‘Buy a dog if you want some loyalty’ – Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary rules out frequent-flyer perks

Ryanair will remain apart from its two main rivals in Europe by shunning any kind of loyalty or frequent-flyer scheme, Michael O’Leary has said.

Its CEO told The Independent that travellers seeking a loyalty benefit should instead “buy a dog”.

Both easyJet and Wizz Air operate paid loyalty schemes that offer benefits for frequent flyers in return for a subscription.

The former offers annual easyJet Plus membership for £170, providing benefits including a free large cabin bag and the ability to choose the best seats on the aircraft at no additional charge.

Wizz Air has a similar option, known as Privilege Pass, for which the annual subscription is €249 – as well as a paid-for Discount Club.

The aim of these schemes is to reward frequent flyers and entice travellers to book repeatedly with the preferred airline rather than rivals.

But Ryanair is known to have a disdain for such schemes – partly because of the added complexity, but also due to a sense that many easyJet and Wizz Air passengers extract much more value from the loyalty programmes than the cost of the subscription.

Regular passengers who fly once a fortnight with easyJet, for example, are paying only £7 for each trip for easyJet Plus membership – yet deriving benefits that may amount to £50 or more per flight.

Mr O’Leary insisted his airline has a different approach. When speaking to The Independent, he claimed that Ryanair fares are so low that the more passengers fly, the more they save.

He said: “I don’t understand why, if you’re already getting the lowest fares in Europe and therefore you’re already benefiting, saving money every time you fly with us, why do we need loyalty scheme?

“If you want something loyal, buy a dog. If you want the lowest air fares in Europe, fly Ryanair.”

Aer Lingus has a customer loyalty programme, Aerclub, though it is free to join, Frequent flyers can use it to collect Avios points and spend them on flights, upgrades and other services.

O’Leary also said that Ryanair plans to resume flights in June from around a dozen points in Europe to Tel Aviv in Israel.

“If they reopen Terminal 1 [the low-cost terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport], we will be able to restart our operations,” he said. “We would hope to go back, and would expect to go back, unless the security situation changes.

“I don’t think Tel Aviv will be a significant tourism destination this year, but there’s lots of people who have friends or relatives living and working in Tel Aviv, or living and working in the UK, and they do need to reunite.”

Earlier this week, O’Leary told The Independent that increases of 5–10pc are likely in airfares this summer.

“I think that’s probably likely given the reductions in capacity across Europe this summer – with the grounding of 20pc per cent of the Airbus fleet.

“We’re short of aircraft because Boeing delivery delays. But I don’t think people, if they get a better service, will mind paying more than they did this time last year.

“In terms of inflation elsewhere in the UK or the European economies, it’s still a great deal.”

– Additional reporting by Pól Ó Conghaile

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