Frontier Airlines Baggage Fees [2024]: Can You Avoid Them?

Finding an incredible fare with Frontier Airlines is thrilling, but it’s less thrilling when the realization sets in that you need to pay a fee for just about everything. Including bringing a carry-on bag, which is free with legacy airlines. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fly Frontier — it can still be well worth it, even with the fees.

To minimize fees, pay for your bags as early in the process as possible (ideally when you’re booking your reservation). Or you can opt for a bundled fare that includes a carry-on and 1-2 checked bags.

And if you fly Frontier frequently (try saying that three times fast), higher levels of Elite status come with a free carry-on and, at the highest levels, a free checked bag or two.

Military members, along with their spouses and children, also qualify for a free carry-on and two free checked bags per person. You do need to present proof of your military status at the airport check-in counter or at the gate.

Key takeaways

• Costs vary for baggage on Frontier depending on where you’re flying and when you’re flying.
• Checking bags or paying for carry-ons at the gate is the most expensive baggage fee option, so do your best to avoid that if at all possible.
• You don’t get a free checked bag with the Frontier Airlines World MasterCard^®, but you do earn 1 Elite Status Point for every $1 in purchases, which can help you achieve higher status levels faster.

Frontier baggage fees and policies

Frontier’s baggage fees vary depending on when you’re flying. For example, when I compared a flight on Thanksgiving (one of the busiest travel days of the year) to a flight on a random day to a weekday flight in early December, prices were about $5 more per bag.

That’s not a massive difference, but it’s one to be aware of.

The best way to know how much you’ll pay for bags is to check Frontier’s website. You can look up bag prices for flights before you even book.

Personal items

Frontier allows you to bring one personal item for free, such as a purse, tote, briefcase, or a small backpack. The size of your personal item must not exceed 14 inches x 18 inches x 8 inches (height x width x depth), including handles, wheels, and straps. If your personal item is larger than those dimensions, you will have to pay an additional fee.

Carry-on bags

With Frontier Airlines, carry-on bags are not included in the base fare. You'd need to pay a carry-on baggage fee of anywhere from about $60 to $99 to bring a bag into the cabin to store in the overhead bin. Paying this extra fee upfront when booking is cheapest versus at the airport or gate.

Carry-on items must be no larger than 24 inches x 16 inches x 10 inches (height x width x depth) and can weigh up to 35 pounds. This includes the wheels and handles of the bag.

Exceptions are made for things like diaper bags for infants, coats, prayer mats, and medical devices that meet size/weight rules. All carry-on contents must comply with TSA regulations, prohibiting weapons and following the 3-1-1 rule for liquids.

Here’s the pricing I found for carry-ons during my research:

Checked bags

Like most airlines, Frontier Airlines charges fees to check bags. The fees increase the later you pay. It's cheapest to book online and most expensive at the departure gate.

Checked bags can't exceed 62 linear inches (height + width + depth) in total dimensions or 40 pounds in weight.

Here are the prices I found during my research:

Oversized and overweight bags

Frontier Airlines charges additional oversized and overweight baggage fees for bags that exceed their standard size and weight limits. The maximum allowable size is 110 linear inches, while the maximum weight is 100 pounds. Oversized or overweight bags incur fees of $75-$100 per bag, per direction of travel.

Some special item categories like musical instruments, sports equipment, and bicycles have their own fee structures as well. For example, overweight charges may apply to heavy sports gear over 40 pounds, while bicycles have a flat $75 fee per direction regardless of size/weight. These additional oversized/overweight fees apply to all checked bags that don't meet Frontier's regular baggage restrictions.

How does Frontier compare with other airlines?

Frontier collects less in baggage fees than Spirit and legacy airlines American, United, and Delta in baggage fees.

Which doesn’t sound too bad until you consider that it’s a significantly smaller airline than JetBlue and Southwest, both of which collect less in baggage fees. Southwest is known for the fact that it includes two checked bags in its fares (and a carry-on).

How to avoid or reduce Frontier Airlines baggage fees

Only pack a personal item

Obviously, this is the best option to avoid paying any extra baggage fees. Since the Frontier baggage allowance does not include any carry-on luggage, that means sticking to your personal item only.

If you’re traveling for a few days, you can likely fit enough clothes into a medium-sized backpack. There are plenty of packing techniques that help maximize every nook and cranny of your personal item so you won’t need any excess baggage. The OneBag subreddit has lots of tips for the best bags and techniques for packing light.

Also, consider purchasing toiletry items when you arrive at your destination or using laundry facilities while you’re away.

Buy a bundle

Like Spirit, Frontier offers bundled fares. Here’s how they stack up:

Here’s what the costs looked like for a flight I reviewed during my research:

If you’re planning to carry-on or check a bag and the prices look like this, the economy or premium bundles are definitely worth considering. You’ll likely pay around $60 per leg of your trip for your carry-on bag, which comes to $120 round trip. This is just $2 more than the cost of adding the premium bundle to the example flight above, and it includes other benefits like extra legroom.

If you go with an economy bundle, you could actually save money. For the flight above, it would have saved about $20 if you were bringing a carry-on or checking a bag.

All of these prices vary depending on when your flight is, so run the numbers, but there’s a good chance that if you’re bringing more than a personal item, a bundle is worth the price, and could even save you money.

Join the Frontier Miles loyalty program

Like most airlines, Frontier has a frequent flyer program. Frontier bases the miles you earn on how much you spend rather than how many miles you fly. For each $1 you spend, you earn 10 Travel Miles and 10 Elite Status Points. You can use Travel Miles for award travel, and the miles don’t expire as long as you earn more miles at least once every year.

Elite Status Points are what earn you status, and you restart your earning each calendar year.

Once you hit 20,000 points, you're eligible to become an Elite Gold member, and you’ll get a free carry-on bag on every flight. When you reach 50,000 points, you’ll reach Elite Platinum status and be eligible for a free carry-on bag and a free checked bag for you and every passenger on your flight booking.

At 100,000 points, you’re eligible to be an Elite Diamond member, and you get a free carry-on and two free checked bags for you and everyone in your party.

To earn miles and status points more quickly, consider applying for the Frontier Airlines World MasterCard^® so your everyday spending can pay off in free bags and other travel rewards. You can earn 5X miles on purchases on Flyfrontier.com, 3X miles on restaurant purchases, and 1X miles on all other purchases.

You earn 1 Elite Status Point per $1 spent on eligible purchases. So instead of just earning when you purchase airfare, you can earn on your day-to-day spending.

In general, though, a branded card like this is best if you’re fairly loyal to a particular airline. If you don’t see yourself flying Frontier at least a few times per year, you may be better off with a more general card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card.

Bring your military documentation

If you qualify as active duty military personnel, then make sure to bring your military ID with you to check-in. Frontier Airlines baggage fees are waived for all active duty, reserve, and national guard service members on one carry-on bag and up to two checked bags.

And it gets better: The first two checked bags are exempt from oversize and overweight fees as long as they don’t go over the maximum limits.

These benefits extend to an accompanying spouse and children too.

Pay for baggage during booking

If you must pay for baggage, it’s best to do so at booking. This is when baggage pricing is at its cheapest, and you have the most time to figure out a game plan for packing. As soon as you finalize your purchase, baggage fees will go up.

Get airline fee credits and other perks with a travel rewards card

There are lots of other travel credit cards that have perks you could use on Frontier Airlines flights. For example, some cards offer travel credits.

The Platinum Card^® from American Express offers an airline fee credit of up to $200, but it also comes with an annual fee that’s on the steep side — $695. Its credits are worth much more than that, but only if they’re useful to you, so that’s one of the first things I would look at if you’re considering this card.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® offers a $300 travel credit that is automatically applied to a variety of travel expenses, including baggage fees. Its annual fee is $550, which is lower than the Amex Platinum, but still might be steep for some. The travel credit goes a long way toward off-setting that fee, though.

These and many of the other best travel credit cards provide other useful perks as well, such as no foreign transaction fees.

FAQ 

Bottom line

Flying with Frontier Airlines typically means paying fees for both carry-on and checked bags, unless you can stick to just a free personal item that fits under the seat. To minimize these costs, pay for any required baggage as early as possible when booking your ticket online.

To avoid or offset Frontier's baggage fees, we recommend checking out the loyalty program and packing as lightly as you can. Frontier’s bundles could also help you save some money on baggage fees and other extras.

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