Ryanair Prime offers free reserved seats, free travel insurance and access to 12 annual (one each month) member-exclusive seat sales. It costs £79 for a 12-month subscription.
Ryanair claims membership will save customers who fly 12 times per year up to £420 – this is more than five times the £79 yearly cost. The airline said that even members who only fly three times per year will save £105.
However, interested customers will need to act quickly, as Ryanair Prime is limited to 250,000 members on a first come, first served basis.
Dara Brady, CEO at Ryanair’s CMO, said: “Ryanair has been delivering the lowest fares (and the best services) in Europe for the last four decades, and we’re now extending our price leadership with the launch of our exciting new subscriber discount scheme – Ryanair ‘Prime’.
“Ryanair ‘Prime’ is a new subscriber discount scheme for frequent flyers that want to fly regularly but don’t want to break the bank to do so. Costing a modest £79 for a full 12-month subscription, Ryanair ‘Prime’ members will benefit from access to 12 exclusive annual seat sales (one each month), free reserved seats, and free travel insurance every time they fly with Europe’s No.1 airline.
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“So, if you like flying regularly while also saving money, then Ryanair ‘Prime’ is a no-brainer.”
Move ‘is a bit odd’
But Rob Burgess, founder of Headforpoints.com, is sceptical about the scheme.
He said: “There are two things of interest to me about Ryanair Prime. The first is that it doesn’t have any serious benefits apart from free seat selection on 12 flights. This makes the decision on whether to sign up a binary one – you either spend £79 per year on Ryanair seating for yourself or you don’t. As a business move, this is a bit odd.
“The people who sign up are likely to be spending over £79 on Ryanair seating fees, so Ryanair will make less money from this group. The cheapest Ryanair seat is usually around £10. The people who don’t sign up are not spending £79 on seating fees and don’t see any value in joining.
“The second issue, which is more intangible, is that it makes Ryanair a more complicated business to run. Not by much, admittedly, but the airline prides itself on its low cost base. Prime is, in some ways, a retrograde step.”
