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Frontier is also following Spirit's $2 charge for coffee, tea, soda, or juice. Frontier said passengers who get soda or juice can keep the whole can, and it will give coffee refills for free. It will still give away water. US Airways briefly tried charging for beverages in 2008 but backed down seven months later after passengers complained and no other major airline followed. Frontier's move to charge the carry-on fee if passengers don't buy direct from the airline is its latest effort to steer customers toward its own website. Airlines pay online travel sellers such as Orbitz $10 to $25 for each ticket sold. That has given all airlines an incentive to steer passengers to buy directly from them instead of going through an online travel agency. Frontier has gone the furthest in this area, though. In September it began giving half as many frequent flier miles to customers who bought through an online travel agency. On Wednesday it slashed the mileage award to 25 percent of the miles of the trip. So, a 1,000 mile Frontier trip purchased from an online travel agency would earn 250 miles. It also allows passengers to choose their seat in advance only if they buy directly from the Frontier website. Frontier has a loyal base of customers in its home city of Denver, but its business is shrinking and losing money. Revenue dropped 9 percent and its flying capacity shrank almost 13 percent in the first quarter, according to financial results released Wednesday by corporate parent Republic Airways Holdings Inc. Republic has been trying to fix Frontier's finances as part of selling the airline.
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