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Frontier Airlines announced a new promo today that is clearly targeting Southwest customers annoyed by the carrier’s recent changes that killed check bags for many and increased redemption rates. The promo called “Your New Love” offers a free carry-on bag, free seat selection, and free flight changes. A free checked bag is also being offered for flights departing between May 28th and August 18th (use promo code “FREEBAG”).
The press release for this promo takes clear shots at Southwest. This paragraph made me chuckle:
Some airlines have changed. They’ve raised fees, taken away perks, and made travel feel like a one-sided relationship. If your airline is treating you like an afterthought, maybe it’s time to file for divorce. Frontier is here for the rebound – offering a fresh start with an unbeatable deal.”
While Frontier has long been accused of nickel-and-diming passengers when it comes to fees, the low-cost carrier has made many changes over the past year to be more customer friendly. Frontier will add First Class seats, companion tickets, and a host of other premium upgrades this year in a bid to woo some of the premium travel that the legacy carriers are still seeing strong demand from passengers.
Southwest will continue to offer two free checked bags to Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred Members and Business Select® passengers. One free checked bag will be provided to A-List Members and other select passengers (not sure what that means). Southwest will also credit one checked bag for Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers. Passengers who do not qualify for free checked bags will be charged for their first and second checked bags (weight and size limitations apply). Charges will apply to flights booked on or after May 28th (coincidentally when this Frontier promo starts). This move is fairly surprising considering that Southwest has used this as a differentiator for many years.
Barry Biffle, CEO of Frontier Airlines, said:
We’ve always had heart. Some airlines are walking away from what travelers love, but we’re running towards it. Think of this as the ultimate ‘divorce your old airline’ deal. If travelers show us the love, we’ll make these perks permanent.
At the end of the day, travelers just want to be valued. We’re bringing back the things people love about flying – free bags, free seat selection, and flexibility – without the extra fees. No games, just great value.”
Anthony’s Take: Frontier is definitely trying to reinvent itself. I give the airline credit for capitalizing on Southwest’s death spiral and offering perks to passengers. I don’t think Southwest will be long for this world (at least in its current form) and we’ll see how it all unfolds if passengers really do abandon the carrier after its latest changes.
(Image Credits: Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
Still NO THANK YOU. Frontier has the Worst most uncomfortable seats in the entire Airline Industry. They outsource most of their staff to 3ed party vendors who treat you like Shit. Their flight attendants used to be somewhat tolerable until Frontier revamped their schedules to an Out and Back turn model so now the flight attendants are almost equally as grumpy as the ground crews.
The Jury still out on this whole “Fake ULCC first class thing.” Spirit is no different in many respects but at least its BIG front seat is less uncomfortable than the rest of the plane. If people are most people who are complaining the most about Southwest changes are the ones Who scammed Southwest the most anyways. They bought cheap seldomly checked bags anyway including a majority of family’s. Had one or more In their party Fake it and Ask for pre boarding then go on a save shit ton of seats screwing 90 of the remaining passengers. Good go fly Frontier enjoy a horrible experience all around. Southwest flys 99% of the most nonstop routes compared to every else. If Breeze, JetBlue or United on the route with EML seats available I fly them instead. But now that Southwest is upping its game it will definitely make me think twice if the price is comparable.