Frontier Airline Extra fees

[lynnfitz]

Hi, our small local airport is starting with Frontier this Fall. Jet Blue left our airport when Covid hit, so last summer had to travel over an hour to get to nearest airport. Our local airport is 10 minutes from our house-small and convenient. Anyway, trying to get an idea of their extra costs-I tried their sight, but it looks like you need a flight booked to get the pricing. I know it probably depends on the airport, but around how much do they charge for a carry on, checked bad, and I think they charge if you want to choose your seat? Just looking for round about figures. Allegiant also flies from our local airport (only 2x a week), but they fly into Sanford, not MCO. For a July flight, for 3 adults, without anything extra it's coming to $950 round trip from Stewart NY to MCO. Thank you!!

 

[Sadeesmom]

Frontier costs vary depending on your travel distance, day of the week, time of day, etc. They are different based on if you add them at booking, later (but in advance), or at the gate.

That said, the checked bags are usually about $5 cheaper than a carry on. I think $35 each way for checked & $40 for carry on.
Choosing a seat was $17 per person per way last time for us.

Also, without DME, flying into Sanford will not be a hassle next year like it has in the past - there are PLENTY of car services (I found Tony Hinds on the boards here & he has great reviews-I won't know until November) as well as Uber/Lyft.

 

[_19disnA]

Have flown on Frontier in the past and never had any issues. I think they used to post their fees to view upfront but maybe they have changed their website. I find it annoying when some airlines obscure all of their hidden fees. They apparently want to make their price appear lower when doing online searches. By the time you add in all of the extra fees for luggage/seating/etc. the cost of many airlines is very similar.

 

[lynnfitz]

Thank you! We have the Jet blue cc so we get free checked bags, and can bring a carry on. So with Frontier, if checked bags are around $40 each, and I assume that's for 1 way, the $ can really add up. That's $240 in addition to the air, plus we do carry on's for our Ipads, and items we don't want to put through the luggage.

 

[Gitelfor]

So with Frontier, if checked bags are around $40 each, and I assume that's for 1 way, the $ can really add up. That's $240 in addition to the air, plus we do carry on's for our Ipads, and items we don't want to put through the luggage.

Frontier allows one personal item, per customer, at no charge. Their definition of a personal item is any bag that completely fits under the seat in front of you. The carry-on fee is for a bag that is placed in the overhead compartment.

Personal items can be no larger than 14” tall, 18” wide, and 8” long. Personal items must fit completely within the personal item portion of the bag sizer. Think purses, totes, computer bags, briefcases, diaper bags and kids backpacks!

A bag labeled as an “underseater” will usually be no greater than those maximum dimensions.

I have a friend who usually flies Frontier only bringing an underseater bag, when visiting family, though that is not always practical, when going on vacation or traveling on business.

Frontier also has bundles, which include bag fees, seat selection, etc., at a discounted price.

Frontier bundles

 

[Rasstuss]

A few things on Frontier.

They currently have a sale if you use the discount code AUTUMN, just got an e-mail with this today. You may want to join the discount den, I think it is something like $60 annually but one member can book up to 6 people at the discounted rate as long as the member is on the flight. It can easily pay for itself and more on one booking. Watch out for the weight limit on checked bags (goes for all budget airlines) it is 40 lbs instead of the 50 lb limit on most major carriers.

All that being said I have never flown on Frontier, we had a trip booked on them next week but about a month ago they can cancelled our flight and tried to re book us departing and returning a day earlier (They currently only have 2 flights a week MSY-MCO). We were already locked into our dates so we had to get a refund and book on Spirit.

 

[Gary2T]

Booking now for July 2022 on Frontier is way too early (in my experience). The usually cost pattern with them is prices extremely high way in advance, then they drop.

I sometimes fly Frontier out of Harrisburg, PA. In the past few years at 1.5-2.5 months out I've scored round trip under $100 (no bags, no seat selection).

I'm actually flying down this week for the 50th for $139 rt (no bags, no seat selection). Booked at the end of July. Same flights booking today come to $63 rt. I wasn't brave enough to wait to book the week of my trip.

I mention these because I'm also going in July 2022. Current rt prices on Frontier are $300+ rt (no bags, no seats). Bottom line is if you really want to fly Frontier, wait it out. You'll probably see prices come down to something more reasonable somewhere around March/April/May.

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

You can get the full price if you put in traveller information once you select flights. I did it recently when pricing my flight down for November.

I did not use my actual info, and instead just put random things in the fields. As long as it is in the correct format, the system will accept it. Then you can add bags, seat assignments, etc and get your final cost.

 

[lynnfitz]

Great thank you all! Thanks for the tip about putting information in. Good to know about waiting. I wish JetBlue would return to our airport, but it will be frontier or allegiant.

 

[KristaZ]

Frontier flights can drop really low (like under $20 a flight if you keep an eye and watch for their discount codes). As others have said, I think they're around $35 for a checked bag and $40 for a carry on. Maybe around $20 to choose a seat. We generally fly carry on only and if we're going with Frontier, we'll make due with one carry on if need be for 2 of us. You're allowed a free personal item and you can get away with a pretty large backpack or duffel bag for that - we've done several trips where we've brought just those with us and been fine. We never book the seats. In my experience, as long as you're booked on the same confirmation number, you'll be seated together - we had one instance where we were separated and just asked at the counter if they could move us together and they did so without a problem. I wouldn't book them super far out as it seems they change their flights really frequently until a couple of months beforehand (at least from Albany they do).

 

[gatormom2tots]

We booked August 27 for a quick trip Oct. 7 and got 2 round trip tickets from Atl-Orlando for $98 total for the 2 of us. Those same tickets today would be $268 total.

So for us the "sweet" spot was about 6 weeks out. Now...we have never flown frontier so we will see just how great the deal was I guess!

I believe the carry-on fee was right around $40-50. We will suck it up for 3 days and pack light to avoid the fees.

 

[NotUrsula]

The free "personal item" is essentially up to the size of a regular school backpack, loosely packed so it has a bit of squishiness left. (If every pocket is full and every seam is straining tight, it will be too thick to fit in the sizer.) Your valuables will be fine in that, and you could probably also get in 2 changes of clothes if you are a thin person and avoid bulky fabrics. For instance, my 5'4", 110lb daughter can easily pack everything she needs for a long weekend in a "personal item" bag, in summertime, but I'm not that thin anymore, and my clothing is more bulky.

The key to keeping baggage costs as low as possible with Frontier is to bring one checked bag large enough for the entire party, but safely under the maximum dimensions, and skip using rollaboard carryons if you have a checked bag. Wear the heaviest (or only!) pair of shoes through the airport, go as light as possible on toiletries you can put in the personal item, and also try to go with lighter weight fabrics in the checked bag as well -- like khakis instead of jeans, for instance, and fleece instead of a knitted wool sweater.

This is pretty much the same strategy I always used for family trips to Europe when my kids were small, as it ensured that even with the checked bag in tow, we would still have at least one hand each free to wrangle a kid or haul that large bag up a staircase when there was no elevator.

 

[Brer Chump]

Watch out for the weight limit on checked bags (goes for all budget airlines) it is 40 lbs instead of the 50 lb limit on most major carriers.

Frontier’s checked bag weight limit is still 50 pounds. Spirit and Allegiant have a 40 pound limit before over weight charges start.

 

[Rasstuss]

Frontier’s checked bag weight limit is still 50 pounds. Spirit and Allegiant have a 40 pound limit before over weight charges start.

Thanks, I guess I just assumed it was the same as Spirit and Allegiant.

 

[Gitelfor]

There is a special promo offer for signing up for the Discount Den and getting 5,000 bonus miles, if joining by 10/04/2021. Discount Den membership will be increasing in cost in October. Memberships are valid for one year.

The current offer is Week 4.

Discount Den promotion

 

[lynnfitz]

Thanks everyone!!! Great info!! Really appreciate you taking the time to respond, love Disboards!

 

[_19disnA]

If they are just starting service out of your departure city, you might find great bargains when service first begins. I would sign up as soon as you have finalized your travel plans. Check their website to see if they offer any tickets where you can change without any added fees. Then if the price happens to be lower in the future, you can always rebook. Traveling to/from popular destinations can be tricky on trying to wait for discounts. Some very popular travel destinations already have lots of travelers so the need for discounts is less likely. Airlines will continue to balance supply/demand as things with covid continue to evolve.

Need to compare prices to see if their 'discount den' feature works for you. If you don't plan to travel multiple times with them in the next year, there may not be enough savings to make it worth the cost.

With every airline the lowest fare/non-stop/most desirable travel times tend to go first. Once the lowest fare category for a specific flight has sold out, the fare jumps up to the next higher rate. Waiting too long hoping for a sale isn't always the best approach.

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

It’s also possible that fares from other carriers might come down with Frontier offering flights. My situation wasn’t one where Frontier was beginning service out of my departure city, so that might change things, but I just assumed their fares would be drastically lower that the main carriers, so I didn’t check any other airline. I got to the final booking window, after I input checked baggage, seat assignments, and wasn’t super happy with the time of one of the legs, so I checked United, only to find out that once all the additional fees of Frontier were factored in, United was only 10 dollars more per person.

 

[Darcy03231]

One thing to consider when booking any of the ultra low cost carriers is how many flights they offer each day. When everything works fine, it's ok, but if something happens it can be a nightmare.

I booked a flight on one of them once. Trip down was fine. Coming back our flight was canceled and because they only ran one flight a day they couldn't get us home for FOUR days as all of the other flights were full. We ended up having to book last minute on another carrier to get home the next day.

If you're ok with having to change dates if a flight is cancelled at the last minute you'll be fine. I have a co-worker who flies Allegient all the the time, but she owns a condo in Florida and keeps a car there. She just has to take some extra vacation time of something happens when she's down there, or start her vacation later if something happens when she's home.

 

[Lewisc]

The ULCC make the most "sense", if ever, if you're willing to go without assigned seats. Willing to fly with just the clothes on your back, layers if necessary, and a personal item under the seat in front of you. A backpack without a frame works best. Frontier will generally put the item in the bin, generally it just has to be able to fit under your seat. Even then I would use it for a trip I'm willing to be flexible if there are issues. Cancel or pay last minute SW fares if necessary.

Once you pay for a seat assignment a bin bag and one or two checked bags the savings are greatly diminished. More then enough to offset issues with delayed and possibly canceled flights.