Flew Frontier round trip last Friday. Yeah, it was a crazy long day, but the Dole Whip float was excellent!
Early morning flight from ISP. Left on time and got in early. I checked in late and got an exit row seat - yay!
There was a ISP gate agent standing near a sizer a few feet from the gate agent scanning tickets to board. I noticed people pushing their personal items into the sizer, and that was allowed. I had a small backpack and was not asked to check. Gate agent verified that a woman with a roller suitcase had paid for it, and she had. Overall a very orderly process.
Late flight from MCO. Delayed over an hour. Gate moved. Two other flights leaving from nearby gates; another was also delayed awaiting the incoming plane. Lots of people in a small area. There was a gate agent in a high-vis vest who seemed really into checking personal item sizes for my flight. I saw a guy with an overstuffed backpack not able to jam it in, open it up and start handing off items to others in his party. Then the high-vis vest guy got pulled into a conversation with some other gate agents, and the backpack guy just zipped up his bag and walked onto the plane. Then there were several others who walked on with bags that probably wouldn’t have fit in the sizer, and two women with both a backpack and a purse each. High-vis vest guy did break away from his conversation to bring back a man blatantly walking through with an orange wheelie bag, but basically gave up on the rest of the line.
My take is that MCO is more stringent than some other airports, but even there, enforcement is variable. You’re more likely to have your bag checked strictly if you have an on time flight than if it’s pushing midnight and the agents run out of cares to give.