A low-cost airline just launched a Prime-style flying subscription

The name sounds a lot like Amazon's Prime.

Mar 26, 2025 - 22:44

A low-cost airline just launched a Prime-style flying subscription

While subscriptions are common when it comes to streaming and other online services, they've had a rocky reception in the flying world.

Tested primarily by low-cost airlines like Frontier (FRON) and Alaska Airlines (ALK) and the European Wizz Air (WZZAF) , flying subscriptions will usually offer travelers discounts on future flights and free in-air perks like Wi-Fi.

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Another low-cost airline just launched a subscription (this is what it gets you)

In Frontier's case, the Denver-based airline has rolled out a popular all-you-can-fly program in which travelers can pay either an annual or seasonal price and then take an unlimited number of a select range of flights during a certain duration.

The latest carrier to roll out a flight subscription is the Dublin-based Ryanair (RYAOF) . Unimaginably titled just like the Amazon (AMZN) service, Ryanair Prime will cost £79 for travelers in the UK and €79 for Europeans (roughly $102 USD) for a 12-month subscription that gets travelers free seat reservation, travel insurance and monthly sales offering discounted prices.

“Ryanair Prime is a new subscriber discount scheme for frequent flyers that want to fly regularly but don’t want to break the bank to do so," Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady said in a statement announcing the new program. "This will deliver great savings of £420 ($541 USD) for members who fly 12 times a year."

The airline associated with shuttling travelers between nearby European cities at rock-bottom prices is currently gauging interest by inviting those interested to sign up on its website before the program gets capped at 250,000 members.

Ryanair is commonly used to fly between nearby European cities.
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The program was subject to immediate criticism from travelers who felt that both the marketing and the £79 annual price was too high for what one is actually getting in return.

Is Ryanair Prime worth it? Travelers are already skeptical

"If pre-designated seats are available, Prime members will be forced to select from this restricted batch rather than rolling the dice of random allocation – or else pay extra for the privilege of unrestricted seat selection," Charlotte Bailey writes for Aerospace Global News.

While Ryanair is promoting it as a great option for "frequent flyers that want to fly regularly but don't want to break the bank," the discounts promised by the sales would also require one to book at specific times and between included cities — Ryanair has not yet released details on the specifics of the sales — so anyone who does not act to book quickly enough or needs to fly to destinations that are not included will not benefit from the subscription.

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"This will deliver great savings of £420 for members who fly 12 times per year, but even 'Prime' members who only fly three times per year will still save £105 – more than the £79 cost of becoming a 'Prime' member," Ryanair said in response.

Budapest-based competitor Wizz Air has been running its MultiPass subscription for the last year; while this program offers full flights for a select fee rather than simply discounts, the criticism of being limited to a very limited selection has been the same as for Ryanair.