[rickack]

Bill Franke, the Count Dracula of the airline industry, has struck again with the elimination of the most valuable perk offered under Frontier Airline's Elite Flyer program: two free checked bags. Frontier's customer service manager, April Beal, broke the bad news to customers in the most disingenuous way possible: In an email enumerating the latest benefits of being an Elite flyer, she did NOT list "Two Free Checked Bags." This left customers only to infer that their favorite perk had been 86'd.

This reminds me of the National Lampoon joke about how a teacher broke the news to little Billy that his parents had been killed in a car crash. "Okay, kids, everyone with a mommy and daddy please stand up. Uh, Billy, not so fast..." It has become standard operating procedure for Frontier to promote bad news as though it were good news. Under Mr. Franke's direction, this began when Frontier eliminated Philadelphia flights, hyping Trenton as a "convenient" new alternative. Speaking as someone who grew up in New Jersey, I can tell you that NO flyer headed East would prefer Trenton as a destination. Frontier also hyped Wilmington when it began to fly there. This is another destination that no flyer would willingly choose, especially a flyer arriving at night in need of a rental car (the Budget/Avis counter officially closes at 9) or a decent hotel room.

Frontier has not yet fallen to the sorry depths of Spirit, another of Mr. Franke's dubious success stories, but it looks to be headed there fast.

[Burgers]

You do know that Frontier was purchased by a private equity firm right? Indigo Partners stated in 2014 that their goal was to transform Frontier to a ULCC so its no surprise they ditched the free bags. I highly doubt a private equity firm wants to own an airline longer that it absolutely must so its pumping up the balance sheet with ancillary fees.
People that fly Frontier are very price sensitive (polite way of saying cheapskates) as long as they keep their prices a couple dollars lower than their competitors they'll win the business.
Alternative airports with lower costs is often part of the ULCC strategy so no surprise they use TTN vs PHL.