The practice of electronic ticketing has led to a large number of airline passengers buying their tickets online. Ultra low cost carriers give you an incentive to book flights.

I want to show you how you can save money by buying your Frontier Airlines tickets at the airport.

It is possible to save $23 per person per segment if you book your Frontier Airlines ticket at the airport.

How to avoid Frontier’s “carrier interface charge”

Frontier Airlines is an ultra low cost carrier in the US. The business model for ultra low cost carriers is to have extremely low base fares and then charge extra for everything.

The carrier interface charge is included in the base fares of Frontier Airlines. Frontier Airlines has a description on its website.

Carrier Interface Charge: the standard fare price we display online includes a charge per passenger, per segment, that is assessed on tickets purchased through the website or our call center. The Discount Den fares we display online include a charge per passenger, per segment, that is assessed on tickets purchased through the website.

Unless you're looking for it, you won't notice the charge. The cheapest way to get to Burbank is via Las Vegas.

Frontier Airlines fare

The breakdown of the fare will be shown on the final booking page. The largest part of the fare is the carrier interface charge.

Frontier Airlines “Carrier Interface Charge”

You have to pay the fee if you book through Frontier Airlines website or call center. If you book at any Frontier Airlines ticket counter you won't have to pay the carrier interface charge.

Frontier Airlines doesn't spell out ticket counter hours or procedures. That doesn't mean that you can't book flights at the airport.

If you travel as a larger group and book multiple tickets, the savings could add up.

Save money by ticketing at a Frontier counter

There are two catches, though

If you are booking a Frontier Airlines reservation at the airport, you need to be aware of two important things. The employees at the Frontier Airlines ticket counter are not very knowledgeable.

Many people report that they can get tickets at airports. Some people say they are told at the counter that they can't ticket the reservations. Even though Frontier's website isn't very explicit, that makes it difficult.

The downside of ticketing at the airport is discussed in this article. Since Frontier Airlines is an ultra low cost carrier, they charge for everything from seat assignments to carry on bags. The airline charges the least when you purchase extras.

Frontier sells differentbundles at the time that you book, and these aren't available for the same price at a later point The incentives to book online are strong.

Frontier Airlines bundles

If you don't plan on buying a lot of ancillaries, it's a good idea to book at the airport. Most or all of your savings can be wiped out if you pay more for add-ons after the fact.

Why are Frontier tickets cheaper at the airport?

You can save money if you book your Frontier Airlines tickets at the airport, but what is the logic of this policy? Taxes come down to it.

The airlines have to pay excise taxes on airfare, but not on optional fees. There needs to be a way to avoid paying the optional fee. Since you can avoid it, Frontier doesn't have to pay taxes on the "carrier interface charge" portion of the ticket price.

Frontier doesn't want to make it easy or lucrative to avoid paying this fee, which is why the airline only lets you avoid this by booking at the airport, and then also charges you more in other fees.

Ultra low cost carriers have similar made up charges that make up a large portion of the airfare in order to reduce the taxes they have to pay. Frontier is saving 2.5% of $23 per segment. You can add those tax savings to the number of tickets Frontier sells. There is an extra $315 worth of profit per flight on a full A320.

Frontier uses this to avoid paying taxes on the entire fare

Bottom line

If you are booking online or by phone, Frontier Airlines has a carrier interface charge. The logic is that Frontier doesn't have to pay taxes on the optional fee since it's technically an optional fee.

You can avoid this fee by booking at the airport. Ultra low cost carriers use this practice a lot. If you don't ticket online, you'll end up paying more for ancillaries, and not all Frontier agents are trained in this.

Have you ever gotten a Frontier Airlines ticket at the airport? What were your experiences like?