Frontier Airlines Begins Charging Customers For Carry-On Baggage

The low-cost, Denver-based company Frontier Airlines quietly started charging passengers for storing carry-ons overhead Monday.

While people who booked flights on FlyFrontier.com used to be able to avoid extra fees, as of April 28 all travelers must now pay fees ranging from $25 (for frequent flyers booking in advance) to $50 (for people who forgot to claim their carry-on until getting to the gate) for having a carry-on that needs to go overhead. A bag that can fit under a seat remains free.

This is just the latest of a slew of extra fees Frontier has added on, including charging for water ($1.99) or for reserving a specific seat on the flight.

But Frontier isn’t the first airline to charge for carry-on baggage. Spirit Airlines began charging customers carry-on fees in 2010, and now has 24 different baggage fees, depending on when you book and where it is stored. Barry L. Biffle, who spent nine years as a Spirit executive, was named Frontier’s new president last week.

Frontier’s CEO David Siegel wrote an email to the airline’s frequent flyers saying that this move benefits passengers since they will “no longer have to worry about finding space for your carry-on bag” and “with this new approach to pricing, Frontier is committed to giving you a better overall value because you only pay for the services you will use, rather than including them in the price of your fare.”

The airline, which transports 8.4 million passengers a year, says it cut its lowest economy fare by 12 percent.