What? According to research from, you may be spending more money than necessary on your Ryanair flight.
Consumer champions have set out nine rules for travellers to follow when booking tickets with a budget airline after finding ways to save on a “notoriously complex website”.
Read all the latest money tips and deals here
Which one? Found that it is sometimes cheaper to buy the most basic fare and add any extras rather than buying the fare bundle that comes with them.
What should we say here that Ryanair has branded? The findings contradicted “fake news” and most regulations. But first…
How Ryanair pricing works
Before we get into the rules, here are the six different tiers of fare bundles offered by low-cost airlines:
- Basic Fare: The cheapest fares include one small cabin bag (40x20x30 cm), which should fit under the seat in front of you; there will be no extra luggage allowance, and seats will be randomly allocated.
- Regular Fare: This fare includes one standard seat and priority boarding, one small cabin bag, and one 10 kg cabin bag (55x40x20 cm) to be placed in the overhead locker.
- Plus: This fare includes a standard seat, and you get a luggage allowance of one small cabin bag and one 20 kg check-in bag.
- Family Plus: This is the Family Bundle and includes one small cabin bag (40x20x30 cm), one 10 kg check-in bag for each group member, free seats for children under 12 years and one 20 kg check-in family bag.
- Flexi Plus: This includes priority boarding and two cabin bags (one small cabin bag and one 10 kg cabin bag), reserved seating in any of our seating options and Airport Security Fast Track (where available). You can change your booked flight to a different date, time or route without paying flight change fees, but you will have to pay the difference in fare.
- Time Saver: This includes priority boarding and two cabin bags (one small cabin bag and one 10 kg cabin bag) and front-row reserved seating (in rows 1-5). Once these rows are sold out, the remaining seats on the plane will become available) and Airport Security Fast Track (where available).
But which one? found that by booking a “basic” fare and combining luggage and seat selection, passengers could save money – even in cases when Ryanair suggested options that were “ideal” for their journey.
For example…
Which one? Went to book a flight from London to Alicante for August this year for a family of four.
A banner appeared that read, “Regular is ideal for your journey.”
But choosing this option would have cost £59 more than choosing “Basic”, and bag and seat selection would have been added later in the booking process. Which? According to the findings of.
What are the nine rules here? Has brought…
1. Make sure your bag fits
If you have only paid the basic fare, you are only allowed to carry one small bag that will fit under the seat in front of you
That could be a case of 40 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm. If your bag is found to be larger than this at the gate, you will have to pay a fee of £46 to £60 (depending on your route).
If you have paid for a cabin case in the overhead locker, but it turns out to be larger than 55cm x 40cm x 20cm, you will have to pay an even larger charge of £70 to £75 (again, depending on your route).
Ryanair said people should avoid higher charges for oversized bags by only travelling with bags that meet the agreed dimensions.
“Our sizers are larger than our approved dimensions, so if the bag fits the sizer, it gets turned on; if not, it gets charged,” the airline told Money.
2. Don’t book regular fare
Of about 30 cheques in the last two years, which one? It has been found to be cheaper to book a regular fare rather than booking a basic fare with added extras only once.
It considered 15 flights to different locations in February 2026, and only once was a regular ticket cheaper.
On seven occasions it was more expensive – often by only a pound or so – but sometimes even more.
3. Ignore Plus Fares
On the summer Stansted to Málaga route, which one? It found that for a family of four it was £35 cheaper to choose basic and get additional extras separately.
If the family decided they didn’t need so many items, they would save even more.
Ryanair flatly denied that it was cheaper to buy the basic fare and then add additional fares.
“Ryanair Bundles are a feature that makes it easier for travellers to purchase and book a bundle. However, their pricing is dynamic, using the cheapest available fare at the time of booking, and so Ryanair Bundles are priced the same as the underlying airfare, plus additional fees when booked separately. Your claim that booking separately is cheaper is false,” she told Money.
People walk past the Ryanair stand at Palma de Mallorca Airport. Photo: AP
4. Consider whether Flexi Plus is worth it
The same was the situation for Flexi Plus fares.
But you can’t buy the flight changes that come with it, so it can be beneficial if there’s a chance you have to change your travel plans.
5. Families probably don’t need Family Plus
when which? An investigation into prices for two adults, a teenager and a four-year-old child on the Alicante route last year found that the Family Plus fare was more expensive and could lead to passengers carrying unnecessary amounts of luggage.
“If we buy a cheaper basic ticket with seat selection, three 10 kg cabin bags and one large, 20 kg suitcase at check-in, we’ll pay £45 less,” Which? said.
“With Family Plus, all four – including the child – get a 10 kg wheelie suitcase, a 20 kg carrying case, and smaller bags each. But you’re unlikely to need that much luggage.”
6. Don’t add Ryanair travel insurance
Which one? The travel insurance team advises against most airline insurance policies, warning that they are usually more expensive and do not offer tailored cover.
Ryanair said, “We don’t care whether people buy Ryanair’s travel insurance or third-party travel insurance, as long as they buy travel insurance. We strongly recommend all passengers buy travel insurance.”
Photo: iStock
7. Don’t let Ryanair do your currency conversion
If you book a ticket originating from abroad to fly to the UK, Ryanair (and other airlines) charges fares in the currency of the country from which you depart.
For example, a family of four flying from Alicante to London this summer will have to pay €1,439. Ryanair then converts it into pounds – but the £1,321 it charged is a bad exchange rate.
Which one? Checked prices on currency conversion site xe.com and found they would have paid £81 more with Ryanair’s automatic currency conversion than the bank rate if they had paid in euros.
Ryanair told Money that its conversion rate was competitive and that it did not care whether people used its conversion service or not.
8. Consider checking in one 20 kg bag instead of two 10 kg bags
It may be cheaper, but prices vary, so it’s always worth checking first.
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9. You must pay for seat selection
Which one? It also argued that there is a “significant risk” of being separated from your travelling companions if you do not pay for seat selection with Ryanair.
It says that, on other airlines – citing British Airways, easyJet and Jet2 as examples – you will “almost certainly be seated next to your travelling companion, even if you do not pay to choose the seat”.
But a survey with Ryanair found 62% of people sat next to their loved ones without paying.
Which one? Admitted that there’s still a “fair chance” of sitting next to your travel companion but advised paying for seat selection if you want to guarantee it.
Ryanair said the claim was false and had no factual basis.
What else did Ryanair say?
“What is this, more fake news?” The spokesperson told us.
“Thankfully no one reads, or pays attention to, the fake recycled news articles or your fake ‘advice’, as our traffic growth from 200 million to 208 million passengers in 2025 proves.”
