Frontier Airlines doesn’t have the best reputation.
A 2025 analysis of airline customer satisfaction found that Frontier Airlines was among the lowest-rated airlines in the country. Hearing stories from flyers, it’s easy to understand why. Passengers have reported everything from rude employees to inconsistent policies to non-working bathrooms and more.
Now, a user on TikTok is calling out the airline after claiming that her mother was asked to pay a bribe in order to check her bag.
What Went Wrong On This Frontier Flight?
In a video with over 10,000 views, TikTok user Darby (@fulltimeflosser) discusses an alleged scam that Frontier Airlines attempted to pull on her mother.
According to Darby, her mother had booked a Frontier Airlines flight leaving from the Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina. For this flight, she purchased a checked bag. Darby says that she weighed the bag three times, each time ensuring it was several pounds under Frontier’s 40-pound limit.
However, when she got to the airport, she was informed that her bag was somehow six pounds overweight.
“And [the employee] says, ‘You’re gonna owe $100 in addition to the $65 you already paid for your 40-pound baggage,’” Darby recalls. The TikToker states that, on Frontier’s website, the listed fee is only $75. This is true for bags that are less than 10 pounds overweight.
The Employee’s Startling Solution
It was at this point that the employee said something Darby’s mother found shocking.
“Then he takes out his earpiece and steps to the side and says, ‘If you give me $50 cash, I’ll push it through,’” Darby says.
This caused Darby to have a fit.
“What? You are taking $50 cash from people in order to push their bag through so they don’t have to pay the $100 that you’re saying it costs—when it doesn’t?” she says. “And how do we even know that the bag is actually overweight? Because my mom weighed it three times and took stuff out and got it down to 38 pounds. Okay, maybe not all scales are equal—but six pounds over?”
Darby closes her video by saying that an apology isn’t enough to resolve this.
“This is a f——- scam, Frontier,” she summarizes. “And, I want my mom’s money back. And, I want that man fired, and I want the rest of y’all to know: Don’t let this s— happen to you.”
How Common Is This?
Frontier Airlines has previously attracted controversy for their baggage policies.
In 2023, the company admitted to paying employees a $10 bonus for every “oversized” bag they charged to a passenger. The same year, the company faced a class action lawsuit about how it handles baggage. In the lawsuit, it was alleged that Frontier fraudulently charged customers for “oversized” bags that, in reality, were within the airline’s specified dimensions.
Direct cash bribes, like what’s being alleged by Darby, appear significantly less common. That said, there are documented cases of such requests being made.
For example, one flyer alleged that a Frontier employee tried to get him to pay $50 before boarding. The employee allegedly told the passenger that they planned to use the money to get their nails done and buy weed.
Another flyer claimed that a Frontier gate agent attempted to extort him out of $25 prior to boarding. According to the passenger, the agent told them they would be unable to board unless they sent money via Cash App.
As far as the scale is concerned, airport baggage scales are regularly calibrated. Still, some studies have found airport scales to occasionally be out of compliance.
@fulltimeflosser @Frontier Airlines WHAT IS GOING ON AT YOUR KIOSKS?!? This happened at the RDU airport and I WANT MY MOMS MONEY BACK!!!! How many people have caved to this because they’d rather pay $50 than $100 — and their bags probably weren’t even overweight to begin with!!!! #frontierairlines #frontier #flyfrontier #rduairport #scam
Commenters Want Answers
In the comments section, users demanded an explanation for the worker’s alleged behavior.
“This is insane!! They need to do better!!” exclaimed a commenter.
“people need to be recording everything from the moment they walk in,” offered a second.
Some even shared their own stories.
“Yes the [gate] attendant literally had their foot on the scale &we said something and the bag weight ended up perfect,” said a user. “Unreal.”
“The only time I took frontier I had to print a checked bag tag from the kiosk, it was broken so I had to talk to the rudest person at their desk, they charged me a $30 agent assist fee,” recalled another. “BROTHER YOUR KIOSK WAS BROKEN, WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?”
BroBible reached out to Frontier via email and Darby via email and TikTok direct message.