Budget airline Ryanair is shutting down its frequent flyer members’ club, just eight months after its launch, because customers have been saving too much money on flights. Ryanair announced on Friday (November 28) that the Ryanair Prime membership programme, currently used by around 55,000 passengers, generated €4.4 million (£3.5 million) through its subscription fees, but customers received more than €6 million (£5.2 million) in benefits, making it a loss-maker for the Irish airline.

Ryanair Prime has been offering customers benefits such as exclusive flight discounts, free reserved seating and travel insurance. It cost UK and EU members £79 and €79 for 12 months and was available for all passengers aged 18 or over with a valid myRyanair account. 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”.

With seats costing anywhere 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, according to The Guardian. However, Ryanair has now announced that it will return to a system where it offers discounts to “all our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members”.

The scheme was only launched in February, but the budget airline has now said its current 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.”

This latest move by Ryanair comes as the airline announced last week that it would be reducing the number of flights to a popular European destination from next year. It stated that it would be reducing its services due to “unviable” tax increases introduced in 2024. The airline is set to reduce the number of routes to France, as well as flights to Spain and Germany, starting this winter, as it prioritises routes to countries and regions where taxes are low, non-existent, or being abolished, such as Sweden and parts of Italy, according to The Connexion.

Meanwhile, Ryanair made a move last month to go fully paperless, one that has been largely unpopular with older flyers. From November 12, the airline will require all passengers to use digital boarding passes via the official Ryanair app, as it discontinues paper passes. The change has sparked debate, with many pointing out that older people who may not have a smartphone will struggle with the new rules.

Another passenger challenged the idea that going digital speeds up the process: “Digital is quicker? Hardly! They are the ones not ready and we have to wait while they fumble around finding their pass on their phone. People with paper are much faster.”