Two leading U.S. ultra-low-cost carriers that are known for having fees for everything have now followed the major legacy airlines in doing away with change and cancelation fees.
Frontier and Spirit took the move as both struggle to regain profitability. For some travelers, the lower fares were outweighed by the cost of possible need for changes or cancelation, especially since those fees were dropped for most fares by American, Delta and United. Those carriers still retain those fees for some of their basic economy fares which compete most directly with the ULCCs.
Frontier is also shifting some of its pricing strategy by showing up to four levels of fare plus a variety of amenities such as baggage and seat selection, rather than showing just a base fare and adding other items later. Although there won’t be any actual change to the layout of its planes, Frontier is calling the four tiers basic, economy, premium and business.
