Ryanair is launching a new premium subscription service dubbed ‘Prime’, which will offer members free seat selection, travel insurance, and access to exclusive fare sales that the Dublin-based carrier claims could save customers who fly at least 12 times per year up to €420.
This is the first time Ryanair has decided to take on rival low-cost carrier EasyJet with a subscription-based bundle, and while it is more than two-thirds cheaper, it doesn’t come packed with nearly as many benefits.
Nonetheless, Ryanair chief marketing officer Dara Brady describes the new Prime subscription as a “no-brainer” for frequent flyers, although the airline is currently limiting membership to just 250,000 people on a first-come, first-served basis.
The obvious main benefit of the Prime subscription is a free seat selection, which can cost per flight from as low as €4.50 for a standard seat to as much as €33 per seat for an extra legroom seat.
Frequent flyers considering signing up for the Prime subscription should, however, be aware that the free seat selection offer is limited to just 12 seats for the subscriber and 12 free seats for their travel companion (the option to include a travel companion attracts an additional fee).
Once this allocation is used up, subscribers will have to pay for reserved seating just like any other customer.
For the time being, membership is only available to residents in 12 counties, which Ryanair blames on travel insurance restrictions. The countries eligible for Prime membership are: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, UK, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
Residents in the UK will be at a slight disadvantage as the cost of signing up to Prime has not been adjusted for currency difference and stands at £79, compared to €79 in other countries where the subscription is available.
In comparison, EasyJet offers its EasyJet Plus subscription for £249 or €289, which comes with a slew of benefits, including fast track security at select airports, ‘speedy’ boarding, premium seat selection, and a large cabin bag included in the fare.
Members also get a 10% discount on purchases from the inflight snack cart, and the ability to change their flight to an earlier departure on a space-available basis for free.
Unlike Ryanair’s free seat offer, EasyJet Plus does not have an annual limit, and the annual savings could be significantly higher. EasyJet claims that passengers could save as much as £714 per year based on 12 flights if they were to use EasyJet Plus for added extras like a large cabin case, fast track security, and a free premium seat.
It seems like Ryanair is currently testing the waters with its subscription service, but Prime sure seems lukewarm at best. There’s no doubt that the carrier, no matter how frugal it famously is, could have added low-cost extras like a discount on onboard purchases or an allowance to bring on a large cabin case.
And then there’s the fact that frequent flyers generally have their own annual travel or have a credit card or bank account that features free travel insurance, so one of the purported benefits of Prime probably won’t even be of much use to many of the travelers Ryanair is seemingly trying to win over.
Access to exclusive fare sales also seems like a nice offer, but it’s not exactly like Ryanair doesn’t frequently have fare sales for the general public as well.
You haven’t told us how much it costs in euros or linked to somewhere we could read more?
Apologies, and thanks for the heads up! This has been corrected.
Wait until Amazon Prime sues for copyright infringement… Disappointed they couldn’t even come up with a cheekier title for it considering it is Ryanair after all ..