There’s a new front in the battle over space in the overhead bins —and for the hearts and minds of fliers. On Wednesday, Frontier Airlines announced it will begin charging passengers a fee of $25 to $100 for using the overhead bin if they book their tickets anywhere other than the airline’s website.

“Frontier’s most loyal customers have made it very clear that finding overhead bin space for carry-on bags has become unacceptably difficult,” said the airline in a statement. “In response, Frontier will be introducing a charge for carry-on bags for customers buying Basic fares through third party sites.”

Conversely,those who book at FlyFrontier.com will be able to use the overhead bins at no charge, as they always have. How that constitutes a “service enhancement” is unclear. (Bags that fit under the seat will continue to be allowed at no charge, regardless of where tickets are booked.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/frontier-enhances-service-new-carry-bag-fee-6C9719235

Apparently the fee will be implemented this summer. Its $25 for the carryon if you book it in advance, $100 at the gate. They will also start charging for soft drinks.

What next?

Toilet fees?

But I can see where they are coming from.

The overhead space is limited ... passengers are trying to avoid stored baggage fees by carrying on their luggage and a lax policing of the single bag 6kg policy at the entry gate ... the bins do get filled quickly ... particularly on the fuller flights.

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Up the tickets by a few bucks and don't charge for checked luggage. simple solution to the overhead bin issue.

Frontier aren't charging for carry on luggage if you book through the airline site.

On the weight issue...

Id like to see a total weight charge; checked bags, carry on, person, electronics. Each person is allocated X amount of Kgs, including themselves.

So you are locked into their prices and not allowed to use another site with a better fare.

It's just no fun to fly these days. Unless you can afford a higher class of service. These low cost airlines are the worst. But cheap! If you can avoid all the extra charges.

Can't remember which one, but we almost got caught having to pay some 25 Euro or so as I forgot to print our ticket before going to the airport. Luckily, there was an error on the ticket and the gate agent printed it out for us.

We did have to down the bottle of wine in our carry on as it put the bag overweight. But that wasn't really a big problem.

Optional charges ...

Scoot Airlines (Singapore's LCC)

Early check-in - $4

Jump the queue for boarding - $5

Not big bucks ... but chipping away at us.'

BTW the 'Jump the queue for boarding' ...

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Optional charges ...

Scoot Airlines (Singapore's LCC)

Early check-in - $4

Jump the queue for boarding - $5

Not big bucks ... but chipping away at us.'

BTW the 'Jump the queue for boarding' ...

.

I paid 7 Euros for both of us for the priority boarding with Ryan Air. Actually was a great idea. The scrum at the entry gate was crazy. As for fees, look at theirs. Incredible:

http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions#regulations-tableoffees

It's just no fun to fly these days. Unless you can afford a higher class of service. These low cost airlines are the worst. But cheap! If you can avoid all the extra charges.

I agree it's no fun to fly today.

But, compared to the '70s before deregulation, the cost is a small fraction today and I think it's a great trade-off.

Of course, back then Pan Am accepted Eastern tickets at their gate, there was no penalty if you missed one flight and had to catch another, you could just about bring the contents of your home with you, and 747's came with piano bars in them (at least in their advertisements). You actually got a real meal even in the cheap seats and all the free booze you could pound down during the flight (that may be a foggy memory after one too many of those little bottles).

Still, adjusted for inflation, I think it cost about $2,000 in today's USD to fly from New York to Boston, about a 2 hour drive. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it was EXPENSIVE.