Ashley Lincoln reports on Frontier Airlines employees allegedly extorting passengers via Cash App for $25 to $50 boarding fees, threatening to leave them behind. Clark Howard warns these personal transfers are illegitimate, while affected travelers Jermaine Coger and Deontay Roach recount the coercion. Although Frontier investigates and offers refunds, Coger notes missing transfer reimbursements. The segment controversially speculates the agents are Black women, linking the incidents to racial stereotypes before pivoting to unrelated promotions for a Ford Raptor Bronco giveaway and methylene blue supplements. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Bogus Airline Fees Exposed00:07:42
We got a damn good show.
Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard has a warning for customers of an airline about bogus fees.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashley Lincoln is live in the newsroom with this exclusive story and the red flags Clark says travelers need to look out for.
A lot of red flags, Linda.
We were the first to tell you about a customer who says he was told he could not board a Frontier flight unless he paid a gate agent.
Clark told me if you're being told to pay for anything related to a flight.
Hold on.
That gate agent has to be black.
No white person be like, you know what, I'm going to run this scam.
I'm going to charge people as they come through the gate.
That is crazy.
You got your ticket, you pay for your ticket.
Before you board, you got to pay me some extra money.
Everybody, before we get back to the video, don't forget we got a new giveaway: Ford Raptor Bronco and $10,000 in cash.
Anything you purchase on my website at officialharshtwins.com, get you automatically in a dwindle.
Pick up your methylene blue.
Man, it gives you a ton of energy.
Ew.
All right, here we go.
There's a need to look out for a lot of red flags, Linda.
We were the first to tell you about a customer who says he was told he could not board a Frontier flight unless he paid a gate agent.
Clark told me if you're being told to pay for anything related to a flight with a digital wallet like Cash App, it's likely not legitimate.
The girl said that they were going to close the door in five minutes unless I gave them the Cash App card.
He is not alone.
Several Frontier Airlines passengers say they've encountered the same thing.
In her words, I don't give a damn what you're in, as long as you have my damn money.
You're asking me.
Oh, hey, this person's got to be black.
Yeah, this is Atlanta, Georgia.
That is never money.
Get my damn money.
Yeah, that sounds like a black woman, don't it?
Need to get on the plane that I already paid for.
Both Frontier passengers told me gate agents demanded they pay them via Cash App before being allowed to board their flight.
He said we're going to close the door in five minutes.
And if I didn't pay the $25 fee, then I would not be allowed on the plane.
You have Cash App?
Look, I ain't got no money.
Do you think they should be fired?
They should be fired.
They should be arrested.
Yeah, Steph.
That's like extortion, and it's like strong-armed warp robbery.
It's like when you take people's money by force, that's that's robbery.
Yeah, of course they should be fired.
Here has a trust problem.
Channel 2 consumer advisor Clark Howard says, if any airline employee asks you to pay via a digital wallet, that's a red flag.
The money wasn't going in Frontier's pockets.
It was being stolen from the customers' pockets, allegedly, into the employees' pockets.
I mean, you ask if people that's getting on Frontier, they already broke.
That's the cheapest tickets on the market.
I mean, you can fly from Las Vegas to Atlanta for like 15 bucks.
If you do it in advance, give it a couple weeks, you fly for $10, right?
How do you think these people got money?
That's crazy, man.
You know how much balls Cajonis you got to have to charge people to run that scam?
You don't really have to have any balls.
You just got to be brain dead.
Low capacity.
Really?
Well, it takes.
Come on, you got to give them some credit.
It takes a little courage.
Kevin, I don't think these people have a conscience that was doing this.
They ain't got a conscience, dude.
That's what it is.
They don't have a conscience.
Yeah.
It doesn't take any balls for them to do this.
You just got to be abnormally stupid.
Yeah.
Frontier Customer Service told their passenger, Jermaine Coger, the $25 charge was likely for an airport assistance fee.
But Coger says he didn't make that request and believes employees are taking advantage of Frontier's program by having unknowing passengers deposit money into their personal accounts.
I just thought everything was unusual.
Frontier's website says it only accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
And it does not accept digital wallet payments like Apple Pay and Vimo.
Frontier has not responded to Channel 2's request for a comment.
Clark says anytime you buy a ticket with Frontier, be on the lookout for fees.
When you buy an airline ticket on Frontier, you have given them a license to your wallet.
I work hard for my little coins, and it's just crazy.
And Coger says Frontier did reimburse him to $25 and issued him a $150 voucher, but the company has not issued him a refund for the $32 transfer.
Now, Roach, the other customer, says he's hired an attorney regarding his case in the newsroom, Ashley Lincoln, Channel 2 Action News.
Also, CBS News interviewed a guy in the Navy.
They exploded him for money, a service member.
A sailor trying to fly to LA says a gate agent wouldn't let him board his flight unless he paid her off.
Tonight, Frontier Airlines says it's investigating his claims of an alleged shakedown.
Warren posted live at LAX with a story you'll see only on KCAL News.
Warren?
Juan and Susie, a penny officer Deontay Roach says he was in Atlanta visiting family and heading back to his Navy base just outside of LA.
It's a flight he's taken many times before on different airlines, but he says he's never experienced what he says happened just a few days ago.
I was like, man, you know, this is crazy.
You know, I actually get up in the morning, fight for this country, work hard.
I break my back, you know what I'm saying?
And I come back home to things like this.
Devontae Roach says he was waiting to board his flight to LAX from Hartsville-Jackson International Airport on Veterans Day when he says his flight got delayed at the gate.
Oh, so I'm going to grab a bite, you know, to eat.
And then once I came back, the lady closed the door.
And I was like, hey, Miss, how you doing?
You know, this is my flight or whatnot.
She was like, well, you're late.
I don't care what it is.
I was okay, but I have to get back to my duty station.
Roach denies he was late.
He claims the agent told him if he wanted to get on, he'd have to send her $50 to her personal money app account.
I said, well, look, I'm in the Navy, like I say.
I'm just trying to get back.
I kept my composure and everything because, you know, I could have snapped, but I didn't.
You know, I was keeping my composure.
And her words, I don't give a damn what you're in.
Give me my money.
He says he was able to board after pretending he was going to pay up.
Roach claims another agent said the price was usually $150, but since he was military, they would only charge $50.
We reached out to Frontier Airlines.
A spokesman told us, We take these accusations very seriously and are investigating them fully.
We appreciate this customer bringing the situation to our attention and have provided a full refund for his reservation as well as a voucher for future travel.
But Roach says he's not accepting it.
They show no remorse towards me.
And like I say, I begun to become angry.
But, you know, like I say, the military teaches us to keep our composure for free.
That's what the military did for us.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Made us men, made us more disciplined.
Right.
Right.
It did.
It did.
Learned respect and learned to keep it cool.
He kept, he said, he said, I kept my composure.
Now, a lot of times you see a lot of black people, they can't keep their composure.
They feel like they've been disrespected.
Now it's time to fight.
That is a crazy story.
Yeah, she said, I don't care what the hell you in.
If you want to get on this truck, you got to pay me $50.
Typically, I charge for $50, but since you're in the military, I'm going to charge you only $50.
I'm going to charge you $50.
Man, some of Frontier Airlines tickets ain't even $50 to go places.
Yeah, yeah.
That is a wild story, but I believe it.
I wonder why they didn't reveal the identities of these people that was put on the scam.
I know deep in my heart, I know they were black.
Oh, of course, Kevin.
Weaving Diversity Into Stories00:00:30
There's probably some kicks trying to get some hair done and then some hair weave.
Trying to get some weave and some wigs.
That's exactly what it was for.
And over at Frontier, they do a lot of DEI hiring.
Gonna see things you'd be hard-pressed to find a white person working there.
It's always a minority, it's always female.
And look what happens when the diversity is not right.
I think when I think of diversity, I think of white folks.
Because without white folks, you don't have diversity.