…not Frontier.
I recently took a trip to Washington, D.C. and flew with Frontier Airlines. This is not my usual airline. I felt uncomfortable, like everyone knew by the way I was acting. Delta is my usual go-to, but given how much cheaper the fares were on Frontier, I had to test my brand loyalty. All I have to say is: yikes. But with that round-trip price, I gave it a go.
The first thing I learned is that unless you do your research, you will not know until checking in online that bringing a carry-on bag costs extra with Frontier. And if you are the old school type of person who waits to check in at the airport, it’s going to cost you even more. It’s $5 cheaper to pay online for carry-on and checked luggage with Frontier; and even stranger, it’s $5 cheaper to check a bag than to carry one on. So being the stingy person that I am, I checked. No luggage was lost, if that’s what you’re thinking.
The next step in the check-in process was choosing your seat. It cost $8 just to claim one, something I obviously wanted to do so that I wasn’t bumped off of the flight without a seat assignment. It suddenly dawned on me that, ah, yes, of course their fares are inexpensive; they have eighteen fees that show up out of nowhere leading up to the flight, like the world’s worst treasure hunt.
At one point while waiting to board for my initial flight, a woman sat next to me and asked if I had ever flown with Frontier, clearly just as nervous as I was, for no apparent reason. We bonded over the absurd carry-on fees, and she left once boarding began to try to sneak on her luggage without anyone noticing she hadn’t paid. I liked her.
The boarding process went smoothly until I actually boarded the plane. I looked at the rows, squinting my eyes like I was trying to read a name tag from far away, unable to find where the seat numbers were. How did all of these people find their seats without issues? Did they count the rows? Did they assume seats A-F were in order from left to right? Granted, they usually are, but regardless, it was confusing. I finally saw the seat numbers and letters (that with Delta are prominently displayed on the bins above the seats) on the bottom of the bins where the lights were located. Who would think to look there? Apparently everyone else.
Don’t get me started on the in-flight services. No free snacks. No free sodas. No, “Would you like pretzels, peanuts, or cookies?” the answer to which is always pretzels. I immediately said no, thank you, and tried to convey my frustration of no free snacks, but I am certain the flight attendant just moved on with her life without regard to my passive aggressiveness.
Overall, it wasn’t like I was forced to sit in the aisle or had a drink deliberately poured on my lap, but the experience was just alright. It proved my love and admiration for Delta has some value, with its free snacks, free drinks, free first carry-on, digital boarding passes and the knowledge that finding my seat won’t give me an anxiety attack.
Thanks for being you, Delta.
The Brandwasher 