Ryanair unveils new Prime subscription service aimed at frequent flyers

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, has unveiled a new subscription service that aims to lure more frequent flyers to the low-cost carrier while offering benefits in return for an annual fee. The new service, to be branded as Ryanair Prime, announced the new offering on March 24, 2025, and by doing so, takes the airline into a new era as it continues on an unrelenting path of continued growth and expansion.

The new Prime subscriber discount scheme, as it is described by the airline, offers customers both hard and soft benefits for a fixed charge. These benefits include advance seat sale access, free specified seat reservations, and free travel insurance for every journey taken on a Ryanair flight. The annual charge has been set at an initial cost of £79 ($100) in the UK. The airline claims that the customer can save “over five times” the annual fee through the use of the service.

In a statement issued by the carrier announcing the new subscription service, Ryanair provides a further breakdown as to just how savings can be made by frequent flyers who sign up to Prime. For example, members who fly 12 times per year can save up to five times the £79 annual subscription cost, and the airline quotes a figure of £420 ($533) although provides no further explanation as to how this figure has been derived.

Longfin Media / Shutterstock“Even members who only fly three times per year will save £105 ($133), that’s more than the £79 cost of becoming a Prime member,” the airline’s statement adds. With the annual fee comes benefits in the form of free reserved seats, free travel insurance, and access to 12 annual (one per month) member-exclusive seat sales, which “ensures that Prime members bag the best flight bargains all year-round,” the airline states.

Memberships to Ryanair Prime are being limited to just 250,000 members on a first come/first served basis. This is a marketing tactic to make consumers who want to be part of the exclusive club sign up early, guaranteeing the airline with a tidy and swift injection of cash, just as the winter 2024/25 season ends, and the airline’s cash reserves will have been reduced over the slower winter flying season.       

“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,” said Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Dara Brady. “If you like flying regularly while also saving money, then Ryanair Prime is a no-brainer,” he added.

Ceri Breeze / ShutterstockThe launch of Ryanair Prime begs certain questions, however such as why a subscription service and why now? Ryanair has never in its 41-year history gone down the path of offering a traditional frequent flyer program or loyalty scheme, so what has prompted this change of direction?

Why launch a loyalty scheme?

There are likely to be several reasons why the launch of Prime has come about. Ryanair’s own research will have shown that there is a relatively loyal band of customers that fly on the airline regularly and could perceive the offer of joining an exclusive Ryanair club as a ‘perk’, of sorts. Yet, passengers who book a ‘Priority’ ticket on the carrier already gain priority boarding, seat selection, and a more generous cabin baggage allowance, so this begs the question of what else does membership of Ryanair Prime offer?

Early access to seat sales might be an advantage to some, while free travel insurance may also be of use, although data shows that many travelers don’t even bother with insurance for short trips and city breaks, which Ryanair tends to specialize in. Given that insurance for such quick trips is relatively inexpensive in any event, it is hard to see how this might be a particularly strong incentive. However, the airline is adept at playing on passengers’ fears of missing out, whether it be seat sales, early-bird pricing, or not getting your favorite seat on your flight so that alone could well be enough to get 250,000 people to sign up.

Nicolas Economou / ShutterstockRyanair wins

However, the likely biggest winner from launching Prime is undoubtedly going to be Ryanair itself. Assuming the airline sells out its tranche of 250,000 memberships (there may be more memberships to come in the future, of course, subject to demand), then that could bag the airline a swift cash injection of £19,750,000 ($25,082,500). With minor administrative costs involved in running such a relatively simple loyalty program, a cash injection of that size will go a long way to purchasing the next 737 Max 8200 coming off the Boeing production line.  

Ultimately, Ryanair is a savvy business that knows its customers inside out. Having carried around 200 million passengers in 2024, and being aware of how its passengers choose to spend their money,  the airline will almost certainly know already that the launch of Ryanair Prime will be a success.                   

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