Frontier Airlines is incredibly controversial online. While the airline advertises low fares, some have claimed that the added fees and headache of actually flying with the carrier make it not worth the effort.
For example, one user who bought the airline’s GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly-Pass said she was unable to actually book flights with it. Another user claimed that Frontier bumped her from her flight, and then rebooked her on a different flight two days later. A further user alleged that the carrier changed gates at the last minute, and then denied boarding for passengers once they made it to the new gate.
A major point of contention amongst Frontier flyers is their baggage policy. Frontier allows a personal item to be included with one’s flight, though if the size of the personal item is larger than the company allows, they are required to purchase a carry-on bag tag.
How the company determines this is through bag sizers at the gate. However, Frontier recently admitted that it pays its employees bonuses for getting people to buy carry-on bags, leading some to speculate that the bag measurement process is illegitimate.
Now, another user on TikTok has sparked discussion after alleging that the bag sizers themselves are not the size they claim to be.
In a video with over 342,000 views, TikTok user Tia (@travelwithtia23) lays out why she believes the bag sizers are being used to “[scam] folks out of their coins.”
To demonstrate her point, Tia attempts to place a bag in the personal item sizer for Frontier. The bag barely fits. However, when she goes to the personal item sizer for Spirit, which purports to be the same size, the bag slides in with ease.
“See how I am struggling to put this personal item size bag into the sizer?” she asks about the Frontier bag sizer. “This lets you know how they have made their sizer smaller than their actual requirements to scam people out their coins when they’re trying to abide by the rules and policy that Frontier put in place for them.”
This isn’t the first time the airline has been accused of something like this. Other flyers have claimed that the bag sizer has gotten smaller, and the company is currently facing a lawsuit that alleges something similar.
In an email to the Daily Dot, Jennifer F. de la Cruz, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications for Frontier Airlines, wrote, “The interior of our bag sizers are precisely equivalent to the allowable bag size.”
@travelwithtia23 Do you think Frontier preys and scams? #travelwithtia #travelwithtia23 #blackvloggers #fyp #travel #traveltiktok #xyzbca #viral #flights #budgettravel #budgetairlines #spiritairlines #frontierairlines #budgetflights #cheapflights ♬ original sound – Travel With Tia
A later video from the TikToker purports to show the two bag sizers right next to each other. The Frontier sizer appears significantly smaller.
@travelwithtia23 Replying to @_dr_jekyll_ #budgetairlines #spiritairlines #frontierairlines #budgetflights #cheapflights ♬ original sound – Let’s Goal Up
In the comments section, users shared their thoughts on these bag sizer issues.
“It’s crazy that even in the video you can clearly see the size difference,” noted a user.
“Chile I took a tape measure and measured their box in front of them,” added another. “They couldn’t say NOTHING. They let me right on. Last time flying them.”
“I’ll walk to wherever before I ever fly Frontier,” stated a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Frontier and Tia via email.
