The new fee goes into effect on Monday.
Aside from cost savings, the move will help "free up reservations agents to deal with higher-end customer service issues" as more people move to the Web site, Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.
Frontier, Denver's second-largest airline, is hoping to get at least 50 percent of its customers to book tickets on its newly revamped site. Just 35 percent of the company's customers did so when Frontier launched a new version of its site in May.
Currently, up to 18 percent of customers book tickets by telephone, the company said.
Members of Frontier's Summit rewards program are exempt from the new fee, as are tickets purchased for groups and conventions.Frontier joins other airlines such as American, United, and Continental that charge from $5 to $20 for reservations made over the phone or at the airport, although some airlines don't charge such fees.
Carriers increasingly are implementing new fees as they battle high fares, which has led some observers to charge the carriers with "nickel-and-diming" consumers.
Other industry watchers, though, say adding fees for tickets not purchased on an airline's Web site makes sense.
"Self-distribution of tickets is clearly the least costly sales channel for airlines," said New York-based industry consultant Robert Mann. "It's a business reality now."
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