A traveler suggests that Spirit and Frontier might be falsely advertising their baggage sizers after her carry-on only fits one.
TikTok Wanderings Whimsy (@wanderingswhimsy) is a traveler on a budget who yesterday posted a video discussing this issue. In the video, which has since amassed 1.5 million views, the TikToker’s mother holding a red travel bag in front of the airline's bag sizer. The mom successfully inserts the bag into the Spirit sizer, but then struggles, and is ultimately not able to, insert the bag into the Frontier sizer right next to it.
In the video's text overlay, the TikToker wrote, "Spirit vs Frontier sizer comparison. Both are listed as 18x14x8. Somebody is lying." In the video’s caption, Wanderings Whimsy wrote, "Showing the OBVIOUS size difference between the Spirit and Frontier sizers. The bag is the Baboon to the Moon Go Bag Mini. It's pretty full, but not packed out. Thanks to my mom for helping with the demo.”
Why are the bag sizers different?
This isn’t the first time the dimensions of Frontier’s bag sizers have come into question. Earlier this year, a traveler used the same experiment to demonstrate how, in her opinion, the airline is manipulating its sizers to increase revenue. Baggage that weighs between 51 and 100 pounds will be assessed a $75 fee, per Frontier policy. In a comment to the Daily Dot at the time, Frontier denied this and said its sizers are equivalent to the dimensions stated in its policy.
Other travelers say the airline incentivizes this practice—and other inconsistencies in the application of its baggage policy—because it pays a bonus to employees who upcharge customers for oversized baggage. A TikToker went viral this summer for pointing out the cumbersome policy caused his flight to be delayed by two hours unnecessarily.
In the comments of Wanderings Whimsy’s TikTok, users expressed their feelings about Frontier’s bag policy.
One user wrote, “I am convinced that by the time you add up all the extras with Frontier or Spirit you might as well just fly Delta, American, or United.”
A second user wrote, “Frontier has it too small on purpose so they can make you pay 100 dollars for your carry on bag.”
@wanderingswhimsy Showing the OBVIOUS size difference between the Spirit and Frontier sizers. The bag is the Baboon to the Moon Go Bag Mini. It's pretty full, but not packed out. Thanks to my mom for helping with the demo. #spiritairlines #frontierairlines #personalitemspirit
♬ original sound - spexdx
A third user said, “Mine fit in the bag checker when I walked into the airport and magically it didn’t at the gate with nothing even being opened.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Wanderings Whimsy via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also reached out to Frontier Airlines via email for comment.
Update 4:55am CT, July 18: Frontier provided the Daily Dot with the same statement as before: "The interior of our bag sizers are precisely equivalent to the allowable bag size." A spokesperson added that travelers are welcome to bring a tape measure on their next journey and confirm the dimensions for themselves.
