After less than a year, Ryanair has opted to ditch it’s Prime Subscription program, but was it ever going to work for the low-cost carrier?
55,000 people signed up for the service, which the Irish low-cost carrier has stated members will continue to receive the benefits until the end date of their service.
Ryanair Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady said the following, as per Travolution:
“Over the years, customers have asked for a Ryanair members scheme, so we trialled this ‘Prime’ scheme over the last 8 months.
“To date, we have signed up over 55,000 Prime members, generating over €4.4 million in subscription fees.
“However, our Prime members have received over €6 million in fare discounts, so this trial has cost more money than it generates.
“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 55,000 Prime members.
“We are grateful to our 55,000 Prime members who signed up to this trial over the last eight months, and they can rest assured that they will continue to enjoy exclusive flight and seat savings for the remainder of their 12-month membership.
“With over 207 million passengers this year, Ryanair will continue to focus on delivering the lowest fares in Europe to all our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members.”
Was It Ever Going to Work?
The pricing that Ryanair placed on their Prime subscription was at £79 for 12 months.
Within this, you would get the following:
- Monthly email notifications on exclusive member sales.
- Choose a free seat on up to 12 flights.
- Travel insurance included with flights.
Yes that’s it.
In the world of no-frills, low-cost travel, there arguably wasn’t much more that you could provide to customers wanting to save money.
With Ryanair’s average fare being anywhere between €46–50 compared to the legacy fare of €69–75, passengers are already getting bang for their buck.
Passengers who are wanting to save money aren’t probably too fussed about choosing a free seat, and would probably search the comparison websites for the cheapest and most effective travel insurance online.
Considering the benefits of Ryanair Prime not being that substantial, that probably explains why it’s conversion rate wasn’t as strong.
55,000 out of 207 million passengers offers a measly 0.0266% success rate.
If the Irish low-cost carrier offered more in terms of benefits, maybe such as free hold luggage or hand luggage, then it may have been a bit more attractive.
Ryanair Prime: Too Simplified? What About A Competitor Case Study?
Could the fact that Ryanair Prime offered a simple approach be the cause of the undoing?
Let’s use a competitor as a bit of a case study in this regard: Wizz Air.
Wizz Air offers three different subscription models, named MultiPass, Discount Club and Privilege Pass.
Wizz Air MultiPass is on offer for 499 EUR per year, and is effectively an “all you can fly subscription”.
Within this, you can choose any flights which depart to and from a series of eligible countries across Europe.
Included in MultiPass is a flexible option to add Wizz Priority or to add a 20kg checked bag as well.
Whilst it is numerous flights per year, you still have to pay a 9.99 EUR flat fee per flight segment separately.
Next, you have the Discount Club.
Separated into three different tiers, Light, Standard and Premium, it gives you different benefits, which you can see in the image above, and even has a Standard Plus & Premium Plus if you have companions to take with you.
Again, if you are a frequent traveller, this offers more benefits compared to Ryanair Prime.
Finally, you have the Privilege Pass, which gives you Seat Selection, Priority Boarding, Carry-on bag and a Trolley Bag on any flights booked, with a yearly membership of 249 EUR.
Whilst similar to the Discount Club in terms of some of the benefits, there is a clear variety in terms of price point compared to Ryanair Prime.
Wizz Air have been able to cleverly cater to any type of business traveller despite being a low-cost carrier.
Across the three subscription models, Wizz Air has been able to think about what sort of mixed preferences that passengers may want.
And that is why the carrier hasn’t gone ahead and ditched them so soon after it’s inception as well.
Where Does The Irish Low-Cost Carrier Go From Here?
It’s clear that for Ryanair, the Prime Subscription hasn’t been a success at all.
From acquiring just 0.0266% of it’s market of 207 million yearly passengers, to the offering not being as attractive, it is easy to understand why this hasn’t worked out.
When you have a competitor such as Wizz Air offering a substantive range of benefits across three different subscription models, it caters to the low-cost passenger correctly.
Whether they will try a different subscription model in the future is unclear, but if they do, it has to be competitive.
Wizz Air has ultimately shown how it can work in this competitive and volatile area of the market from a perception point of view.
Like in all low-cost travel, new things are attempted, and some fail, even by some of the larger players in that space.
What will be interesting is how the Irish low-cost carrier comes back from this, and whether they will introduce something game-changing in the long-term future that will take on competitors such as Wizz Air in that particular space.
But for now, Ryanair has made the right call in ditching this product, as there is no public appetite for an offering that is quite basic and doesn’t appeal.
If they can make the offering appealing, similar to that of Wizz Air, then the Irish low-cost carrier will ultimately be onto a winner.
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