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Ryanair has axed its Prime membership loyalty scheme after just eight months, as passengers took full advantage of the benefits.
Launched in March for frequent flyers who didn’t want to “break the bank”, the scheme offered perks like free reserved seats and travel insurance.
Despite being limited to 250,000 customers on a first-come, first-served basis, only 55,000 passengers joined the scheme since its debut. However, on 28 November, Ryanair confirmed that no new members will now be allowed to sign up.
Ryanair’s Prime membership
Priced at €79 for a 12-month subscription, the airline’s loyalty scheme offered a slew of membership perks, including free reserved seats, travel insurance and access to 12 annual member-exclusive seat deals, which could be accessed once a month.
Ryanair, which never described the scheme as a “trial” when it debuted, previously praised the scheme for saving customers who fly 12 times a year up to €420.
Even members who only fly three times per year could save up to €105, the airline said.
A costly trial
Ryanair says it has generated more than €4.4 million in subscription fees in the last eight months, but argues the scheme has saved travellers more than €6 million in fare discounts – meaning it has cost more money than it has generated.
“This level of memberships or subscription revenue does not justify the time and effort it takes to launch monthly exclusive Prime seat sales for our members,” says Ryanair CMO Dara Brady.
“With over 207 million passengers this year, Ryanair will continue delivering the lowest fares in Europe to all of our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members.”
Will I be impacted by Ryanair’s scheme ending?
Ryanair has confirmed that those who have already signed up to the scheme in the last eight months will be able to access the benefits for the remainder of their 12-month subscription.
However, once it has expired, there will be no option to renew your membership. The last day to purchase the membership was 27 November.
A win for the environment
While air travel schemes may help passengers’ wallets, persuading more people to fly is bad news for the planet.
Campaign group Stay Grounded has long called for an urgent ban on frequent flyer programmes, the introduction of a frequent flying levy, and investment in grounded transport, “in order to avoid the worst of climate breakdown”.
Earlier this year, a spokesperson from the European Environment Agency (EEA) also said that while many EU member states have policies in place to decrease transport-related greenhouse gas emissionsby 14.3 per cent in 2030, programmes that encourage unlimited flying could contribute to environmental degradation, overtourism, and an increased carbon footprint.
