US airline faces US$100m lawsuit over claims it uses baggage sizers smaller than advertised

Frontier Airlines markets itself as having the lowest fares, but a new class-action lawsuit alleges the US carrier makes up the difference with hidden, inflated fees. Florida resident Amira Hamad filed the 21-page lawsuit in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida in late June, seeking a refund of the fees and US$100m in punitive damages for herself and others. A spokesperson for Frontier said the airline doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Hamad said in the lawsuit that she booked a round-trip flight with Frontier after seeing an “attractive” price online and reading on the company’s website that passengers are allowed one free personal item no larger than 14 inches (35.5cm) tall, 18 inches (45.7cm) wide and 8 inches deep (20.3cm). According to the lawsuit, when Hamad arrived at her gate, Frontier’s bag sizer was smaller than the dimensions advertised on the website. When her bag wouldn’t fit into the allegedly shrunken bag sizer, the airline charged Hamad US$100 for her “oversized” personal item – nearly four times the price of checking a bag. Hamad said in the lawsuit that before taking off on her return flight, she measured her personal item using the bag checker at a Spirit Airlines gate – with the same dimensions Frontier claims to have online – and it fit perfectly. In the lawsuit, Hamad said Frontier is intentionally hiding fees and obscuring fee structures from customers “in order to fraudulently induce sales”.<br/>