Budget airlines are getting their loyalty schemes all wrong

Telegraph

30-03-2025

We are living in the age of the subscription. Our TV streaming platforms, music players, health supplements and even (ahem) the news we read are purchased on a rolling monthly basis. Now, low-cost airlines are trying to get in on the act, but some of them seem to be getting it a bit wrong.
This week, Ryanair introduced a brand new 'VIP' club called Ryanair Prime. For £79 a year, it brings benefits such as free seat selection, travel insurance and monthly flight discount deals.
This came as something of a surprise. When quizzed on whether he would ever introduce a frequent-flyer scheme, Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary once said: 'If you want something loyal, buy a dog. If you want the lowest air fares in Europe, fly Ryanair.'
The Irish airline tends to lead the way with such innovative schemes, but for once, it was pipped to the post by its closest competitors. In late 2024, Wizz Air introduced a €599 (£500) annual ' all-you-can-fly ' service allowing customers to book any flight throughout the year for just €9.99.
EasyJet was well ahead of the curve, launching 'easyJet Plus' in 2008, offering benefits such as free large cabin bags, free seat selection with extra legroom and speedy boarding.
It's a savvy tactic. In the competitive world of budget aviation, profit margins are razor-thin, and passengers don't tend to be loyal to low-cost airlines in the way that they are to legacy airlines with frequent-flyer schemes. If anything, there's a pervading disloyalty: if I had a bag of chive-dusted pretzels for every time I heard somebody say, chest puffed out, that they would never fly with a certain airline again…
The problem is, not all of these low-cost airline subscription schemes hit the mark. Under the Wizz 'all-you-can-fly' scheme, you cannot book flights more than 72 hours in advance, which will not be particularly appealing for many people. There's also an argument that the £500 annual price point is pitched too high, and will only bring meaningful savings to people who use Wizz flights to commute to work or travel between homes on a regular basis.
The Wizz scheme was also criticised by environmental groups because it encourages excessive travel, contradicting global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and, indeed, Wizz's claims that it is Europe's 'greenest ultra low-cost airline'.
Ryanair Prime is no better. The seat selection perk is limited to certain rows, but it is unclear which ones. Children under 18 aren't allowed on the scheme, rendering it redundant for families. The travel insurance only covers trips where you have flown with Ryanair, which means buying a general, annual multi-trip policy, with a third party, would be a more cost-effective option, unless you fly exclusively with Ryanair. And at the point of launch, there was very little detail as to what these monthly deals will actually look like.
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: 'The service is full of caveats. Even the most committed Ryanair customers should think twice before handing over £79 for this service.'
For me to sign up to a low-cost airline subscription scheme, I would be looking for a more generous seat selection policy (pick of the best seats on the plane, I would suggest), and a larger cabin bag allowance would be most appealing to regular customers. If you're a 'VIP' with a direct debit, you don't want to feel like you're being fleeced for niggly extras.
And this is where easyJet Plus rises above its competitors. It offers extra legroom seats and larger cabin bag perks, fast track at security and bag drop, and in-flight discounts on food and drinks. Plus the bonus of being able to book onto an earlier return flight on the day of travel, for free. The only snag is that it is priced at a fairly steep £249 per person per year. From a savings point of view, you would need to board three or more return flights per year to make this worthwhile.
Low-cost airlines used to be in a race to the bottom. Now, they have entered a new race: for our loyalty. While their subscription model isn't perfect, easyJet is winning the contest. If Wizz and Ryanair want people to show some loyalty, they need to be smarter with their subscription models because, as it stands, they seem more like publicity stunts than schemes offering genuine value.