Frontier Airlines has introduced a new fee structure that will require passengers to pay up to $50 to store a bag in the overhead bin. For economy passengers that book online, the price is reduced to $20 for frequent flyers and $25 for everyone else. The price rises to $35 if they buy during check-in at the airport and $50 after they get to the gate.
These fees are in addition to the $15-$75 passengers pay per checked bag.
The fees have been introduced as part of a more general restructuring of its fee structure, which the airlines says have been simplified and fares have been lowered by offering only two types of fare options – Economy and Classic Plus – effective for all tickets purchased on or after April 28, 2014.
The lowest Economy fares have been reduced by an average of 12 percent on every nonstop route Frontier flies. Frontier has simplified its fee structure for carry-on bags, checked bags, and seat assignments. As a result, the Economy fare is now fully unbundled - enabling customers to choose and pay for only the products they want to truly customize their flight. Customers who purchased tickets prior to April 28 will see no change.
“With an unbundled product, customers can save even more by choosing to pay for only the products that they want, allowing them to customize their flight experience for each and every flight,” said David Siegel, CEO of Frontier Airlines. “With today’s further reduction in Frontier’s amazing low fares our customers will find even greater value and our guaranteed lowest fare when they book at FlyFrontier.com.”
With these changes Frontier is adopting the ultra-low-cost airline model, which should help it to compete more effectively with its rivals in this market segment.