According to the British consumer protection platform Which?, travelers can reduce the cost of flights by ignoring the fare that Ryanair's booking system marks as "recommended."
The organization claims that when this option is automatically selected, passengers often pay more than necessary, even if they later add the same services manually.
As an example, a trip for a family of four from London to Alicante is cited: the Regular fare was marked as "ideal"; however, it turned out to be €68 more expensive than the Basic fare with the same seats and baggage added manually; if the family only needs hand luggage, the savings could be up to €188.
How to Save on Tickets: A Clever Trick Used by Ryanair
According to the British consumer protection platform Which?, travelers can reduce the cost of flights by ignoring the fare that Ryanair's booking system marks as "recommended".
According to Which?, in two years of checking about 30 bookings, the Regular fare was cheaper only once, even when passengers required all included options.
The Regular fare typically includes:
- priority boarding;
- additional hand luggage;
- free selection of standard seats.
However, many passengers do not use all these options, which can result in the total cost of the trip being higher than necessary.
The airline sharply rejected Which?'s conclusions, calling them "fake news." A Ryanair representative stated that Which?'s publications mislead passengers and do not reflect the real situation, pointing to the company's increase in passenger traffic—from 200 million to 208 million people in 2025—as proof of customer trust.
