Ryanair launches member scheme as it looks to extend ‘price leadership’

Ryanair has launched a subscriber discount scheme that offers members exclusive seat sale access, free reserved seats, and free travel insurance for every flight taken, as it looks to extend its “price leadership”.

‘Prime’ costs £79 for a 12-month subscription, with Ryanair saying users who fly more than 12 times per year could save up to five times the subscription fee.

Members who only travel three times a year also stand to save £105.

The scheme is currently open to 250,000 members and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. It will initially be available to travellers in the UK, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Ryanair CMO Dara Brady says the scheme is designed for frequent flyers, describing it as a “no brainer” for customers who use the budget airline more than a couple of times a year.

“Ryanair has been delivering the lowest fares in Europe for the last four decades, and we’re now extending our price leadership with the launch of Ryanair Prime,” he says.

Fellow budget airline Wizz Air introduced an annual ‘all you can fly’ season ticket for its customers last August. The pass allows travellers to fly across Wizz’s international network, paying a flat fee at booking after the one-time £500 yearly payment.

Ryanair’s Prime scheme has the same name as online travel agent eDreams Odigeo’s travel subscription.

eDream’s Prime offers savings on flights, hotels, and cars, with the company committing to pay customers twice the difference if they find a cheaper flight or hotel. It also has a 12-month subscription period and costs £69.99.

In February, eDreams announced that its Prime service surpassed 7 million members and said it is on track to achieve its long-term target of 7.25 million subscribers by the end of this month.

Prime is perhaps most associated with Amazon, though, which uses the name for its Amazon Prime subscription service, which offers free shipping and access to streaming services like Prime Video and Amazon Music.