Frontier Lowers Change Fees and Bag Fees

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "It's not revolutionary, but a small Moleskine notebook is my one travel must-have. It's great for noting things you want to remember and it takes up hardly any space in your bag."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: "Japan. I'd love to take a month off and visit the cities, temples, and countryside. I'm fascinated by the country's juxtaposition of ancient traditions and modern ambitions."

Travel Motto: “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” –Terry Pratchett

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Window."

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Frontier announced it is lowering—yes, lowering—its change fees, effective today. It will also implement several other customer-friendly policy changes.

In a release, the airline said, “For tickets purchased on or after April 13, 2011, Frontier will reduce the change fee from $100 to $50 on Economy fares.” The airline will eliminate fees for changes made prior to the day of travel on its Classic fares, which are in the middle of its three-tier fare structure.

Frontier said it will also add a discount on the first checked bag fee for any guest who checks in online at FrontierAirlines.com. This discount is currently set at $5, which reduces the checked bag fee from $20 to $15 on the Economy fare. Guests traveling on Classic and Classic Plus fares will continue to receive two complimentary checked bags on every flight.”

Other policy changes at Frontier include:

Name changes will now be permitted for $50 on Classic and Economy tickets. Classic Plus ticket holders and Summit-level EarlyReturns members can change a name at no charge. In addition to the name-change fee, guests will also be responsible for paying any difference in fare at the time the change is made.
Fees for same-day confirmed flight changes on Classic tickets will be reduced to $25 from $50 with no fare difference.
The excess bag fee—for a third bag and beyond—will be standardized at $50 per bag for all markets, domestic and international.
Bicycles will no longer be charged a flat fee, but will instead be counted as checked baggage. They are exempt from oversize fees, but subject to overweight and excess baggage fees.

Frontier, a round of applause for lowering fees!

Readers, do these changes make you more likely to consider Frontier in the future?

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