http://www.abc17news.com/news/frontier-adds-fees-for-carryon-bags-and-sodas/-/18421100/19973944/-/gv12xr/-/index.html
I am a very frequent traveler. I've had to add pages to my passport. Even though I am no longer an 'ex-pat', I still will be buying a number of plane tickets every year. The United States is a big place, and I would rather fly than drive 24 - 30+ hours across it. I'm even hoping to buy a basic vehicle to keep at my farm so I don't have to drive between my primary residence and the farm across the country.
I was shocked to hear on the news this morning that Frontier Airlines is adding fees for a very basic beverage like coffee and fees for carry-on bags that go in the overhead. Really? Really?
I have flown Southwest Airlines many many many times. I must admit that it has been a number of years since I have flown them, but I never had a bad experience flying them. It was low cost but comfortable for short hops. However, it felt tiresome for longer runs (like Dallas to Las Vegas to change planes and on to Salt Lake City). But, we made that run from Dallas to Utah because we had enough airtime with Southwest that we flew the whole family for free [this was about 10 years ago]. It was worth it to fly what I call 'cattle class' to get the free flights. Yes, 'cattle class'. We even moo as we board the plane.
Now, to Frontier. I have flown them once. I flew with both my kids in and out of Denver for a family wedding. The tickets were a reasonable price compared to others. The plane itself felt very no frills. But, it felt like cattle class to the extreme. Yes, it was lower priced, but if they are going to start charging for simple things like carry-ons and coffee they may not be low priced enough. Now, the news story I linked to above says that if you buy your ticket via the Frontier website you won't have to pay the baggage fees. So.....if someone buys tickets via some travel website, will they be informed of the extra baggage fees in an easy to understand manner or will they have to read through page after page of legal-eeze? I'm thinking so much for customer service.
I have also had the extreme pleasure of flying first class on Lufthansa in and out of Frankfurt. It was awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. We arrived at our destination rested and relaxed. Awesome.
So...why am I talking about 'cattle class' and first class in the same post? Because I have flown coach class with a number of carriers and had drastically different experiences.
Many years ago, I flew from an airport in East Texas by myself with a infant to an airport very close to the Canadian/US border. I paid for two seats. I was traveling with my backpack, a small diaper bag, a baby carrier and a stroller. I flew American Airlines. I knew that part of my journey would require that I descend stairs from the airport to access the tarmac in order to climb another set of stairs to board the plane. I informed American when I purchased the tickets that I would need assistance at this point in the journey. When I went to board, no help came. I couldn't figure out how to find an elevator. Other passengers ended up helping me. On the return journey, I forgot to pick up my 'bistro meal' bag as I boarded the plane. I was a breast feeding mom and this was going to be a roughly four hour flight. I needed food even yucky tasting food! I was informed that since I forgot to pick up my bag, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Even IF American has changed their policies and/or this was just a 'blip', for me it was a big deal. I will never willingly choose American again.
I've had great experiences flying coach with other airlines. Delta is one of my favorites. I have always had excellent service. If U.S. based airlines want to keep their customers, they need to look at their service.
Again, paying extra for a not exactly wonderful cup of coffee? Is Frontier slipping from cattle class to hog hauler? We'll wait and see.
Peace.
I am a very frequent traveler. I've had to add pages to my passport. Even though I am no longer an 'ex-pat', I still will be buying a number of plane tickets every year. The United States is a big place, and I would rather fly than drive 24 - 30+ hours across it. I'm even hoping to buy a basic vehicle to keep at my farm so I don't have to drive between my primary residence and the farm across the country.
I was shocked to hear on the news this morning that Frontier Airlines is adding fees for a very basic beverage like coffee and fees for carry-on bags that go in the overhead. Really? Really?
I have flown Southwest Airlines many many many times. I must admit that it has been a number of years since I have flown them, but I never had a bad experience flying them. It was low cost but comfortable for short hops. However, it felt tiresome for longer runs (like Dallas to Las Vegas to change planes and on to Salt Lake City). But, we made that run from Dallas to Utah because we had enough airtime with Southwest that we flew the whole family for free [this was about 10 years ago]. It was worth it to fly what I call 'cattle class' to get the free flights. Yes, 'cattle class'. We even moo as we board the plane.
Now, to Frontier. I have flown them once. I flew with both my kids in and out of Denver for a family wedding. The tickets were a reasonable price compared to others. The plane itself felt very no frills. But, it felt like cattle class to the extreme. Yes, it was lower priced, but if they are going to start charging for simple things like carry-ons and coffee they may not be low priced enough. Now, the news story I linked to above says that if you buy your ticket via the Frontier website you won't have to pay the baggage fees. So.....if someone buys tickets via some travel website, will they be informed of the extra baggage fees in an easy to understand manner or will they have to read through page after page of legal-eeze? I'm thinking so much for customer service.
I have also had the extreme pleasure of flying first class on Lufthansa in and out of Frankfurt. It was awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. We arrived at our destination rested and relaxed. Awesome.
So...why am I talking about 'cattle class' and first class in the same post? Because I have flown coach class with a number of carriers and had drastically different experiences.
Many years ago, I flew from an airport in East Texas by myself with a infant to an airport very close to the Canadian/US border. I paid for two seats. I was traveling with my backpack, a small diaper bag, a baby carrier and a stroller. I flew American Airlines. I knew that part of my journey would require that I descend stairs from the airport to access the tarmac in order to climb another set of stairs to board the plane. I informed American when I purchased the tickets that I would need assistance at this point in the journey. When I went to board, no help came. I couldn't figure out how to find an elevator. Other passengers ended up helping me. On the return journey, I forgot to pick up my 'bistro meal' bag as I boarded the plane. I was a breast feeding mom and this was going to be a roughly four hour flight. I needed food even yucky tasting food! I was informed that since I forgot to pick up my bag, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Even IF American has changed their policies and/or this was just a 'blip', for me it was a big deal. I will never willingly choose American again.
I've had great experiences flying coach with other airlines. Delta is one of my favorites. I have always had excellent service. If U.S. based airlines want to keep their customers, they need to look at their service.
Again, paying extra for a not exactly wonderful cup of coffee? Is Frontier slipping from cattle class to hog hauler? We'll wait and see.
Peace.
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