Ryanair is shutting its frequent flyers members’ club after only eight months because customers exploited its benefits too much.
The budget airline said on Friday it was closing the scheme, which offered benefits including flight discounts, free reserved seating on up to 12 flights a year and travel insurance.
It said 55,000 passengers had signed up to Prime, generating €4.4m (£3.5m) in subscription fees but customers had received more than €6m in benefits, making it a lossmaker for the company.
Dara Brady, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said: “This trial has cost more money than it generates. This level of membership, 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.”
The company said it would return to offering discounts to “all our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members”.
Prime was launched in February at a cost of £79 and €79 a year to customers in the UK and the EU. With seat costs ranging from £4.50 to £38, the scheme could have saved between £54 and £456, the equivalent of several low-fare flights, for those making use of the maximum 12 flights a year.
The membership scheme was opened for a 12-month rolling basis with automatic renewal in February.
Ryanair said all members would continue to “enjoy exclusive low fare offers until October 2026 but no new members will be allowed to sign up after Friday, 28 November.
“We are grateful to our 55,000 Prime members who signed up to this Prime 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.”
Ryanair, the market leader in budget airlines, with more than 207 million passengers a year, made low fares its unique selling point but managed to claw back revenue on equally innovative charging for bags and seats, something unheard of 20 years ago.
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It was the first to introduce fees for checked-in baggage in 2006, followed by check-in fees in 2009 for those who did not, in the pre-smartphone era, print out their boarding cards at home.
Earlier this year, Ryanair increased the bonuses airport staff receive for every noncompliant carry-on bag they take from passengers. Passengers whose cabin cases exceed the maximum dimensions for a small suitcase are charged fees of up to £75 and their luggage is taken into the hold.