Frontier Airlines' Employees Get $10 for Each Oversized Carry-On They Charge

By Yehudit Garmaise

While airlines differ in what they allow passengers to bring on board, some airport workers are incentivized by receiving bonuses for every overweight and oversized baggage that is charged, claimed Dyana Villa, a journalist from Salt Lake City, Utah, after she was charged $100 for trying to bring two bulky carry-ons on her flight from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, to Denver, Colorado.

An unidentified flight attendant who works for Frontier Airlines, which is known for offering fares at ultra-low costs, for instance, revealed that employees receive a $10 bonus $100 fee they charge for oversized baggage, said Villa, the New York Post reported.

The practice to incentivize employees to charge customers who carry oversize bags $100 fees at Frontier airlines was revealed when Villa was told her carry-on bags did not meet the airline’s size requirements and would not fit in the overhead compartment, nor under her seat.

Villa claimed that her pink carry-on bag “fit perfectly fine,” when she was asked to put in it the measuring bin at the gate in Washington, DC, but Frontier employees told the Independent that she had another bulky carry-on item that she did not video, nor mention.

After Villa was told her two bags combined were together too big to count as the one free carry-on item the airline allows, she was informed she would not be able to board the plane unless she paid up.

When two other passengers were also charged $100 for their bags Frontier claimed were oversized, Villa posted a series of videos on social media of herself and another passenger arguing with Frontier employees and asking viewers to sign a petition to “stop Frontier Airlines from overcharging passengers.”

One passenger who refused to pay the $100 “had to throw her personal belongings in trash in order to fly because they closed the gate on us,” complained Villa who finally paid her fee.

When Villa tried to get on her connecting flight in Denver to Salt Lake City, however, she was not allowed to board because of the inflammatory video she had posted about Frontier Airlines.

The bonus is “simply an incentive for our airport customer service agents to help ensure compliance with our policies and that all customers are treated equally,” a Frontier employee told the Independent.

Like all airlines, Frontier lists its luggage requirements on its website, which all travelers should check before considering what to pack on upcoming trips.

“Carry-on bags can be no larger than 24 inches tall, 10 inches wide, 16 inches long: including handles, wheels, and straps, and no heavier than 35 pounds,” Frontier clearly says on its website about the single carry-on item passengers are allowed to store on board their flights.