About 1/3 of their revenue is ancillary (the dark patterns are there to cause ancillary revenue).
I just flew from Bournemouth to Alicante on Ryanair for £50. A similar flight in the US (DC to Miami, for example) would be easily 5x that, possibly 7-8x. The dark patterns took me about 10min to click through. Doing the math, that means my time would have to be worth $1500/hr which is higher than the take-home (not billable) of senior partners at law firms.
Ryanair has severely improved my life, especially for my fellow sun-deprived Northern Europeans.
[1] https://investor.ryanair.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ryan...
I don't find Ryanair much cheaper than Aer Lingus. In my experience there's up to a 20% premium, and I just cross checked the Alicante route for next week with the same results.
Compared to the high likelihood of delays or cancelled flights with Ryanair, I think it's worth it for peace of mind.
That math is completely off.
Those incidentals would not increase your fare 5-8 times. So that some passengers fall into the dark patterns cannot possibly make up for the price difference nor can the price difference to US be the base for your cost savings.
> A similar flight in the US (DC to Miami, for example) would be easily 5x that, possibly 7-8x
Absolutely not. Not even close. Maybe in peak season, but then you can't fly Ryanair for 50 GBP in peak season either.
> The dark patterns took me about 10min to click through.
I find that difficult to believe. Ten minutes is a long time.
> Ryanair has severely improved my life, especially for my fellow sun-deprived Northern Europeans.
Great. Now quit bachelor partying in Spain before they throw objects at you. I thought East Europeans were the worst tourists before I enountered the English and Russians. The elderly are usually fine.
Found a Frontier ticket next week BWI-MIA £42 ($56) [0]
[0] https://www.google.com/travel/flights/booking?tfs=CBwQAhpFEg...
> would have to be worth $1500/hr which is higher than the take-home (not billable) of senior partners at law firms.
40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, that's only $3 million/yr. If you've been at OpenAI for 10 years, you'll net more than that this year after they IPO.
> £50. A similar flight in the US (DC to Miami, for example) would be easily 5x that, possibly 7-8x.
???
Maybe round-trip at a peak time. But if you're talking about one-way flights, you can fly across the entire country (NYC to SFO) for <$150 without hunting for a deal. DC to Miami is $50 (£37) each way, all of next month.