beach, that they were not able to push (squish) their soft bag into the measuring frame. Saw a significant number of irritated Frontier customers last weekend.

jjbiv

They are definitely hunting for revenue in the form of carry-on bag fees at the gate. Most stations have been pretty reasonable but DEN and MDW were very aggressive. At these stations they announced that boarding is a two-step process. All passengers not in group 1 have to fit their personal item in the sizer. An agent in Denver told me I couldn't shove my bag in, it had to fit on its own which is a load of nonsense. There was also a management type at the gate in Denver monitoring the shakedown operation. I made a remark to him about the stepped-up enforcement and he commented they lost a lot of revenue last year, whatever that means. It seems like the public company version of Frontier is becoming more aggressive and is going after their customers after years of being a kindler, gentler version of Allegiant and Spirit. If that is the trade off for $16 tickets I suppose I'm okay with that but feel bad for the folks who get hit with this by surprise. I would encourage them to wear as many bulky items as possible and shove the rest under their clothes or in pockets.

frugal_flyer

"They lost a lot of revenue" because they've been so lax about letting people on with these huge oversized bulging backpacks which are clearly larger than personal item dimensions. In all honesty, the sizers at the gates are pretty much just there for show when I've flown them (and Spirit). I'm not saying I want either airline to invoke a baggage Gestapo, but I can certainly see why they would do it at some point.

The fact that airlines in general are flying fuller than ever post pandemic means they don't have to be as "nice" towards their customers anymore. I agree that it's wrong and ridiculous that someone can't squish their soft-sided bag into the sizer to comply, as long as it doesn't take unduly long and Herculean strength to do so.

If I ever lose my Elite status with Frontier, I know where my Scottevest jacket is...

donotblink

Have they been harassing people that are wearing Scottevest like jackets/garments?

jjbiv

As long as you aren't dressed indecently, you can wear whatever you want as far as I am aware.

radiolarian

I was SFO - LAS last night. The bag enforcer was busy at work.

Flight was delayed so he left after 1/3 had already boarded. They eventually came back out the plane.

When the flight re-boarded about 20 mins later, he was nowhere in sight.

Told my cousin they’re probably cracking down more because of that fine they have to pay.

donotblink

I've been hearing reports of some crazy enforcement (if the bag doesn't glide in/out with ease you need to pay $100, etc) some are speculating that the enforcers get a commission on the gate fees. Was the enforcer super strict or just doing normal checks?

expert7700

agents that have never cared before (with an attitude that they work for this company who treats us like crap) suddenly feel they are in business for themselves earning a reported $10 for every bag they sell.

in CLE last week they were very happy to be selling $99 carry-ons. I've never seen agents work this hard.. Thar opened an extra station and made anyone in the vicinity clear the way to make room for line of people paying for bags.

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lewisc

I wonder what would happen if you discretely offered the agent $20. Similar to the Vegas room upgrade. Would it matter if your personal item could sort of fit or was clearly too large? Are the agents even Frontier employees?

I suggest having your phone ready to take a picture of your personal item in the sizing template and a picture of the agent extorting $99.

That said Frontier lists the maximum allowable size of the item. Clearly pax can no longer plan on using.a bag twice the allowable size, hoping to squish it to fit inside the template

lewisc

From the app i don't recall prior language stating personal items will be measured. Including the straps is revenue friendly.
Personal ItemOne Included

Size: 14"H X 18"W X 8"D including handles, wheels and straps

Think purses, totes, computer bags, briefcases, diaper bags and kids backpacks

NOTE: The size of your personal item will be checked during boarding. Items larger than the allowed dimensions are subject to an additional charge.

radiolarian

It seemed like normal checks. I spotted a few people off to the side frantically trying to reorganize. Still funny how the enforcer disappeared after the flight delay announcement and never came back. Maybe he didn’t want to double whammy already upset passengers after the delay?

The busted price of $99 is 3x what my flight to LAS cost. I don’t take a chance when flying F9, so I use a shorter backpack than my standard Swiss Gear backpack.

jjbiv

The crazy part seems to be how some agents insist the bag "slide in easily" to the sizer and won't allow pushing to help the bag fit. That and the story of the agent who wouldn't let a passenger combine her items.

donotblink

I really hope some of these people will start filing DOT complaints!

RustyC

In Houston tonight their gate announcement said they wouldn't allow people to board who refused to pay the fee.

I was in the preboard anyway, so I didn't get to see the part of the process where they go after those in the higher zones that only can take a personal item. Generally I haven't seen 'em go after anyone in Zone 1 yet but some of the things people bring do go over the official dimension limits. So it's probably inevitable that we get a crackdown.

artedm

video
https://nypost.com/2022/11/25/enrage...-to-disembark/