Call your airline toll-free? Not if you're on an 'ultra-low-cost carrier'

For decades, travelers have been able to count on a toll-free customer-service phone number to contact airlines. But those numbers are fading away at the nation's emerging "ultra-low-cost carriers" as more people use cellphones.

Frontier Airlines is the latest to do away with its toll-free 800 number, a move the Denver-based carrier made earlier this summer. Discontinuing the toll-free number will save about $160,000 a month, "or almost $2 million a year," says Frontier spokesman Jim Faulkner

Frontier says those savings will be passed on to its customers.

"We're doing this to lower costs. And that will allow us to lower fares," Faulkner says.

Additionally, Faulkner says most of the carrier's customers use cellphones that include free long-distance calls. The carrier discontinued its toll-free customer service number in June, but "so far there have been no complaints about the change from the 800 number," Faulkner says.

Frontier's decision to ditch that number comes amid its transition from a traditional discount carrier to an ultra-low-cost one. Under that model, airlines charge bare-bones fares but have fees for everything from carry-on bags to seat assignments.

The ultra-low-cost niche has picked up steam in the U.S. aviation market during the past decade, filling a gap with a product aimed at the  most cost-conscious travelers. Spirit and Allegiant — two airlines that helped pioneer the niche here — have become two of the USA's most-profitable carriers. Both of those airlines have already discontinued their toll-free 800 numbers for reservations, though less-publicized toll-free numbers remain for specific customers in need of special assistance.

At the forefront of the ultra-low-cost mantra is an emphasis on keeping costs low.
"These airlines focus on their costs first and foremost," says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at the San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group.

So far, the ultra-low-cost carriers have been the only major players in the travel industry to move away from toll-free numbers.

"Hotel chains. Car rental companies. Cruise lines. Most national travel brands in the United States still have them," Harteveldt says.

Harteveldt questions whether the move away from toll-free numbers is a smart one, even for the discount carriers.

"A lot of customers have mobile plans with unlimited minutes," he says. "But for people with limited minutes – or for those who have to pay long distance on landline phones – it's yet another inconvenience."

However, Brett Snyder -- author of The Cranky Flier blog and operator of the Cranky Concierge travel service -- expects the moves ultimately will affect only a small number of fliers.

"It's a smaller corner of the market," he says. "In general, I think most people don't think twice about long-distance phone calls. For the most part, it just doesn't matter anymore."

Snyder suggests it's really the "perception that is the big thing" with the change.

"It makes them seem cheap," he says of the ultra-low-cost carriers. "But they want to seem cheap. That's their message. 'We have low costs and that lets us offer low fares.' "

For Frontier, spokesman Faulkner points out that the carrier offers alternative ways to passengers to contact it with customer service questions.

"Obviously we want to be able to serve everyone. We also make available ways to contact us through e-mail and through the (Frontier) website," he says, adding that the airline also is looking for ways to increase its interactions with customers via mobile platforms.

But Frontier's transition to the ultra-low-cost model has not come without speed bumps.

Complaints about the carrier have soared during the past year as customers have had to adjust to the airline's new pricing model. And there were some service irregularities as Frontier outsourced some jobs that affected customer service and baggage-handling positions.

The airline says the change in strategy hinges on keeping costs as low as possible so that it can stimulate demand with rock-bottom fares.

"It is a different way of doing business from the old Frontier," Faulkner says.

On the fare front, Frontier tweaked its offerings earlier this month. The company rolled out a new "WORKS" fee package that bundles popular ticket options that previously were sold only as a la carte add-ons.

The package — which costs $49 to $69 each way — includes baggage, seat assignment and other options at a flat rate. In part, Frontier hopes it will address fliers' confusion — and frustration — about the company's shift to a more fee-heavy model.

"There are a lot of people that love the unbundled model, but there are still a lot of people that don't understand it," Frontier Airlines President Barry Biffle told USA TODAY when the airline first rolled out the WORKS option earlier this month. "Instead of trying to tell everybody, 'This is good for you, you're saving money and the fare is cheaper than before,' the new (bundled) package gives us the option of bringing back the works."

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