Latest news with #RyanairPrime
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Exclusive: Michael O'Leary announces Ryanair's exclusive ‘Prime' service for frequent flyers
Ryanair has announced a subscription discount scheme that it says will save travellers up to £250 (€300) a year. Chief executive Michael O'Leary told The Independent that Europe's biggest budget airline is selling 250,000 Ryanair Prime subscriptions in the next year. "I'm not sure whether it will succeed or not, but it will deliver real value to consumers and it's not based on loyalty." Ryanair previously told The Independent it would remain apart from its two main rivals by shunning any kind of loyalty or frequent-flyer scheme.
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ryanair boss says air fares will rise this summer ‘unless Trump does something stupid'
Airline passengers seeking sunshine this summer will pay higher fares than last year, unless there are more geopolitical shocks, the boss of Ryanair predicts. Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Europe 's biggest budget airline, told The Independent daily travel podcast: 'Bookings at the moment are strong. Fares are a little bit higher than last year, but with only about 40 per cent of [capacity booked] I think it's still fragile. 'If there's adverse developments in Ukraine, if Trump does something stupid in the White House, if there's terrorist attacks in cities in Europe, it could fall over again. 'But at the moment, it looks like people are booking strongly this summer and fares will creep up. 'It'll be a little bit higher than last year. But our fares last year were 8 per cent down on the previous year. So I think we will recover some of that fare loss.' Some Manchester -to- Tenerife flights in August on Ryanair are selling for over £500 return, such as travelling 15-30 August. But outside the school holidays it remains a buyer's market, with some return trips from Bournemouth to Palma on Ryanair selling at £37 return in June. Mr O'Leary, who turned 64 this week, has been chief executive of Ryanair since 1994 – almost half his life. During that time the number of passengers flown has increased by a factor of 120, reaching an annual figure of 200 million earlier this month. But the Ryanair chief executive rejected any suggestion that he might step down, saying: 'You're joking me, what?' 'We're on a mission to get to 300 million passengers by 2034. We're not stopping at 200 million, we didn't stop at 100 million. 'We have to take delivery of 336 more aircraft from Boeing, and we are well on track to get to 300 million by 2034. 'We're going forward for intergalactic domination, and we're never going to stop.' The Ryanair CEO also said that the was being 'tested'. The annual cost of Ryanair Prime is £79. Last week Rob Burgess, founder of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, told The Independent: 'There's no real value there for most Ryanair travellers. You want to see a very clear path to getting at least one-and-a-half, perhaps two times your money, because you're taking a risk effectively. 'You don't know if Ryanair will stop flying on the route you normally take. You don't know if your travel patterns will change because you get a new job or a new partner or something else happens.' Mr O'Leary said: 'We will deliver 12 monthly seat sales, which will save subscribers more than €300 over the cost of our airfares in our system. 'So we're testing it. I'm not sure whether it will succeed or not, but it will deliver real value to consumers.'
Telegraph
30-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Budget airlines are getting their loyalty schemes all wrong
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.
The Independent
27-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ryanair launches new travel scheme that can save you up to £250 a year
Ryanair has announced a subscription discount scheme that it says will save travellers up to £250 (€300) a year. Chief executive Michael O'Leary told The Independent that Europe's biggest budget airline is selling 250,000 Ryanair Prime subscriptions in the next year. "I'm not sure whether it will succeed or not, but it will deliver real value to consumers and it's not based on loyalty." Ryanair previously told The Independent it would remain apart from its two main rivals by shunning any kind of loyalty or frequent-flyer scheme.
Telegraph
26-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Ryanair has launched a new ‘VIP' members club – it's not worth the money
Ryanair has launched a new VIP subscription service, Ryanair Prime, offering members perks on flight bookings. The low-cost Irish airline joins Wizz, which in 2024 launched a controversial ' all you can fly ' subscription service for £515 which lets passengers book unlimited trips for €9.99 per flight. The Wizz members club drew criticism as you can only book flights three days in advance, and environmental groups said the scheme encouraged people to make unnecessary journeys. The Ryanair scheme looks entirely different, promising savings and perks rather than unlimited flights. But on closer inspection, is it really worth the membership fee? We have mined through the small print to find out. How much does a Ryanair Prime subscription cost? The Ryanair Prime subscription (advertised with the words 'Become a VIP') costs £79 for a 12-month period. Membership is limited to 250,000 people on a first come, first served basis. What do I get for this? For your £79 you can reserve seats on up to 12 Ryanair flights for free, you get travel insurance for the year and access to monthly 'member-exclusive seat sales'. Is this a good deal? Ryanair says that you can save up to £420 per year with the Ryanair Prime service if you fly with them 12 times in a year. Those who fly three times per year will save up to £105, it claims. If you sense a 'but' coming on, you aren't wrong. There are many significant caveats to Ryanair Prime. The seat reservation perk is ambiguous On the face of it, the primary benefit of Ryanair Prime is the free seat reservation offer. However, reserving a standard seat with Ryanair starts from just £4.50 per flight (it's free if you don't mind where you are allocated), rising to £15.50. So if you take, say, three return Ryanair flights per year and pick a standard seat, you could be paying as little as £27. The upshot is that the only people who will be sure to make their £79 worth of seat reservations will be people who fly regularly with the airline. And, even then, the seat reservation perk is limited to 12 flights per year (or six return trips). Which seats will you be allocated? We don't know. Only selected rows will be offered and there is no detail on what these rows will be. You'll have to pay the difference if you want a more expensive seat. The Telegraph asked Ryanair to clarify which seat category will be available to Prime members and they did not provide any further information. The 'Companion' perk is flimsy Ryanair Prime offers the chance for members to select one 'Companion' when signing up, who you can select a seat for, too. Only after combing through the terms and conditions did we learn that a 'Companion' is not a free add-on to your membership – they, too, will need to pay the full £79 membership fee. Oddly, you cannot add Prime members and non-Prime members on the same booking (unless they are infants under the age of two). And while we're on the subject of infants... Families should read the small print closely Each Prime member can add one infant (under two) per adult on a booking. This means two full-paying adults can add 'two under two' onto their booking. The catch is that 'infants will be treated as regular passengers and will not be entitled to receive any Ryanair Prime Benefits'. You will still have your personal travel insurance perk, but if you are travelling with children you will want to ensure you have a policy that covers them, too, rendering your Ryanair Prime insurance redundant. The outlook is similarly disappointing for families with older children. Children aged 18 and under are not allowed to become Ryanair Prime members. Ryanair Prime members can only book flights for themselves and their 'Companions' on the same booking, meaning you will not be able to secure your family flights on a single booking but will rather have to split it up over two separate bookings. The insurance point above stands for families with older children, too. This nuance makes Ryanair Prime of little value for families. A Ryanair spokesman said: 'Ryanair Prime will benefit passengers who are frequent flyers and want to fly regularly. This applies to families and infants also.' The insurance comes with a major catch Regarding the travel insurance: this is an annual multi-trip standard travel insurance policy provided by and underwritten by Collinson Insurance. It covers things like trip cancellation if you fall ill, emergency medical expenses and lost luggage up to £1,500. The problem is that Ryanair's travel insurance only covers trips booked with Ryanair. I just went on Compare the Market and found an annual multi-trip travel insurance with Admiral costing £19.81, with equivalent to or better coverage than Ryanair's policy. And, of course, this is not restricted to a single airline. You can't book outside of your membership window This, you might think, is fair enough. If they allowed you to do so, you could plausibly enjoy some of the benefits of Ryanair Prime far beyond your subscription dates. However, this rule is enforced even if you intend to renew your membership. So, let's say the date is April 1. Your membership expires on May 1, and you wish to book flights in mid-May. Regardless of whether you fully intend to continue your Ryanair Prime membership, you cannot enjoy Prime perks on those flights. This gives you two choices – either book the flights now and enjoy zero Prime perks, or wait until May 1 and risk paying more for your flights. What about these deals? Regarding the monthly deals, it is hard to gauge what these are going to look like. Ryanair says that the minimum saving made on bookings made in the 'seat sale' will be €10, but it is unclear whether this will be on specific flights, or if there will be discounted periods exclusive to Prime Members. If these deals are strong (let's say, a significant percentage discount across all flights if booked during a set timeframe), then Ryanair Prime suddenly becomes a much more appealing prospect. The Telegraph asked Ryanair to clarify the sorts of deals on offer. They said: 'Our member exclusive seat sales, which have yet to go live will also give access to additional fare discounts, and as mentioned will deliver great savings.' The upshot? If you are a single traveller with no children under 18, who flies exclusively with Ryanair (and therefore needs no alternative travel insurance) on at least six return flights per year, who wants the luxury of seat selection but without knowing which category of seat you will be offered, and is keen to be exposed to bespoke travel deals – the value of which is presently unclear – Ryanair Prime is the subscription service for you. For everyone else? That's your call.
