But what most people probably don’t realize is that there is a very, very simple way to avoid them. Quite simply, it doesn't affect bags prepaid at booking.
Most noticeably, it will be $5 more expensive now to check in a bag (and it’s still cheaper than carrying on). The $5 increase only applies to check in bags done during web check-in; prepaid check in bags at the time of booking will remain the same price. In fact, if both checked and carry on bags are prepaid at booking, there is really no increase for travelers. (But seriously, if you have to pay for check in and carry on, why not just do it all in one go at the beginning? You know you’re going to have to do it eventually.)
The price for carrying on remains the same at $30 per bag sans Frontier’s Discount Den program. There are some price increases by $10 but only for gate-checking oversized bags. In fact, all in all, the price hike isn’t actually that bad. It’s applicable to all travel starting from today on out.